Frequently Asked Questions

My booking lead time during peak periods (March/April/October/November, and the months on either side of these) usually sits at around 12 months. That’s not to say that I’m not available for your date if it’s within that timeframe. My suggestion would be to get in touch as soon as your date is confirmed as like all of your vendors a great Celebrant can only be marrying in one place at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon!

Keep in mind off the back of crazy Covid times everyone also worked out that you can get married on any day of the week. I’m a huge fan of Thursday and Friday weddings as the vibes are always high (perhaps in part due to the fact that everyone at your wedding has scored an extra day off work). Midweek weddings are also a great option, particularly if you fall in love with a venue but find that their Saturday’s are booked up years in advance.

Most definitely, I’m a big fan of a vibe check before booking me, as I’d love to meet you both too. During this chat we can get a feel for each other and see if my approach is in line with what you’re after. I offer meet-and-greet video calls most evenings and on weekends (outside of ceremony commitments) via Zoom or FaceTime.

Yes I do, over half of my weddings are outside of Sydney. I often work with couples who, like me, are based in Sydney, but would prefer the convenience of organising everything a little closer to home. This can also come in handy if in the build-up to your wedding you’re a bit short on time. You’ll regularly find me marrying on the South Coast, in the Southern Highlands, Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley and parts of Regional NSW including Mudgee and Bathurst.

A $400 non-refundable booking fee locks me in for your date. As I only conduct one ceremony a day (this is quite different to the approach most Celebrants take, ask my why) there is no need to have an exact wedding ceremony time 100% locked in as this can come together closer to the date. This can also be super handy if you are planning to have an outdoor ceremony but your wet weather option might not be available to you until a later time on your wedding day. In that instance, I would just move with you to your new ceremony time. When you book me I also have a Service Agreement that I send you which sets out how we work together.

No you’re on your own, haven’t you written them already? Of course I can help with your personal vows, I have a whole process that I take my couples through and some great resources to share with you. I’m also your safety net, looking at them both side-by-side before the big day to make sure that they work well together (think similar length and tone, etc.)

In saying that keep in mind you don’t have to share personal vows. Legally you don’t need to share personal vows (you only need to say your legal vows, these are the repeat after me ones), or exchange rings, or be given away. Like everything when it comes to planning your ceremony decide on what suits you both, and just as importantly, what doesn’t. While personal vows are a beautiful moment, if you’re more of a private couple or the thought of speaking publicly during your ceremony is well beyond your comfort zone, I have some other great ideas on how we can incorporate those heartfelt moments without putting you under so much pressure.

*cue a happy dance and a huge sigh of relief by you that you’ve locked in your Celebrant* Beyond that we then move into a bit of a holding pattern until around 4 months prior to your wedding. This is as for me this is the sweet spot, as with the big day fast approaching you tend to be caught up in the emotion and realness of it all (which is exactly what I want from you!) We then line up a ceremony planning chat and during this catch-up also take care of completing your Notice of Intended Marriage, the initial legals required in order to get married. As the big day approaches we then move through everything from finalising your ceremony draft, to a rehearsal, to marrying you on the day.

By building a genuine connection with you in the build-up to your wedding. The way I get to know you is not by getting you to fill out a questionnaire about your relationship, or anything like that. Instead we chat, I’ve got a heap of questions to ask you that often bring out some really interesting answers. And while you might not think they are significant at the time, using my experience I’m always looking out for a different angle we could share a story or a detail that we could have some fun with during your ceremony. That’s not likely to come out if you’ve just answer a handful of questions in a word doc. We chat for as long as we need, and I’m here to help you feel comfortable sharing your stories with me.

For my ULTIMATE LOVE EDIT fully personalised ceremonies, off the back of our planning catch-up I then write a ceremony draft from scratch just for you. This incorporates any specific requests you may have and shares your story in an engaging, memorable and meaningful way. I also offer you help with your vows along with any other ceremony elements we might want to consider including (for example, suggested readings or other unique ways to involve family + friends).

A ceremony draft is not provided for my RUNAWAY ROMANCE elopement/small ceremonies and HITCHED WITHOUT FUSS legals-only ceremonies. Instead, your ceremony is revealed for the first time on the day.

Personally I’m a big fan of a ceremony walk-through/rehearsal the week of the wedding as it helps build your confidence in what will happen on the day. These are rarely at your venue or with your wedding party, it’s usually just the three of us, and more often than not held somewhere like your home, at my home office, at a local pub, or online if we don’t live locally to each other. Even walking through something as simple as putting your rings on through to chatting about how we stand on the day can only help you feel confident and prepared for what will happen on the day. In saying that if you’re more than happy to be led by me on the day and would prefer to not have a rehearsal that’s more than fine too.

While I’m beyond disappointed that these types of questions still get asked (and I promise you, they regularly come up *sad Celebrant face*) I am pro marriage equality and celebrate love in all of its forms. Inclusive ceremonies, regardless of your sexuality or gender, for the win!

Rates for my services vary depending on the date, time and location of your wedding, on top of the type of ceremony service you are after. For more information on my different packages visit my SERVICES page.
Ceremonies outside of Sydney attract travel costs. Please contact me to check my availability and request a quote.

My fee for my ULTIMATE LOVE EDIT ceremony includes:
An initial meet-and-greet | Pre-wedding meetings, emails and phone calls including completing the legal documents required in order for you to get married | Writing your personalised ceremony | Support, guidance and help for you to write your own vows (as needed) | A final pre-wedding catch-up/rehearsal | Marrying you (obviously) and lodging all documentation with Births, Deaths & Marriages | The biggest hug as I drive off in the distance unlikely to ever see you again (as this is not the kind of gig I’m looking for repeat business in!)

In the simplest terms, the price of a celebrant reflects their knowledge, experience and how in-demand their services are. I’m comfortable where I sit in the Celebrant market due to the experience, time and commitment I provide to my couples. In saying that no doubt there are cheaper Celebrants out there, but the experience and ceremony they offer you will be different to mine.

Aside from doing the marrying, I see my role as bringing together everyone and everything that has anything to do with your ceremony on the day. For example, chatting with your photographer, videographer, musicians, venue coordinators, anyone involved, to ensure we’re all on the same page and ready to bring our A-game. I make sure everyone is across key details like entry points, music cues, anything unusual happening during the ceremony, to ensure we’re all prepared and ready.

I’m on-site an hour before the ceremony starts, setting up and testing my equipment. I use a battery operated Bose S1 Pro PA system with a Sennheiser wireless microphone – it’s a cracking set-up, I even have a second Bose S1 Pro speaker that I often bring along to larger weddings.

My opinion is that your wedding ceremony doesn’t need to be long to be meaningful. Legally I could marry you in about two minutes (but please don’t, that’s far too brief if you’ve got a bunch of family + friends coming along!) Most of my fully personalised ceremonies sit around the 20-25 minute mark. Keep in mind some of your guests might be standing and we’re often outside in the elements – making sure that your guests are comfortable is definitely something to be mindful of. An awesome wedding ceremony engaged your guests, packs a punch, focuses on what’s important to you as a couple and helps set the tone for your whole wedding day.

I take pride in how I look at your ceremony and have a range of outfits that are fitting for the occasion. During the planning process I always ask about your colours, for example, what your wedding party are wearing and what tones your florals are, and then coordinate my outfit in line with that. And before you ask, NO I DON’T WEAR WHITE OR ENORMOUS HATS TO WEDDINGS.

You are more than welcome to use my PA system to play recorded music during the ceremony. All I get you to do is let me know your song selections and I download them onto my own device to use on the day. If they are less common songs, edited versions or not available on Spotify, I get you to Dropbox them to me and we can play them that way.

I’m not currently offering MC services but have some great vendors I can point you in the direction of if this is something you’re after.

For all of these answers and more check out the Attorney General’s “Get Married” page here. And for the record you can marry your cousin under the Marriage Act in Australia. You can even marry an aunty or uncle, but you cannot marry a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister… #funfacts

Most definitely. We can take care of completing your Notice of Intended Marriage by email (essentially after getting some details from you I pre-complete your Notice, you print and take it to sign in the presence of an authorised witness overseas, and then once your signed Notice is back in my possession it becomes active). We discuss ceremony ideas via video call, finalise your draft by email and meet in person to fine tune things once you’ve arrived in Australia.

I was appointed by the Commonwealth as a Civil Marriage Celebrant in late 2014 and have since gone on to marry nearly 500 couples. Over the years I feel blessed to have met so many wonderful couples from all walks of life. I’m super proud of every ceremony I have been a part of, and even now there are always new ideas that I take away from each couple that I meet and each ceremony that I’m a part of.