Angela Finn | Sydney

How love feels

Everything you need to know about a Civil Marriage Celebrant

Marriage celebrant Angela Finn speaks into a microphone at a wedding ceremony in Centennial Park SydneyWhat is a Civil Marriage Celebrant?
A Civil Marriage Celebrant is a person who is registered by the Australian Attorneys Department Government to authorise legal marriages according to the Marriage Act 1961. Registered Marriage Celebrants are regulated by the Attorney General’s Department.

What is the process to become a Civil Marriage Celebrant?
Persons must successfully complete a Certificate IV Celebrancy, submit an application for registration to the Attorney General’s department, successfully answer a series of legal questions about marriage law and process, and be deemed a “fit and proper” person by the Registrar of Marriage Celebrants to qualify for registration as a Marriage Celebrant.

To maintain registration, a Civil Marriage Celebrant must pay an annual registration fee, complete 1.5 hours of Professional Development per year, use specific forms and stationery to carry out their duties and comply with the Code of Practice for Marriage Celebrants.

What do Marriage Celebrants do?
Marriage Celebrants are authorised to formalise marriages according to the law in Australia under the Marriage Act 1961. Marriage Celebrants ensure all legal marriage documentation is prepared correctly. They also provide information and guidance to the couple pertaining to the marriage ceremony. They also create and deliver marriage ceremonies according the couple’s needs and expectations.

What are the advantages of choosing a Civil Marriage Celebrant?
In contrast to religious or registry office authorities, a Civil Marriage Celebrant has greater flexibility when it comes to providing couples with choice regarding their ceremony content and location. A Civil Marriage Celebrant can provide couples the opportunity to express their love, relationship and commitment in a ceremony that is uniquely their own.

Are Civil Marriage Celebrants all the same?
Civil Marriage Celebrants have varying degrees of dedication, skill experience and practice. There are over 9,000 Commonwealth registered Marriage celebrants in Australia. A great wedding celebrant invests considerable time and skill to a marriage ceremony. They are motivated by a genuine passion for the art of ceremony creation and presentation.

Is A Great Wedding Celebrant Worth The Cost?

wedding 3With the cost of the average wedding in Australia between $30,000 and $40,000 you can’t afford to skimp on the quality of your Marriage Celebrant.

If you do, the results can be disastrous and the disappointment long-term.

Don’t make this common mistake.….

Couples can spend months or even years planning their “dream wedding” only to have their dream shattered by a celebrant who mispronounces or forgets the couples’ names.

Or a celebrant who makes everyone cringe with cheesy jokes and sexist comments, or has a useless PA system that prevents most guests from hearing the ceremony.

[Read more…]

What Makes a Great Wedding Celebrant?

There are 8,000+ Marriage Celebrants in Australia. All have different levels of skill, experience and service.

If you don’t have the bonus of knowing a great Wedding Celebrant, it can be hard to know what to look for, let alone who to hire.

Here’s seven skills and personality traits consistent with successful Wedding Celebrants.

1. They know how seriously important your wedding day is to you

Great wedding celebrants won’t let you down. Their level of commitment is off the dial. They spend a lot of time getting to know you, creating and writing your ceremony as well as practicing its presentation. Super organized with excellent time management skills; nothing fazes them. A great celebrant affords you the luxury of being able to relax and enjoy your ceremony – which makes your guests have a good time too.

2. They’re awesome presenters

A great wedding celebrant is a storyteller. They are fun and engaging. Their confidence shows in their face, gestures and body language. They don’t rush. They allow pauses. They know what they’re doing, and this confidence draws the couple and their guests. They make the couple, and their guests feel connected. They take them on an emotional journey that is pure bliss!

3. They know how to create memorable moments

Great wedding celebrants know that the best marriage ceremonies are entrenched in truth and created with intention. They listen and decode everything that their couples say and do so that they can create a ceremony that is authentic. The writing process can take hours, even days to find the right words to convey the couple’s distinctive character. They are patient. The value of a great celebrant is that your marriage ceremony is unique. It is exclusively yours – personal and heartfelt.

4. They value collaboration

A great wedding celebrant is a good communicator who creates rapport easily to get the best from a couple. Often couples do not exactly know what they want for their ceremony, or they may know what they want, but struggle to express it. A great celebrant is intuitive. They listen to their couples on a deep level to assess their needs and determine their vision. A great wedding celebrant provides a copy of the ceremony for review. They value the couple’s input.

5. They’re fun and creative

Great wedding celebrants don’t take themselves too seriously. They behave ethically but know how to combine the serious matter of getting married with the fun side of planning a wedding. They are creative. They welcome ideas, perspectives and offer lots of ideas and choice. They are relentless learners and seek new influences and inspiration to fuel ideas, and to enhance their writing and presentation skills.

6. They’re more than willing to help you

A great wedding celebrant provides lots of ideas and information about ceremony design and content. They provide help with writing marriage vows, offer suggestions for wedding music and readings. They work with their couples to devise ways to include family, friends, traditions, cultural and faiths. They know a wedding is a mix of heightened emotions. They offer experience in dealing with logistics, family dynamics, and high expectations. They continue to educate themselves in legal matters, ceremony creation and relationship issues. They actively seek to improve their practice.

7. And, they’re really good at creating an awesome atmosphere

A great wedding celebrant hosts your wedding ceremony. They set the vibe and make everyone feel welcomed. They mesh easily with your guests. They have an awesome PA system so that everyone can hear your marriage ceremony. They are calm and professional. They can manage any challenge that may arise on your wedding day – before or during the ceremony. If problems arise on the day, you can rely on them to act on your behalf, knowing they have your best interest at heart. Your enjoymentis their number one priority.

If you want to learn more about choosing a Wedding Celebrant? Check out my useful tips.

4 Questions to Help You Find a Wedding Celebrant

A Wedding Celebrant is the most visible service-provider on your Wedding Day.

Their ability to impact your happiness on your Wedding day should not be underestimated.

Yet couples tend to overlook the role of a Celebrant when making their choice. Many make their decision based on price alone, which is risky.

There are heaps of  valuable reasons to consider when choosing a Wedding Celebrant. Let me explain…

It comes down to 4 questions to help you clarify the purpose of your Wedding Ceremony and the Celebrant.

Your answers will help you and your partner direct your choice of Wedding Celebrant.

1. How important is your marriage ceremony?

The goal of your wedding ceremony is to end up married. The way you achieve that goal is your decision. The length, type, mood and content of your marriage ceremony is largely determined by the value you place on the marriage ceremony. Is your marriage ceremony…

  • A thing done purely to comply with convention, regulations or customs?
  • A legal necessity to get over as quick as possible before the party starts?
  • A significant life event of great importance?
  • A rite of passage when you exchange vows and life changes forever?

Your opinion greatly influences the style of Wedding Celebrant to use for the purpose.

Using the idea of a significant life event, a Celebrant will be required to create and write a ceremony that is an artful expression of who you are, as a couple and as individuals. You’ll need a Marriage Celebrant with creative skills – written and verbal – who can express  your union and the importance of the event.

If you want a “no-frills” ceremony, the creation and presentation skills of the Wedding Celebrant won’t matter so much.

2. How do you want to feel on your wedding day?

Most people focus on how a wedding looks. But what’ll you’ll remember about your wedding day is how it felt.

Have you ever been to a wedding ceremony that felt like a ‘non-event’? Remember how you felt?

A ‘boring’ wedding ceremony lacks quality, meaning and personalisation. It results from the ceremony content or sometimes the presentation style of the Marriage Celebrant.

If you want bliss not boredom at your wedding ceremony, choose a Wedding Celebrant that

  • Is motivated by a genuine passion for the art of ceremony creation and presentation
  • Matches your personality and style.
  • Demonstrates your best interests to ensure you and your guests feel happy and valued

3. What style of wedding ceremony do you want?

A civil marriage ceremony has ample scope for creativity.  Apart from the legal inclusions, all the rest – content, location, décor, music, participation, apparel –  is open to personal choice. The style and mood of your wedding ceremony reveal

  • who you and your partner are as a couple
  • what marriage means to you both

What is important to both of you? What sort of things do you want to acknowledge at your ceremony?

  • Your love and  relationship
  • Family and friends
  • Culture, traditions, beliefs
  • Passions and interests

What kind of “vibe” do you want your wedding ceremony to have?

  • Relaxed or formal
  • Traditional or modern
  • Surprising or predictable

Your answers will greatly influence your choice of Celebrant.

For example, if you want a traditional wedding ceremony that conveys a formal mood, look for a Marriage Celebrant that suits that style.

If you want an alternative wedding, or a themed wedding – Country and Western, Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Disco, the 50s – look for a Wedding Celebrant with a propensity for fun and creativity, open and engaging.

If you need help to define, create and convey a mood for your ceremony, seek a Wedding Celebrant that provides information, samples, and ceremony ideas.

4. How much does a wedding celebrant cost?

Whatever we spend our money on tells us something about who we are, what we know and what matters to us.

Early on in your wedding planning, it is essential to pick the few things that matter to you, so you can identify where to allocate your budget.

If your Marriage Ceremony is really important to you and you understand the considerable contribution, a Celebrant can make to your happiness on your wedding day and beyond, set aside a realistic fee for your Celebrant.  The fee for a skilled Marriage Celebrant in Sydney can cost up to $1800.

There are many factors that determine the expertise of a Wedding Celebrant, which I will write more about later.

Making Your Decision

Choosing a Marriage Celebrant is an incredibly personal choice.   There are thousands of Celebrants  to choose from, all with varying skills and personalities to suit your needs.

Whoever you choose and for whatever reason, it will be much easier to choose a Wedding Celebrant if your take into consideration what matters to you on your Wedding Day.

For a list of registered Marriage Celebrants in Australia who conduct civil ceremonies see the Attorney General’s Department 

Up close and personal

Tuesday 15 July, 2014

I was recently interviewed about marriage and why I became a Civil Celebrant. Here’s the low-down…

You and Joe have been married for 26 years. What do you remember most fondly about your marriage ceremony?
Besides the actual vows, our entrance was pretty special. My father had died 3 years prior, so I wanted something different for my ‘walk down the aisle’. Joe and I entered from either side, met in the middle and walked down the aisle together to enter into marriage.  [Read more…]