The Celebrants Network Inc - BLOG

ASKACELEBRANT BLOG - Are you a bride or groom wondering about whether marriage is really for you? Marriage is a long term commitment. Even in a country where there is divorce, marriage carries thousands of years of expectations and hope that this is a relationship  "for life".

So what questions do you ask yourself to figure out if you are ready to take that BIG step?

Here's an article that uses no religious arguments - yet would be very much at home in many religious faiths - and what's more it is written by a bloke!

Our thanks to Seth Adam Smith for sharing his personal experiences on marriage :

http://sethadamsmith.com/2013/11/02/marriage-isnt-for-you/

Response by our TCNA Life Celebrant Member Dally M Messenger III to a Recent Letter

Unwedded bliss

Peter Waterhouse repeats an old slur often told by supporters of formal marriage, that de facto relationships just take the form of some sort of ''holding pattern'' until ''something better comes along'' (Letters, 15/8). My partner and I have been in a loving de facto relationship for more than 25 years, producing two wonderful sons on the way. We have never had any intention of either looking for something better or of getting married.

Stonewall UK has confirmed that Queen Elizabeth has granted royal assent to the marriage equality bill, concluding its process and officially making it law. This makes the UK the 16th country to pass marriage equality, and same-sex couples will be able to begin marrying in England and Wales by next summer.

See more:
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/07/17/2313921/marriage-equality-is-officially-law-in-the-united-kingdom/?mobile=nc

Earlier this year the Australian Government revoked its ban on issuing same-sex couples with the documents they needed to marry overseas.  Now it's time to revoke the ban on legally recognising these marriages. Fourteen countries currently allow Australians to enter same-sex marriages.

Several, including Japan and Israel, already recognise foreign same-sex marriages even they don't perform such marriages themselves. 

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has introduced a Bill to lift this ban. This is the Australian Parliament's final chance before the election to represent the majority of Australians who support marriage equality and to show the world that Australia has a heart.   

If you wish to sign this petition the link is below.

www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/julia-gillard-and-tony-abbott-allow-australian-same-sex-couples-married-overseas-to-be-recognised-under-australian-law?utm_source=Australian+Marriage+Equality&utm_campaign=ddd64a1c2e-PetitionOSMarriedCouples&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_401f97f215-ddd64a1c2e-99488249