Recently having to deal with a mentally ill relative on a bender, and my planning for a celebrant training session on 17th August, has made me consider the issue of consent to a marriage.

Where people are mentally incapacitated, the issue of consent is particularly important as Section 23B of the Marriage Act 1961 (Grounds On Which Marriages Are Void) would come into play. Subsection 23B(1) of the Act says a marriage is void where (d) "the consent of either of the parties is not a real consent because:" (iii) "that party is mentally incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony."

Celebrants have to ensure the parties to the marriage are of sound mind when they participate in a marriage ceremony, or we will commit an offence under the Act (for which there are severe penalties).

A celebrant friend of mine related the experience she had recently where a bride arrived at her home with her jacket over her head "to keep out the voices"... It turned out the bride was schizophrenic and off her medication, and my celebrant friend warned the groom about the seriousness of the bride being mentally competent to participate in the marriage ceremony or it would not take place.

I think that people forget, too, that celebrants can go to jail for some offences under the Marriage Act, and or receive a monetary fine.  We can also be sued separately in a civil law suit. I know I'm not prepared to do something that could see me a) go to jail, b) be out of pocket having to pay a fine, c) be disciplined by the celebrant puppet-masters in Canberra and potentially lose my registration as a celebrant, and or d) be sued in a civil case by my clients.

Thankfully, I have not had to go down this path with Section 23B.

Shaz

Many celebrants would have been busy yesterday - the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 2008 was an auspicious date and many weddings were taking place around the country.

I had a single wedding to perform, and it was an intimate occasion by candlelight at 6.30 pm at the home of relatives of the groom. The couple had decorated the outdoor venue with candles suspended from the roof, and a few chairs to accommodate the small number of guests, and the venue had a wonderful ambience. I used themes by Theodor Geisel to open and close the ceremony, and it was a lovely occasion.

One of my Gold Coast colleagues had 3 weddings yesterday, but neither of us could break the record set by the NSW Registry Office - 96 weddings in 12 hours. That equates to one every 7.5 minutes, unless the Registry has more than one wedding room. Now that's a lot of weddings!