What to do once you're married

Though it can be a cruel teacher, your wedding is an amazing first-project for a young couple. It’s a beautiful way to learn to save, spend, do business together, hold a party, and join families and friendship groups.

But now it’s all over, what do you do next?

Paperwork and Marriage Certificate

After your ceremony I will register the marriage with the Australian state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages Department and because they’re a government department, they won’t mail you anything back generally speaking.

If you would like to receive a copy of your marriage certificate you need to request it.

I would have given you a marriage certificate on your wedding day, this is an official document but is not recognised as an official identity document nor is it the required certificate for a bride or groom to change their birth last name after their wedding.

Take a breath

Chill the heck out! Seriously though, why do you think they send you off on a honeymoon after a wedding, you need a break!

Finish any business

Make sure any bills are paid, security bonds are refunded, function centre left-overs have been collected, photos downloaded, video recieved, cake eaten, dresses dry-cleaned, and forms filled out.

Look back

The wedding professionals you contracted to help bring your wedding day together will absolutely thrive off your feedback, review and testimony.

I believe that feedback is the breakfast of champions, so if you have positive or negative feedback on my services, please tell me. Aside from that, most vendors, myself included, would love to share a few of your photos in the testimonies section of their website, or on their blog, so make sure you shoot some photos over when you get them, and a few lines about their services on the day.

Aside from that, there’s lots of places you can leave a review online and wedding professionals thrive on your ratings, reviews and references.

Each business may be different, but here’s my favourite places for you to go and review me, rate me and leave a lovely comment so that other brides and grooms can get a realistic view of who I am:

• Write a review on Google
• Review on the Yellow Pages
• Recommend on LinkedIn
• Yelp (link to Yelp asking for reviews get marked as spam, you have to search it yourself)
• Word of mouth forum

Stop and listen

Over the course of your wedding day lots of words were said, hopefully for the sole purpose of encouraging you, building you up and sending you forth. Think back over those words, your vows, your partner’s vows and the emotions of it all. Feel free to write a diary entry, a blog, a letter, something to encapsulate how you’re feeling after it all. You’ll never be able to re-live that moment, so document it.

Excelsior, Onward and ever upward

Life is a highway, it works best when you’re moving forward. And married life is an ever growing, fluid and awesome experience that I encourage you to grab a hold of with both hands and hold on for the ride of your life. You’ve already crossed the divide and made an awesome decision, it’s all onward and ever upward from here on in. Excelsior!

💍 Josh Withers is an Australian wedding celebrant based in Hobart who travels the world every week creating meaningful, fun, and honest marriage ceremonies for adventurous couples just like you.

📱 Follow Josh on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, Mastodon, Micro.Blog, or in a Qantas airport lounge somewhere.