A few months after their dream day, Becc and Nathan discovered they weren’t married at all.

It's meant to be the most magical day, surrounded by the ones who matter most to you. A celebration of love to remember forever.

For Becc and Nathan, their special wedding day was spent in the living room of their Melbourne home. Their closest friends and family moved furniture out of the way for an intimate ceremony before a reception party for 250 friends and family at their local community hall.

It was the "perfect" moment. But a few months later, everything unravelled.

Becc needed to renew her passport and decided she would change her surname. She hunted down a copy of her marriage certificate and when she didn't hear back from the official channels, she chased it up with her celebrant and friend, Will Cheesman.

Red flags started to appear when two of Becc's friends, who were also married by Will, contacted her to say they were struggling to get their official marriage documents.

Watch: How much money should be gifted at a wedding? Post continues below.

Growing concerned, they looked up Will's name on the registered civil celebrants list published by the Attorney-General's Department only to make a startling discovery.

Will was not a registered celebrant, and they had not been legitimately married.

"We were so shocked," Becc told ABC's Background Briefing. "We were like, 'I can't believe a friend did this to us.'"

They weren't the only ones.

Will duped five couples into paying between $700 to $1000 for his wedding "services" between March 2022 and April 2023, police say.

Many of the couples chose Will as their celebrant to have a friend and familiar face officiate the special day. All of their marriages were considered invalid.

A police investigation found that Will had enrolled in celebrant training twice but had never finished the course, despite officiating several people's weddings during this time.

"He'd read the materials but he'd not completed any of the actual practical taskings or assessments," Detective Sergeant Greg McLeod told ABC.

"He was working full time and basically didn't have time to finish it.

"He didn't tell them at any stage that he was not authorised to be a celebrant, and there was no stage where he was authorised to marry people," Sergeant McLeod said.

Will was convicted and handed a six-month community corrections order.

Australian Federal Police Detective Superintendent Donna Tankard described the act as "extremely deceitful".

"This could have had serious financial, religious, and legal consequences for the couples who were victims of this deception," Tankard said, following Will's arrest.

How to choose a legitimate wedding celebrant.

One year on, Becc and Nathan exchanged their vows for a second time and had another friend marry them, for real this time.

Despite everything, they still look back on that day fondly.

"We loved that day, it was amazing… and I do remember really enjoying how Will made it all about us," Becc told the ABC.

The couple hopes sharing what happened can help others from being taken advantage of.

While a fake celebrant is unlikely, it's worth knowing how to check if your celebrant is legitimate.

To be legally marriage in Australia, you must be married by an authorised marriage celebrant or minister of religion.

The best way to check you're in the clear is to check the Attorney-General Department's list of registered celebrants. This covers all celebrants, civil and religious. Simply search by their name or by state or postcode.

If you need to complain about a dodgy celebrant, contact the Attorney-General's office.

Feature image: Getty.