Wedding Information

Please read and review the information from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese very carefully: https://greekorthodox.org.au/services-and-sacraments/marriage/

Please book in a time to do preliminary at least 1 month before your wedding (preferable at least 3 months). You can book a time with Fr Panteleimon here: https://stgerasimos.org/bookings/book-meeting-with-fr-panteleimon/

Bring these original documents to our meeting:

• Groom’s and Bride’s Birth Certificate.
• Groom’s and Bride’s Passport (Australian or Overseas).
• Groom’s and Bride’s Driver’s Licences.
• Groom’s and Bride’s Baptism Certificate.
• Groom’s and Bride’s Celibacy (Single-Status) Certificate (N.B. this is only if you are Orthodox and this is your first marriage. If this is not your first marriage in the Church, you will need an Ecclesiastical divorce. Please see your local Priest for this as well. If your previous spouse passed away, please bring the death certificate). Please contact your Local Parish Priest for this. Fee is $150 per celibacy/single-status certificate. You need two witnesses to sign this document. They can be the same two witnesses for both the Groom and Bride-to-be and can be relatives.

Register for the Marriage Preparation Seminars organised by GWC Community Services of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia: https://gwccservices.org/marriage-seminars/

Fees: Note that these are standard fees since July 2022 in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.

• Archdiocese Wedding Certificate: $500 usually paid by the couple getting married when meeting the Priest and is needed to receive the certificate from the Archdiocese.
• Civil Marriage Paperwork: $200 + $67 (Official Certificate of Marriage and Postage), usually paid by the couple getting married when meeting the Priest.
• Church Fee: $800. This is usually paid by the Best Man/Matron of Honour via an online Invoice. This is broken down to the following: $450 donation to St Gerasimos Church, $200 Priest’s Gratuity, $100 Chanter fee, $50 Altar assistant fee.

Notes – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

• Out of respect to the Church and the neighbourhood surrounding the Church, there is a ZERO tolerance policy on any illegal car parking, noise pollution, littering, street racing or hoon offences such as ‘burnouts’ (In NSW, "burnouts" constitute an offence under the Road Transport Act 2013 and incur a fine of $500). Highway patrol cars may be present during your wedding.
• We at St Gerasimos Church have BANNED any form of motorcycles for a wedding procession. If you have booked them already they are NOT to come into Henry St at all, otherwise we will be notifying the police immediately.
• Any modified car MUST BE TURNED OFF when on Church grounds or on the street in front of the Church. Any excessive revving or noise from these cars is completely unacceptable.
• Any litter from these cars or any wedding guests (including bottles of alcohol, cigarette butts or cigarette packets) is not tolerated and will incur a $200 cleaning fee payable by the couple getting married.
• You are also responsible for the behaviour of your guests at the church. Any abuse, verbal or physical, to the neighbours or church staff is unacceptable and will also be immediately reported to police.
• You can use rice and rose petals for confetti ONLY, anything else is not acceptable, especially non-biodegradable materials such as plastics. Non-compliance will incur a $200 cleaning fee payable by the couple getting married.

By filling in this form, you agree to comply with the above terms. Any non-compliance will be taken extremely seriously and may result in fines, extra fees (e.g. cleaning) or reports to the police.

*There is a tradition that the Best Man or Matron of Honour baptises the first born of the newly-wed couple. This requires them to be baptised in a canonical Orthodox Church.