Wedding Ceremony Checklist: What to Handle, and When

Ninety minutes before the ceremony, the celebrant asks who is holding the rings, and nobody knows. A wedding ceremony checklist exists so that question gets answered on paper weeks earlier, not live in front of your guests - one legal deadline, a handful of choices only you can make, and a short list of things to bring on the day.

The wedding ceremony checklist, in order

Only the first row has a fixed date attached to it. Everything after that runs on your own timeline, whether the wedding is eighteen months out or six weeks away - what changes is how much room sits between the phases, not the order they happen in.

Skipping a phase rather than compressing it is what actually causes problems on the day. A ceremony order handed to the celebrant an hour before the wedding is the same running order as one sent a month earlier, just with far less room for anyone to catch a mistake in it.

The one hard deadline: your Notice of Intended Marriage

A Notice of Intended Marriage cannot be lodged earlier than 18 months before the wedding, and it must reach your authorised celebrant no later than 1 month before it.¹ A prescribed authority can allow a shorter notice period in genuine circumstances, but that is an exception to ask your celebrant about directly, not something to plan around.¹

This is the one line on this checklist that is not a suggestion. Every other item below can slide by a week without consequence; miss this one and the wedding date itself is at risk.⁴

Choosing the shape: celebrant, vows, and what's optional

Most Australian couples, 83%, book a civil celebrant rather than a religious one, which is the decision that sets whether the legally required words apply or a religious body's own rites take over instead.⁵² A minister of religion is exempt from the set civil wording, so a religious ceremony follows a different script from day one.²

Vow style is the next real choice, and it is split three ways rather than one dominant way: 10% of couples use fully traditional vows, 42% write their own, and 48% blend a legal form with personal lines.⁵ Decide which band you are in before you promise your celebrant a running order, because personalised and blended vows both run longer than a traditional set.

Readings, a ring exchange and a unity ritual are entirely optional - none of them appear anywhere in the Marriage Act.² Add what means something to you and drop the rest; the checklist works either way, it just changes how long the ceremony itself runs.

Who legally has to be in the room

Two people, beyond the couple and the celebrant, are non-negotiable: witnesses aged 18 or over who sign the certificates alongside you.³⁴ Pick those two witnesses before the day and tell them where to stand, because the signing cannot happen without them.

Your celebrant also has to be physically present throughout, and the law places no restriction on the day, time or place of the ceremony itself.³ That flexibility is a planning advantage, not a loophole - a weekday ceremony or an unusual venue is just as legal as a Saturday chapel wedding.

What the celebrant fee is actually paying for

The national average cost of an Australian marriage celebrant is $1,031, ranging from $800 in Tasmania to $1,117 in the ACT.⁶ That figure covers far more than the ceremony itself: celebrants report working 18 hours on each wedding, across meetings, paperwork, rehearsal and travel as well as the day.⁷

That is the reason to hand your celebrant the ceremony order and the Notice paperwork early rather than in the final week. Most of their 18 hours happens before the ceremony starts, and a late order gives them less of that time to work with. State averages vary widely too, from $800 in Tasmania to $1,117 in the ACT, so check a celebrant's quote against the figure for your own state rather than the national one.⁶

One ceremony time, the whole day built around it Once the ceremony details are locked, the run sheet generator takes that single time and lays out arrival, photos and the reception on a real clock. See the full ceremony running order for what happens between the processional and the recessional.

The final month and the week before

The Notice deadline closes here: it must be with your celebrant no later than 1 month before the wedding, with no exceptions outside the prescribed-authority provision.¹ Confirm your celebrant has it before this window shrinks any further.

Most couples, 78%, ask guests to keep phones away during the ceremony.⁵ That request only works if it reaches guests before the processional - put it on the seating cards or have an usher mention it while people are being seated, not as an announcement said once and forgotten.

Brief your two witnesses on what signing involves and where to stand, and send the full ceremony order to your celebrant, photographer and MC this month rather than the week of the wedding.⁴ Popular dates fill their celebrants and venues early: Saturday accounts for 53% of Australian weddings, and 25 October was the single most popular date in 2025 with 2,035 marriages registered.⁸⁹ A well-booked celebrant has less room to move if paperwork or a running order arrives late.

The morning of

Bring the essentials rather than trust memory: your copy of the lodged Notice, photo ID, the rings, and a printed order of service for your celebrant and your MC. Confirm both witnesses have arrived before the ceremony starts, not during it.

From there, the checklist hands off to the running order itself. See how a wedding ceremony schedule runs, start to finish, and put your ceremony time into the run sheet generator so the rest of the day builds around it automatically.

Common questions about a wedding ceremony checklist

What should be on a wedding ceremony checklist?

A Notice of Intended Marriage lodged on time, a decided vow style and optional elements, two witnesses aged 18 or over, a briefed celebrant, and the paperwork and rings ready on the morning of the wedding.¹⁴

When do we lodge the Notice of Intended Marriage?

No earlier than 18 months before the wedding and no later than 1 month before it.¹ A prescribed authority can allow shorter notice in genuine circumstances, but treat the 1-month date as fixed until you have confirmed otherwise with your celebrant.

Do we need rings or readings?

No. Neither appears in the Marriage Act.² Add them if they matter to you; the checklist and the ceremony both work without them.

How many witnesses do we need at a wedding ceremony?

Two, and each must be 18 or over.³⁴ They sign the certificates alongside you and your celebrant immediately after the ceremony.

Can we get married on any day or at any time?

Yes. Australian law places no restriction on the day, time or place of a wedding ceremony, as long as an authorised celebrant is physically present.³

How much does a marriage celebrant cost in Australia?

$1,031 on average nationally, with state figures from $800 in Tasmania to $1,117 in the ACT.⁶ That fee covers roughly 18 hours of work across the wedding, most of it before the ceremony itself.⁷

The checklist at a glance