Court raised marriage: bride considered it for Instagram stunt

Court raised marriage: bride considered it for Instagram stunt

An Australian judge canceled the marriage of a couple from Melbourne after the bride had told the court that she took part in the wedding ceremony because she thought it was a joke to social media.

The unusual encounter

According to documents of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, the woman met the man in his 30s in his 30s in September 2023 on a dating platform. The following day they had a personal meeting and started data.

The wedding preparations

The identities of the participants are protected in Australia for data protection reasons. The woman told the family court that they started planning a trip to Sydney in October 2023, since the man wanted to take her there in December.

In late December, the woman made the woman a marriage proposal she accepted. Two days later they married in a ceremony in Sydney - and the woman was convinced that the wedding was only “a representation”.

the misunderstanding

The bride said that the groom asked her to appear to an event location in a white dress because there would be a "white party" where all guests are invited in white. Since the trip had been planned in advance and she had previously participated in a white party in Queensland, she had suspected "nothing suspicious".

she emphasized that the dress she was wearing was not a wedding dress. When she arrived at the venue, she noticed that nobody else was dressed in white.

The crucial moment

When she asked the man about what was happening, he pulled her aside and explained that he organized a "prank wedding" for Instagram to increase his content and monetize his side. The groom was social media influencer - an assertion that he denied but still admitted to have more than 17,000 followers on Instagram.

the legal consequences

The woman had thought that marriages were only final in court and called a friend to look for advice. Her girlfriend confirmed that no legal marriage could be received without first submitting a declaration of intent to make a marriage. So the woman continued with the ceremony.

She told the court that she liked to “play” because the groom explained that he could use any person for the video, but she wanted to choose so that she does not feel jealous.

disappointment and doubt

According to court documents, there were no friends or relatives of the bride - just a photographer and a friend of the photographer. The woman was "angry" when she found out in February 2024 that the marriage was actually valid and that the man applied for asylum.

she mentioned that she had a relieved opportunity to apply for residence as a health specialist and when she was ready to ask her to state him as a dependent relative - something she thought it was not possible because they were not married.

The judicial decision

The man rejected the court that the marriage was not regular and explained that they had lived together before the engagement. The woman denied this, as the court documents show.

The groom stated that he started wedding planning in November. A declaration of intent dated on November 20, 2023 had two signatures. However, the bride claimed that she hadn't seen or signed her.

Judge Joshua Wilson said in his judgment that it was "hardly to be grasped that a couple gets engaged at the end of December and married two days later". The judge found that impulsive weddings occurred, but pointed out that "a wedding party was hired more than a month before the application".

Since the man had told the court that the woman was religious, the judge commented: "Why she participated in a civilian wedding and not in a church ceremony was not examined. In conclusion, he found that the woman took part in the wedding ceremony because she believed that it was a stunt for social media, and decided that the wedding was not a legally valid marriage.