Speak now, or forever hold your peace…
Well, it looks like the date for the wedding is set — March 28th, 2009. I guess we should start making some efforts preparing for the big day, since there’s only eight-ish months left…
Anyway, Joyce and I recently met up with the minister who will be conducting the ceremony. He seems like a very nice guy, and full of wisdom — he reassured us that after being in the business of marrying people for 37 years, he can run the day with his eyes closed.
One of the things that he mentioned was regarding the part where he would ask the ceremony attendees “… if anybody has any legal reasons as to why these two should not be married, please speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Apparently, a celebrant can stop the wedding in accordance with the Marriage Act if any of the following circumstances are met (more or less summarised from here):
- Either of the couple are not above the legal age to be married.
- Either of the couple are currently already lawfully married to someone else.
- The couple are related to one another (ancestor/descendant, or whole/half-blood sibling)
- Consent from either parties is not real (e.g. duress, mistaken identity, mentally impaired)
If nobody can provide any evidence to support any of the above statements, then the marriage is considered lawful in accordance with the Marriage Act. Should someone decide to run down the aisle and do the whole Hollywood-esque “… but I love him/her!” spiel with associated ensuing drama, then it’s “tough cookies” [I believe that's the phrase he used]. More interestingly, he could take the matter to court and the magistrate can award all wedding costs to be paid by that person.
On the subject of weddings, congrats to Nat and Sally-Ann on tying the knot yesterday! Hope you guys really enjoy married life and all that it brings. 
But what if the person runs down the hallway and yells “But I love him/her!”, and then stares at the couple, then aplogises, “Sorry, wrong church…”
Can you still sue that person for wedding costs?