The Monitum

The section is pretty straight forward. The monitum is the legal words a marriage celebrant must say to make the wedding official, without these words the wedding will be invalid. The words are as follows-

 

"I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law. Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter. Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life." 

 

There are some slight variations that can be made to this which are as follows

Changing “solemn” to “serious” or “formal”

Changing “binding” to “permanent”

Changing “now about to enter” into “formalizing” or “sealing”

Changing “these witnesses” to “everyone here” or “everybody here”