Hi Tina
Thanks for using the forum. As a test, I asked our Bot, JUNO, the question and here is her answer….
Are Celebrants allowed to replace the word SOLEMNISE in the Monitum and if so, what word/s can be used?
What Juno said: Great question — and I love that you’re checking wording carefully. 😊
Short answer: generally, no. In an Australian marriage ceremony, the Monitum and related statutory wording must be used as prescribed by the Marriage Act 1961. That means you shouldn’t replace words like “SOLEMNISE” with other wording.
Why?
Authorised celebrants must use the required legal formula in the ceremony (including the Monitum before the couple’s legal vows). The celebrant’s legal authority comes from using the statutory wording under the Marriage Act and the relevant regulations/guidelines.
What can you do instead?
If your question is really about readability or delivery, the safe approach is:
keep the statutory legal wording unchanged, and
you can add non-legal, spoken support around it (e.g., a brief intro cue or explanation) as long as you do not alter the required legal formula.
Please confirm the exact “SOLEMNISE” wording you’re using
The statutory text is specific, and different training materials sometimes show it slightly differently, so I want to be 100% accurate with you.
If you paste the exact sentence/paragraph you’re referring to (the Monitum wording you’re planning to say), I can tell you whether that specific text must remain verbatim and what you can safely change around it.
Official sources to check
Marriage Act 1961 (includes the provisions for ceremony wording, including the Monitum and vow wording): Federal Register of Legislation – Marriage Act 1961
https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00010/latest/text
Guidelines for authorised celebrants (practical direction on fulfilling legal obligations):
https://www.ag.gov.au/legal-system/marriage-and-divorce/marriage-act-1961
If you’d rather not paste text here, you can also email AMC directly for confirmation of how they advise members to handle wording issues: info@marriagecelebrants.org.au.
Kind Reagrds Joy
