Elopements & micro weddings

An elopement or intimate ceremony for up to twenty guests is $850 Monday to Thursday and $1,050 Friday to Sunday. That is a twenty-minute personalised script, rings and vows, a PA, one planning meeting and all the lodgement. Two months is usually enough notice, and the legal minimum is one calendar month between lodging your Notice of Intended Marriage and the day itself.

What it costs

What you get Mon–Thu Fri–Sun
Elopement or intimate ceremony, up to 20 guests A 20-minute personalised script, rings and vows, PA, one planning meeting, lodgement and your certificate, 50-70 km travel. $850 $1,050

Australian dollars, GST included. Travel within 30 km is included and $1 per kilometre round trip beyond it. Booking fee $250, which comes off the total. Witnesses supplied at $60 each. Council permits for beach and park ceremonies are passed through at cost.

How far ahead to book

Allow about two months for a weekend date in season. Midweek and winter dates are often available at much shorter notice. The one fixed limit is the law: a Notice of Intended Marriage has to be lodged at least one calendar month before the ceremony.

What you need

The NOIM, explained — the form, the timing and the documents in full.

Permits, and where they need one

Every council along this coast books its beach, headland and park ceremony sites, and every one of them charges. Tweed Shire, Byron Shire and the City of Gold Coast run separate systems with fees between $124 and $320 depending on the site and the size of the group. Sunset slots at Kingscliff, Wategos, Currumbin and Burleigh are booked months ahead between September and April; sunrise slots almost never are.

Permits are passed through at cost rather than marked up, and it is worth booking the permit before the photographer — the site and the hour decide everything else about the day. On private property, a farmstay or a rainforest retreat, there is nothing to apply for beyond the owner's permission.

Witnesses

Australian law needs two witnesses aged eighteen or over who can understand what is happening. This is the single most common thing couples who elope have not thought about, usually because the whole point was that nobody else would be there.

If you are travelling alone, witnesses can be supplied at $60 each. Passers-by can be asked, and often are, but they have to be sober, over eighteen and willing to give their name and sign — which is a lot to ask of a stranger on a beach at seven in the morning.

Where

Everywhere else covered from Murwillumbah.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between an elopement and a micro wedding?
Nothing legal, and in practice very little. Both are short, personal ceremonies with few or no guests. Elopement usually means the two of you plus witnesses; micro wedding usually means up to about twenty people. The same price applies to either, and the ceremony is written for whoever is standing there.
How much does an elopement cost?
The celebrant is $850 on a weekday and $1,050 Friday to Sunday. Add a photographer, and a council permit if you are on a beach or in a park — those run $124 to $320 and are passed through at cost. Packaged elopements sold by other businesses usually bundle all three and cost more.
Do we need witnesses to elope?
Yes. Australian law requires two witnesses aged eighteen or over who can understand what is happening. If you are travelling alone, witnesses can be supplied for $60 each. This is the single most common thing couples who elope have not thought about until the week before.
Can we elope on a beach on the Tweed or the Gold Coast?
Yes, and most councils here want a permit for it. Tweed Shire, Byron Shire and the City of Gold Coast each run their own booking system, fees are between $124 and $320, and popular spots at sunset get taken months ahead. Permits are passed through at cost rather than marked up.
How soon can we get married?
One calendar month after your Notice of Intended Marriage is lodged, which is the legal minimum and is very rarely shortened. In practice, allow six to eight weeks. Shortening of time is granted only for a specific listed reason — employment, travel, illness or similar — and is decided by a prescribed authority, not by the celebrant.

Not yet taking enquiries here

This site is being built. The phone number, the Google listing and the entry on the Attorney-General's register of marriage celebrants will be published together, as one identical set — which is what a search engine needs in order to be sure they all describe the same business.

Prices, inclusions and paperwork on this site are complete and current. Only the contact details are outstanding.