More people getting married at Victorian registry
Registry weddings are more popular than ever in Melbourne as attitudes shift and cost of living pressures bite.
VIC News
Don't miss out on the headlines from VIC News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Victoria’s registry office is experiencing a boom as more couples turn their backs on the traditional big fat wedding.
Saving for a first home loan deposit and the dream of a destination wedding are fuelling the casual trend.
The Victorian Marriage Registry, located in East Melbourne’s Old Treasury Building, was the site of 3574 weddings in 2018-19, up on 3332 in 2017-18 and 2967 in 2016-17.
Couples pay as little as $330 to formalise their union at the registry office – that includes the venue, celebrant and commemorative marriage certificate.
That’s in comparison to the average cost of a wedding which, according to a Wedded Wonderland survey, has spiked to more than $53,000 including rings and honeymoons.
Victorian registry celebrant Mark Jonasz said most of the couples he saw didn’t want a large and expensive ceremony.
“Many of our couples want a more intimate wedding, with close family and friends,” Mr Jonasz said.
Others use the registry to get the formalities out the way before fleeing overseas for the party.
“Some plan to celebrate overseas, sometimes in more than one country, so they’re looking for a smaller, legal wedding here in Melbourne.”
Angela Menz, 35, and Peter Sikari, 36, from Abbotsford said they’ve never been the “big wedding type”.
So when the time came to pick a venue to tie the knot the choice was easy: the register.
“We walk past it (the register) all the time on the weekends; it’s part of our Melbourne scenery, our little bubble in Melbourne,” Menz said.
The couple married in February in front of 23 members of their immediate family and best friends for less than $500.
“The idea of a big wedding is totally not us,” Menz said.
“It (the register) was nice and low key and it suited my husband and I.”
Menz made her pink gown, caught a tram down to the registry with and arranged music for the ceremony at the last minute.
“I had my friend play music from my phone on a speaker,” she said.
“We hadn’t thought of it so I downloaded it two hours before we got there”.
Afterwards the couple had photos taken at a nearby park and a celebrated with a dinner at a South Yarra restaurant.
The money they would have spent on a lavish wedding is instead going into their savings.
“We’ve been saving to buy an apartment and like to travel so money spent on a wedding would’ve taken away from that,” she said.
And it’s not just the registry couples are turning to tie the knot. They are also opting for the quirky.
The Altar Electric offers a Vegas-inspired wedding chapel in Collingwood.
Owner and operator Anthony Cribbes said the venue has hosted more than 100 weddings since it opened two years ago.
The venue attracts couples from across all ages and demographics.
MORE NEWS:
What we Googled in the 2010s revealed
How to save a life this Christmas
Flights cancelled as Jetstar workers strike
“There’s usually three factors at play; the first factor is they love the idea of being married but the idea of a wedding puts them off. This allows them to still get some great experience without it feeling like it was an over-the-top event that is anything but about being married,” Cribbes said.
“The second group of people have a different set of priorities in life and don’t want to invest a whole heap of money on a wedding but they still want a bit of fanfare without sending themselves into debt.
“The third group is quirky and just want to do something different.”
The ceremony is run by celebrants but an ‘Elvis’ can be arranged upon request.
Dogs are also welcome as ring bearers.