Weddings / Civil union

Congratulations on your commitment to each other and taking a step to celebrate your love and friendship. This is a sacred union and I can assist you to make your ceremony as unique as you are - to express your love, commitment and intentions for your meaningful life together.

A wedding and a civil union are both legal ceremonies and may appear similar in most ways yet they are different. I am a registered and trained Marriage and Civil Union Celebrant. It is your special day and my role is to ensure that you have the ceremony the way you want it. For example, while the term “partner” is used in civil unions I can use this in your wedding ceremony if preferred. Also in a civil union the terms “marriage or wedding” can be used if you wish on your special day.

As you’re planning your wedding day remember that it is a day of celebration and one that will have lasting memories. Your special day should reflect who you are as a couple and the ceremony is an opportunity to show how true, genuine and personal your relationship is as you embark on your journey into married life.

Some people know exactly what they would like and others say they have no idea. That’s fine - my role as a Celebrant is to offer you my time, support and ideas when needed to help you have the ceremony you want. The process that I would follow is one of listening and understanding you as a couple and learning what marriage means to each of you.

How would I do this? 

Have an initial no cost, no obligation meeting in person or if not in the same location by skype, to see if I’m your Celebrant of choice. In this meeting we discuss the day, location and type of wedding you would like. Also I can explain my role, timeframes, fees and methods for payment.

Once you confirm your booking and pay the deposit we will meet again. At this meeting we will discuss how we will work together to create your personalised ceremony including your vows (which I will explain a little more below). I will cover the legal responsibilities and what resources I can provide and what resources you will need to source. To assist me in learning about your love story I have a little questionnaire for you to complete – this can be completed later and returned to me. It would also be appropriate to raise any rituals, readings or other things that you would like to incorporate into your ceremony. By the time we finish our meeting, we will have a broad outline of ideas to create your unique and genuine ceremony.

From all the information that you have provided and ideas from our discussion (plus any research that I may do) I will try to capture your story, beliefs and future hopes throughout the script for your personalised ceremony. I will email you a draft of the script to read, check, edit and approve – Remember, this is your ceremony and I am here to provide you with what you want. There are no issues with any changes that you would like to make until you both feel happy and get exactly what you want. I am available to you throughout this process in person, via email, by phone or Skype.

Final Logistics

By now we would have covered most of the logistics of how your day will flow, and I will confirm that you have your marriage licence and if possible have this given to me for safe keeping. Otherwise, it can be brought to the rehearsal. It is also the time to pay the outstanding balance of my fee, if not already paid in full. This needs to be paid at least one week prior to the actual wedding day.

Now the fun part - The rehearsal 

Now for the fun part – the part that really starts to make it feel all so real - a rehearsal. A rehearsal is a good way to ensure that your day is remembered for all the right reasons. At least two days prior to your actual wedding day we will have a rehearsal (onsite if possible). This is the time when we practice the choreography (no words of the actual ceremony are shared) of your ceremony – the timings of how people will enter and exit, who will stand where and when, how people will know it’s time for the rituals – if there are readers they may wish to rehearse to help settle nerves, what happens during the signing of the Marriage Certificate and work through any issues that come up to ensure that things will go without a hitch at the actual ceremony.

Your wedding day

Your wedding day has arrived and all the work, planning and excitement of what will unfold is about to be one of the best days of your life. I will arrive at least 30 minutes early and be available to liaise with other service providers involved in the wedding, greet guests and welcome the bridal party on their arrival.

Copy of particulars

After the ceremony I will present you or your delegated person with your Copy of Particulars, when it is time to for me to go I will say goodbye and get a nice photo with you. I will take care of lodging the signed Copy of Particulars with the issuing office of Births, Deaths and Marriages no later than ten days after the wedding so your marriage will be officially registered. 

Keepsake

In the coming weeks I will post a beautiful copy of your ceremony and vows as a keepsake of your special day.