benefits of choosing a Celebrant over registry office

If you’re planning on having a simple legals only wedding or you’re looking at cost-effective ways to get married, you may be curious to hear why having an independent Celebrant is a much better option for most, than a registry office wedding.

2025 Brisbane registry Update for Couples Seeking a ‘Legals Only’ Marriage

Looking to get married ASAP with a simple, legal-only ceremony?

Yes! We can make it happen! We’re booking small weddings and legals only marriages from one month from now, or even sooner if you’ve already lodged your Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM), which can be easily transferred to us.

We’ve recently heard from many couples who thought the Brisbane registry office was their only option, only to be told they have no available bookings for the rest of the year. But don’t worry, we have the perfect solution ready for you.

As elopement and legal-only wedding specialists, Jamie + Cara of With Love Elopements offer flexible dates, times, and you even have the option of getting married at our beautiful private venue: The Elopement Deck in Indooroopilly.

Choosing a celebrant over the registry office gives you:

• The opportunity to get married sooner, as early as 1 month from now.

• More freedom to select your ideal ceremony location and marriage date.

• More intimate, private celebrations with a friendly, warm Celebrant.

• A wider variety of ceremony styles, plus affordable elopement décor packages.

• Guidance through the NOIM signing process with us (not being sent off to a JP).

Already lodged your NOIM with the Brisbane Registry Office only to find there’s a big wait ahead to get married? The good news is your lodged NOIM form can be formerly transferred from BDM QLD to one of us (your Celebrant) then the original date it was lodged with them, still stands, meaning your wedding could take place even sooner, and in less than 1 months’ time.

Don’t wait until next year to say “I do.” Get in touch with us today and enjoy a personal, hassle-free wedding experience perfect for you.

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As Authorised Celebrants we can get you legally married in a simple, relaxed ceremony at the location of your choice, without the restrictions or limitations of the registry office.

The many benefits of our elopement and legals only Celebrant service, include:

• Your choice of location – The flexibility and convenience of your ceremony being able to take place almost anywhere, like one of Brisbane’s beautiful parks or gardens for stunning photo opportunities, or our private elopement deck or even at your own home.
• Sunday weddings – We offer weddings and meetings every day of the week (subject to availability) including Sunday morning meetings and Sunday wedding ceremonies.
• We’re contactable – With us as your Celebrant there’s no waiting on hold for ages only to get through to a call centre who, after that long wait, may not be able to answer your question, and will take a message for someone to call you back at some point in the next 5 business days – hopefully! Conversely, we’ll respond to emails and questions as soon as we can, often responding to emails during the weekend (when we’re not at weddings).
• You can get married sooner – For couples looking to get married as soon as possible, we can usually make ourselves available to meet with couples at short notice, to meet the 1-month NOIM lodgement requirements.
• We make the paperwork easy for you – We offer our clients a smooth and easy ceremony planning process. We don’t require multiple meetings, only one meeting is required for us to witness you signing your NOIM form.
• Meet on a day and time more convenient to you – As full-time experienced Celebrants we operate 7 days a week, offering client meetings most days of the week, including convenient meeting appointment times during weekday mornings and evenings and weekend mornings, to fit around your work hours. We also offer online video call meetings via Zoom, What’s App and Facetime.
• No parking expenses for our meetings and most of our wedding locations – If you decide to meet with us in person, our meetings take place at our office in Indooroopilly with FREE street parking. It’s also very close to great coffee shops and cafe’s (we recommend Peach & Billy), and a short drive to Indooroopilly shopping centre. Did you know Brisbane City is one of the most expensive places to park in the world? Having both a meeting and your ceremony here could significantly add to the cost of having a registry office wedding.
• We offer the convenience of video call meetings – Providing that prior to our meeting you complete the online form we send you and have access to a printer to print the completed NOIM form we send you, then we can actually witness you signing your marriage paperwork during the video call meeting, to scan and return to us. Lodging your NOIM form with us couldn’t be easier!
• We’re dog friendly – If you love the idea of your dog being your ring bearer, unlike the registry office we are dog friendly, and we can even help with recommending dog friendly elopement locations.
• One point of contact – With us you receive a personalised service with one point of contact from enquiry through to the wedding day, with a Celebrant that genuinely cares about giving you the wedding you want.
• Flexible and accommodating – We will discuss your ceremony preferences with you, perhaps you are looking for something special, intimate and meaningful, or something more relaxed, simple and quick with just the minimal legal wording. With us we will give you the ceremony you want.
• Wedding decor options – We can also assist with providing your wedding ceremony décor / backdrop via our sister business With Love – Brisbane Wedding Decorators, meaning your entire ceremony can be planned with just one point of contact – us!
• Assistance with a witness if needed – If you are planning to get married privately or in secret or would prefer to minimise the number of your family and friends you invite, we may even be able to assist with providing one of your witnesses (subject to one of us being available). Additional fee may be payable.
• You are supporting a local small business – By choosing an independent Marriage Celebrant to perform your ceremony instead of the registry office, you are directly supporting a passionate, small local business, that genuinely cares about you having a really positive experience.
• We’re 5-STAR rated and REALLY good at this!  – We’ve received over 100 x 5 STAR reviews from our couples that have chosen an elopement or legals only style ceremony, plus hundreds more reviews from couples that have opted for our full wedding experience. We’re highly experienced, local experts so you’re in great hands.

It’s safe to say there are many benefits of having one of us, an independent Celebrant perform your marriage, instead of having to marry within the restrictions and limitations of registry weddings.

Contact us now & check availability

Jamie + Cara the happy, dedicated organised crew at With Love Elopements.

Many of our eloping and legals only couples begin the process of planning their wedding thinking the registry office is their only option for a simple wedding. Then after a little research they realise there is a much better way for them to get married – with one of us as their Celebrant!

We hope also you decide to choose one of us as the one to get you married.

We know some of the best spots for elopements in Brisbane, we can make suggestions of areas that can be utilised without a fee being payable (saving you money again) and we can advise on locations to suit your needs, e.g. somewhere private and intimate, or somewhere with a stunning backdrop for amazing photos. Some of our small legals only weddings choose to have their ceremony take place on our private shaded back deck.

If you love the idea of a registry style wedding that isn’t taking place at the registry, we would love to be your Celebrant!

We look forward to hearing from you and providing more information on the process of getting married.

Let’s start planning your simple wedding ceremony!

Contact us now

Images kindly provided by Still Wild Love and Vellum Studio.