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

relaxed wedding

Ada & Leigh - Longview Vineyard

Ada & Leigh - Longview Vineyard

When a couple has been together for around 5+ years, I call their wedding an "at last" celebration. There is definitely a more chilled atmosphere at the ceremonies of long-term couples and their guests are also especially buoyant and almost cheeky. 

For Leigh and Ada, who were married in February over 8 years into their relationship, there were all of these feelings and so much more. 

With family and friends who had travelled from London and all around Australia literally cheering them on, the Bride and Groom laughed and cried their way through their ceremony in the glorious sunshine on the Longview Vineyard lawn. 

Ada's dress was incredible, Lana and Hannah's white non-matching dresses were so classy, the flowers were gorgeous and I also loved that they both wrote their own vows and kept them a secret from each other until the day. 

These pics are by the ever delightful Kerry Rose Photography.

Enjoy!

Lucy & Duncan - Longview Vineyard

Lucy & Duncan - Longview Vineyard

When I first sat down with Duncan and Lucy, I didn't know at the time that they are both immensely musically talented (Lucy is a classical double bassist and Duncan a multi-instrumentalist), but we just clicked. 

There is soooo much to love about their December wedding day and I literally could not cull down the number their photos that I wanted to share with you any further than I already have. Simon Bills is just amazing and the story he has captured here is incredible.

Seriously, just have a scroll through these and you will feel as if you know the Bride and Groom.

Kelly & Tysen - Howard Vineyard

Kelly & Tysen - Howard Vineyard

Tysen and Kelly's ceremony is a great example of what can be achieved when there is trust and consistent and open communication. Right from our first meeting around 13 months before the big day, they knew what they wanted and better still, told me all about it.

The vision was a warm and intimate, pared-back, but still elegant celebration inclusive of their best friends and family. Kelly's skills as a graphic designer were going to be at the core of the fresh and romantic aesthetic. 

Maddie & Matt at Golding Wines

Maddie & Matt at Golding Wines

The weather was near perfect, the scene set with modern decor and lush floral arrangements and Maddie and Matt's nearest and dearest had travelled from far and wide and were in a party mood. When you plan your wedding, this is the dream. 

I felt so privileged to create and conduct Mr & Mrs Wigg's marriage ceremony and felt that their gracious and inclusive nature shone through in the many thanks, tributes and acknowledgements to their family, friends and bridal party. There were smiles and a fair few chuckles too, like when Matt promised to cheer on the Swans when they aren't playing the Crows 'to infinity and beyond'. 

But when Maddie's good friend, Jess came forward to read a traditional Irish Wedding Blessing, a favourite of Maddie's late Nana Joan, most guests were a little misty-eyed.

Matt and Maddie's incredible supplier list included some of my absolute favourite Adelaide wedding professionals including the incredible floral artistry of Sam Burnell from Fabulous Functions and Luke Simon Photography, who kindly supplied these divine photos.

Maria and Ben - a foodie's paradise in McLaren Vale

Maria and Ben - a foodie's paradise in McLaren Vale

I can't express in words how much I love it when a couple gets in touch with me about their wedding and they already know what they want.

I mean, if you don't know and you want a little advice, some direction or my recommendations, that's cool too and it's why I wrote my 52 page Ceremony Planning Guide in the first place. 

But to me, if you have a good grip on what you want your wedding to be all about at the very beginning, it is the single most important and foundational element to ensure you have a top wedding day AND a great planning experience too.

Their photos are courtesy of the generous and talented Pete Thornton of What Pete Shot.

Enjoy!

Kylie and Chris - Partridge House, Glenelg

Kylie and Chris - Partridge House, Glenelg

Chris and Kylie like to do things their way.

But whether it's riding their bikes, having fun with their kids, Judd and Kobe, or simply laughing at each other's expense; they live life to the full.

I don't think I have ever laughed as hard or as often in a ceremony as I did during theirs.

Kylie conceded that their house IS similar to a prison camp when she forgets to buy chicken chips and Chris promised not to hold Kylie's obsession with Johnny Farnham against her. Aaaw, how sweet!

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Weddings with a social conscience - why it's cool (& easy) to give back

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Weddings with a social conscience - why it's cool (& easy) to give back

I've watched weddings change and evolve markedly over the last few years. Consider, for example, the relatively new (and 1st world problem) of coordinating unplugged weddings (ie. a ban on the social media upload of guests photos). 

One of the trends that I have noticed and think is super cool, is the concept of giving back in the planning stages, the execution (there's got to be a better way to phrase that) and/or clean-up of a wedding. And the best part is that you don't need to be a paid-up member of Greenpeace, chain yourself to a heritage listed building or march in the streets to make a difference.

Here are some of the great new ways you can share the love of your special day with those less fortunate.

We're engaged, now what?

We're engaged, now what?

By the time my couples get around to hiring me to officiate their wedding ceremony, there have already been dozens of decisions made, promises sealed with handshakes, expectations set and dollars shelled out. Generally, couples will set a date, book a venue, and start pulling together a guest list long before we talk about their ceremony. And THAT part is okay – everyone’s priorities are different. The part that mystifies me is when brides and grooms sit in my meeting room and bemoan their own decisions…as if they weren’t their own. Their wedding is already not what they wanted.

Because, very early on, they felt the weight of (family/friends/social) expectation and caved into it before they listened to their own instincts.

But what if we turned the wedding planning thing on it’s head?

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!

Jess and Ruby from Longview Vineyard

Jess and Ruby from Longview Vineyard

Jess and Ruby run the weddings at Longview Vineyard like a well-oiled machine. They are responsive yet measured and always very organised. But this is not to say they take a 'one size fits all' approach. To the contrary; the celebrations that I have been a part of at Longview are among the most unique and creative I've seen.So I was happy to have the chance to sit down with the girls over a hot chocolate at Chocolateria San Churro to chat about how they translate their couple's ideas into reality and how your wedding planning needn't be a stressful or overwhelming experience.