wedding planning, wedding advice
Camille Abbott
How to Change Your Name After Your Wedding in ...

If you’re looking to change your last name after your wedding, but don’t know where to start, you’re not alone.

In my experience as a marriage celebrant, up to 90% of newly-married brides (and a few pioneering grooms and spouses) choose to change their last or family name after marriage and are super confused about how to go about it.

It’s a real process that can take around 8 hours over several days or weeks to complete. This is because every company or institution has their own unique process and is not legally permitted to share your details with anyone else.

The good news is, I can help save you a lot of time and even some money too.

Let’s get started!

How to Change Your Name After Your Wedding in Australia
real wedding
Camille Abbott
Alana and Peter’s McLaren Vale Micro wedding

Alana and Peter's wedding plans (like so many engaged couples worldwide) were thrown into disarray in 2020.

Between the NSW border closures due to COVID-19 and their original venue in Byron Bay burning down (true story!) Peter and Alana tried for a 3rd and final time to have a super low-key, no stress day just for them and their immediate family.

Something simple, but beautiful, elegant, but without any pretence.

Alana and Peter’s McLaren Vale Micro wedding
real wedding
Camille Abbott
Emily and Sam's Romantic Adelaide Hills Wedding

Sam and Emily make time to see their families, to share special moments together, and they love talk on the phone often. They wanted to bring this warmth and appreciation, that had always been shown towards them, into their wedding ceremony too.

With COVID border closures, the tyranny of distance and for those who'd passed away, some of their family were not able to be with us in person, so we incorporated them and their interests as much as we could through readings, a memorial and with a big smoochy kiss right down Alex's lens. 😅

Emily and Sam's Romantic Adelaide Hills Wedding
wedding planning
Camille Abbott
EVEN MORE unique wedding ceremony readings

I’m not one for fluffy and OTT poetry and I think it’s fair to say that the majority of my couples aren’t massive fans either.

But I do recognise how the power of a well chosen wedding reading in a ceremony can be instrumental in bringing about a feeling of gratefulness, humanity, and hope.

And a great reader who takes the time to deliver a quote, reading or poem with poise and intention can really lift a modern wedding ceremony above and beyond the ordinary.

But first, you need a great wedding reading.

Hopefully this post, along with 5 Wedding Readings That Aren’t Too Soppy and More Unique & Beautiful Wedding Readings For Your Ceremony, will help you to narrow down the search.

EVEN MORE unique wedding ceremony readings
wedding advice
Camille Abbott
5 wedding readings that aren't too soppy

What are your options if you want to include a reading in your wedding ceremony, but aren't a fan of Shakespeare and don't want to have 1 Corinthians 13?

The great thing about civil ceremonies in Australia is, apart from 3 sentences that I have to say from The Marriage Act 1961 and 1 legal sentence you have to say in your vows, the rest is completely up to you. The sky's the limit.

And you can make your ceremony even more meaningful by finding a reading (or two) that you LOVE - rather than something you think is 'just okay'. Readings can come from anywhere; lyrics from songs, quotes from movies or the words from your team's victory song (God help us all..)

Here are five of my favourites..

5 wedding readings that aren't too soppy

real wedding

Relaxed glamour - Bronte and Tim

Relaxed glamour - Bronte and Tim

I think it's a common misconception that only the bride or groom get nervous at their wedding ceremony. But in my experience, most of the guests and in particular their immediate family, also have a ticket to ride on the roller coaster of wedding emotions. So I always love it when the bride and groom are as easy going and relaxed as possible because, as much as it allows them to experience a more calm version of their special day, it also sends a subconscious signal to their guests that they can just chill out and enjoy it too. 

The other great signal for wedding guests is the provision of a specialty drinks table. Nothing says 'time to celebrate' like a Pimm's drink station. 

Bronte and Tim's wedding was celebrated at the spectacular Longview Vineyard on a mild April afternoon. Their photos are courtesy of Angie from Mink Studio. 

Grab a Pimm's, sit back and enjoy!

DIY love - Elyce and Patrick

DIY love - Elyce and Patrick

Elyce and Patrick are one of those warm and immediately friendly couples that, after meeting them for the first time, make you feel like you have known them for years. When I chatted with them in 2013 about their vision for their Golding Wines wedding, they described it as vintage/rustic with a relaxed atmosphere and the end result did not disappoint. It was, in fact, a DIY extravaganza which I would try to deter other couples from even attempting (DIY vs Delegation; a cautionary tale). But true to their tenancious yet caring natures, Patrick and Elyce pulled it off with aplomb.

Shots courtesy of Emma Sharkey Photography. Enjoy!

Go your own way - Steph and Chris

Go your own way - Steph and Chris

Chris and Steph live and breathe an authentic, genuine life and their wedding day was simply a concentrated dose of that. Almost everything was DIY and they decorated, crafted, created, and baked their way through around 16 months' worth of planning to make the lovely Barristers Block in Woodside their own particular brand of heaven for a day. The result was awesome, as you can see from these beautiful shots from Photography by Michelle Harkness. Enjoy!

Warm heart wedding - Denelle and Chris

Warm heart wedding - Denelle and Chris

On a wild and stormy afternoon in November 2009, I married the gorgeous Jenna and Mat in a joyful and fun ceremony at the Adelaide Sailing Club. And you know the superstition about rain on your wedding day and fertility, right? Well, 5.5 years and 3 children later, Mat and Jenna are just as gorgeous as the day they were married.