A friend cannot legally solemnise your marriage unless they are an authorised celebrant.
What Your Friend Can Do
Your friend can absolutely:
- speak at a celebration
- lead a symbolic ceremony
- share stories and readings
- create a personal moment for you
What Your Friend Cannot Do
Your friend cannot make the marriage legal unless they are already authorised to solemnise marriages.
The Practical Option
Many couples separate the two parts:
- we do the legal paperwork-only marriage
- their friend leads a symbolic ceremony before or after
That way you keep the legal side simple and still have a personal moment if that matters to you.
If what you really want is a full ceremony where a celebrant works around the friend-led moment, this site is not the right fit. Use Josh Withers.