I am happy to conduct your ceremony or celebration in any number of locations. I currently travel throughout South East Queensland, conducting services in areas including Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and those in between.
Weddings
Getting married? This will be one of the most exciting times of your life; joy and happiness are all words that come to mind and of course that other word that seems to go with weddings – stress!
Now here I can help you!
As a celebrant, my job is to work with you by interpreting your wishes, designing and conducting your wedding ceremony so your day will be memorable, fun and even relaxing! Just how you want it to be.
A wedding ceremony is as unique as you are and should reflect your personality, your hopes, dreams and your relationship. At our first meeting all this will be discussed.
By selecting me as your celebrant you will be assured of a very professional standard of service.
Initially, I would like to discuss availability and provide you with information for your consideration. This will also outline what you will need to bring to our first meeting, including details about the necessary legal requirements. We will then arrange a date, time and venue for our meeting.
Meetings
At the first meeting you will have a chance to meet me and discuss your wedding plans. This will give you the opportunity to decide whether or not I am the celebrant for you. There is no charge for this first meeting. Should you wish to employ me as your celebrant, your booking will be confirmed and the form, “Notice of intended marriage”, will be completed.
Following our first meeting, I will design and plan your ceremony. I can provide you with examples of ceremonies, to give you ideas and can guide you with planning. You may like to write personal vows and select readings you would like to include. I will send you a draft ceremony for you to consider. We can then meet, or if you are very busy you may like to receive the details via the internet - whichever way is most convenient for you. We will talk as many times as needed to make sure you are satisfied with your ceremony.
Rehearsal
If you are planning to conduct a rehearsal I will be pleased to attend at a mutually acceptable time, date and venue. At this time, we can discuss the logistics of the wedding day; check the music and make sure all the necessary accessories are organised; give the readers a chance to practice; and go through the ceremony.
Supporting you
I will be available for you to contact via telephone, e-mail etc. from the time you confirm your booking, to the day of your wedding. I will also contact you after your wedding to make sure you were satisfied with my services; (all feedback is greatly welcomed and valued) you may also have suggestions that could improve my services. My aim is to support you continuously throughout the planning, preparation and day of your ceremony.
Your wedding day
I will arrive at your wedding venue at least thirty minutes prior to the start of your ceremony and make sure that the set-up is how you had planned. I will talk to the photographer, person responsible for the music, those who are going to provide any readings and the venue manager (depending on the location of your ceremony); to make sure your ceremony runs as you planned. Your ceremony will be conducted by me, in a professional, warm and sincere manner. After the ceremony I will register your marriage according to the laws of Australia.
Renewal of vows
These ceremonies can be serious or a lot of fun! Couples may wish to express their love and renew their commitment to each other by renewing their marriage vows, such ceremonies may be linked with other special milestones such as anniversaries.
Couples often choose to renew their vows and their commitment to each other after a particularly difficult time in their life. The renewal creates a new beginning, a cementing of the relationship, a sharing of a desire to go forward with renewed love, understanding and devotion.
Renewal ceremonies (while having no legal standing) often follow the format of the marriage ceremony and, where possible, the members of the ceremony conducted years ago, take part in the renewal ceremony.
There are many ways in which a ceremony can be conducted with readings, commitments to each other, poems and memories of significant events throughout your life together. It is wonderful that family members who did not exist at the time of the marriage can now take part!
There are times when a marriage may have been conducted overseas or at a time when not all family members and friends could participate, a renewal of vows ceremony allows for the participation of all those missing guests who can now help to create another romantic and loving ceremony.
Ceremonies for the renewal of vows can be extremely meaningful, express hope for the future while involving loving family and friends who have a chance to reminisce and provide details of events that are often humorous and touching.
Name giving
A name giving ceremony is a beautiful way to welcome your child into your family and community and is a non-religious alternative to a baptism or christening. The ceremony can be as formal or as informal as you like, it has no legal standing but is a time for sharing your joy and happiness with family and friends. Naming ceremonies can be performed for people of all age groups, not just a new born baby.
This is also a time when you may choose friends or family members to be Godparents or Guardians to your child, to support and guide them through their life and be there to share both the happy and the sad times. You may also like to include grandparents in the ceremony, the role each persons plays is up to you. Such ceremonies are usually held in the family home, garden or a local park or similar outdoor venue.
Your guests can participate in a number of ways; these can include making vows (godparents / guardians or grandparents), readings and poems or ceremonial rituals.
These rituals may be:
- releasing balloons (environmentally friendly ones of course!)
- tree planting
- time capsule
- the lighting of candles
- book of wishes etc
Should you have any cultural rituals it would be wonderful to add this richness to your ceremony.
I would be delighted to discuss the endless ways in which this special ceremony can be designed to be uniquely yours so please contact me.
Love commitment & partnership ceremonies - ceremonies with special meaning.
Couples today may choose not to marry or are unable to marry due to the nature of their partnership (including gay and lesbian couples). A commitment ceremony is a wonderful way for couples to declare their love and commitment for one another in a meaningful ceremony in front of family and friends, without legalities.
Commitment ceremonies may be perfect for newly engaged couples who wish to declare their love for each other in the presence of family and friends.
Milestone ceremonies & celebrations
We’ve all heard of wedding, naming and renewal of vows ceremonies but today we can be more creative! There are other milestones in our life that we can celebrate, changes that we need to recognise so that we can end one stage and move onto another, to look forward rather than back.
These ceremonies can include the recognition of successful outcomes – a job promotion, graduation, children leaving home (at last!). Alternatively, they can close the door on a not so happy stage in life – recovery from an illness, separation, divorce, and help us to focus on the future.
Such ceremonies and celebrations can be serious and moving or can be fun, a time to share with loving family and friends and a time to thank them for their support.
Let me help you plan for one of these milestone events.
Others
Occasions to be acknowledged and/or celebrated are only limited by our imaginations. If there is an occassion, not mentioned here, that you wish to celebrate or pay tribute to, please contact me to discuss your individual needs.