Celebrants are involved in a wide range of ceremonies, often held outside involving children, dogs, emotional family members and people taking part in rituals for the first time in their lives. What could go wrong? The answer is anything and everything!
Today we have our regular guest blogger Melanie Lawson from Oberon, NSW raising awareness of potential calamities in your ceremonies and tips on how to be prepared.
How much does a celebrant cost
First of all, what is the role of the celebrant?
The role of a civil celebrant is to:
Here are some questions that you might consider when engaging a civil celebrant.
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The law in Australia at the moment is that legal marriage you must comply with these five things:
1. your relationship must be between a man and a woman
2. you must be 18 years of age or over *
3. you must not be married to anyone else
4. you cannot marry a person who is your antecedent or descendant by marriage or adoption
5. you must both be capable of and give free consent to marry the other
If you can say yes to all five of those stipulations, then you are clear to start the getting married process with your celebrant.
Your first job, after finding your celebrant, is to complete the Notice of Intended Marriage form, commonly known as the NOIM. Once this is filled in (your celebrant can help you) you lodge it with your celebrant. This must be done no earlier than 18 months and no later than one whole month before your ceremony date.
If you are lucky enough to have found the one you love and they just happen to be the same sex as yourself then we are working hard to ensure that you are able to marry legally here in Australia. However, until that time comes there are avenues in some states where you can register your union. Click here for more information.
Why not speak to your celebrant about a Commitment ceremony or 'Betrothal' ceremony in preparation for full equality in marriage becoming legal in Australia?
* Under rare circumstances, a person between the age of 16 and 18 can marry, provided their prospective marriage partner is 18 years or over, and the couple have been granted permission by a Court as prescribed in the Marriage Act 1961.
ASK A CELEBRANT BLOG
www.celebrants.org.au
I lived in the North West of Western Australia which is a wonderful beautiful place. For myself and my family it presented opportunity for varied work and living experiences and some great memories.I’ve had the opportunity to work and study in various areas such as community agencies family support services, tourism and administration in the health industry.
Moving back to the city of Perth brought about a lot of change for my family. The more I thought about this the more
This weeks featured celebrant is Gwen Stevenson from Cairns QLD.
Hi. My name is Gwen Stevenson, and I am an Authorised Civil Marriage Celebrant in beautiful Far North Queensland. I have lived in Cairns since 1983 and feel I have a very good feel of our lovely area and the fantastic locations the North has to offer for Wedding Ceremonies and other Life Celebrations.
My Celebrant profession is on a part time basis at the moment, and I work full time for a family owned Resort in Cairns looking after their Administration requirements. I would love to be able to carry out the Celebrancy work on a full time basis though, and that is the goal I am working toward.
This weeks featured celebrant is Eunice Phipps from South Brisbane QLD.
I come from a loving family background and have been married now for forty years. I have two children and four grandchildren. I have always been creative and as a twelve year old I learnt oil painting and still love to paint. For many years I have been involved in my community first teaching the art of calligraphy and then folk art which I am still actively teaching today. I have always enjoyed creative writing and have written many poems through the years, including my annual Christmas Verse.
This weeks featured celebrant is Marlee Bruinsma from the Gold Coast QLD.
When my first two children came along in rapid succession, I was working as a busy lawyer in a country practice in Victoria. As a new mother, I could not keep up with the frenetic (frenzied and frantic!) pace of my job, which seemed to require 60 to 80 hours of work each week, so I decided to take some time off to be with my children.
When they were a little older, I moved back to my home State – Queensland. Oh joy – no more wrapping them in layers of clothes against the cold – singlets and nappies were the order of the day and only one load of washing a day instead of three. Later came a couple more children and I was lucky to be able to settle on an acreage in the Gold Coast hinterland, close enough to the bright lights but also by the side of a creek, where we have platypus and fish, wallabies and koalas (and chickens!).
This weeks featured celebrant is Liane Kirwan from Brisbane QLD.
My name is Liane Kirwan and I am an Authorised Marriage Celebrant and Justice of the Peace (Qualified). I am also a Speech and Drama Teacher, and, being a bit of an actor, I thought Celebrancy would be right up my alley.
So, about 15 years ago, I enquired about becoming a Marriage Celebrant and used to make a phone call to Canberra every year or so to see if they were appointing more Celebrants. I was delighted to find out, after years of waiting, they were accepting more Marriage Celebrants, so I completed my training and was registered in September 2007.
This weeks featured celebrant is Jacqueline Anstey from Melbourne, VIC.
Hi, I am a registered marriage celebrant,and have extensive public speaking experience (over 12 years).
In my previous life, I was a corporate trainer and presenter, including some stints overseas. I also dabbled in project management and commenced a counselling course as well.
My long term training job finally came to an end at a similar time to me becoming a parent. What was I to do? I was excited about the opportunity to reinvent myself and being able to choose a career which balanced home and work life.
This weeks featured celebrant is Glenda Ashurst from Brisbane QLD.
As a child I lived on a farm so it was therefore necessary to attend boarding school for my education. I was fortunate that extra tuition was available for Elocution and Drama training which I feel has stood me in good stead for projecting my voice and the ability to perform in front of a lot of people for presentation at ceremonies, even though I am still a little nervous. A colleague told me recently that was good because it meant I still cared about my couples and the quality of my work.
This weeks featured celebrant is Elizabeth Wilkie from Brisbane, QLD.
My name is Elizabeth Wilkie and I am a newly appointed Celebrant as of June 2009. I’ve been married to Anthony for nearly 20 years now and we have two beautiful boys Paul 16 and Christopher 14. Anthony and I run a small building renovation business which has given me the flexibility to stay home with the boys. I have also worked part time in retail which I loved except the hours were a bit of a juggle especially when the kids were little.
This weeks featured celebrant is Pamela Fynan from Parramatta, NSW.
I live in the heart of Parramatta and grew up here, I went to school at Macarthur Girl’s High School. My Parents came from Millthorpe and Orange and moved to Camden in NSW before settling in Parramatta.
Mainly of a Scottish heritage I am a member of the Mackay Clan and I have relatives in Edinburgh Scotland.
I am Mother to two lovely Daughters and Nana to three beautiful Grandchildren.
I became interested in being a celebrant years ago. As a Justice of The Peace I like serving the Community. I did actually apply in the ‘80’s but there was a cap on the numbers and by the time the Attorney General contacted me years later I had changed direction.
This week featured celebrant is Sonia Collins from Batemans Bay NSW.
My name is Sonia Collins and I am a Civil Celebrant in Batemans Bay, New South Wales. This is a very popular area for weddings, with couples coming from Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, and country towns across NSW and Vic, as well as our local area. The area has great venues for weddings and for receptions and with the natural beauty of the coast and the bush it is not surprising that Batemans Bay is a first choice for many couples especially those with happy memories of time spent here on holidays.I have enjoyed a satisfying career in Human Resource Management and my interest in people led me to undertake the training to become a Marriage Celebrant.
This weeks featured celebrant is Anna Wong from Melbourne VIC.
My name is Anna Wong and I am a mother of 3, a grandmother of 3, a registered civil celebrant, trained nurse, midwife and childbirth educator.
I was born and brought up in England, trained as a nurse and midwife in London and moved to Singapore in 1980 with my Chinese Singaporean Husband. He was a General Surgeon, I a Nurse, and, in a stereotyped manner, our eyes met over an operating table....... I founded my own health education centre called Birth & Beyond in 1985 and quickly became a leader in the field of childbirth education and parenting. I spent over 24 years educating, supporting, empowering and inspiring women and their partners through pregnancy, birth and beyond in Singapore and Indonesia.
This weeks featured celebrant is Jenni Bolton from Melbourne VIC.
My name is Jenni Bolton and I was registered as a Civil Celebrant in September 2005. Since then I have officiated at many weddings, renewal of vows, namings and funerals.I am a secondary school teacher now working part-time to allow me time to look after my 4 grandchildren with another one on the way.I was attracted to training to become a celebrant because I love working with people to achieve a goal, and I suppose my background in education and theology gave me the confidence and the skills needed to successfully fulfill the role.
This weeks featured celebrant is Lorraine Stokes from Port Stephens NSW.
I am happily married with 2 married children, one granddaughter and another grandchild on the way. I worked in the finance industry for over 30 years and during that time often did public speaking at conferences, seminars and staff nights so was reasonably comfortable standing out the front and speaking to groups of people. I left that industry 12 months ago and also moved from the Blue Mountains to the Port Stephens area so I have really had a sea change. What made me become a Celebrant was my attendance at 2 weddings within 2 months of each other both conducted by Celebrants. The first was beautiful well written and very personal the second one was over in what seemed a flash with no feeling. I felt sorry for the Groom (who was my nephew) and Bride and thought everyone deserves a beautiful wedding day, I had a number of friends and family come up to me after the second wedding and say they felt I would have done a better job of it.
Congratulations to our lovely Lyn Knorr
Lyn achieves 40 years today as civil celebrant having been appointed in Australia on 24th July 1973, the second Civil Marriage Celebrant appointed in Australia and the first in Victoria.
Celebrants and Celebrations Network Australia - TCN is privileged to have Lyn Knorr as one of our founding TCN Inc Committee members and a TCN Life Member.
And with some long-timers at the 40 the Anniversary last Friday of the appointment of the first Civil Marriage Celebrant, Lois D'Arcy.
Lyn shared some of her memories of the Early Days at a 2005 celebrant conference.
We thank her for her faithful service to the Australian public and our civil celebrancy profession and wish her all the very best in the years ahead.
This weeks featured celebrant is Wayne Loughrey from Perth Western Australia.
For the last 40 years I have been involved in the Australian agricultural industry, firstly in NSW and Victoria finally settling down 26 years ago in WA with our family in Lesmurdie. My wife Rosemary and I have been married for 38 years this year and we have both travelled to various countries throughout the world and have now just about completed our list of places to travel. I am and have been involved in many community groups such as Rostrum, Apex, Local Bush Fire Brigade, Masonic Lodge, RSL, and previously a member of the management committee of the South of Perth Yacht Club.
From Rebecca Skinner
The Celebrants Network Incorporated Blog Coordinator
Celebrants & Celebrations Network Australia Celebrant Member
www.celebratinglifeschapters.com
Hand tying or handfasting adds a lovely new dimension to a wedding ceremony. But what coloured ribbons should you choose?
All colours have their significance. For instance red is the colour of passion, strength and fertility; orange represents attraction and kindness while yellow is linked to confidence and joy.
Green, often used by financial institutions, represents prosperity along with health while blue, the colour of the ocean, stands for tranquility, devotion and sincerity.
Purple represents power, white- purity and peace and black, strength and success.
Pink is the colour of romance, brown is very grounding while gold is linked to energy, wealth (of course!) intelligence and longevity.
Silver on the other hand is the colour of creativity and inspiration.
So knowing all that, which colours would you choose? Maybe a mixture of them all...
Hand Fastibg
This weeks featured celebrant is Barry Blundell from Tumut, Riverina and Snowy Moutains Area.
After completing high school at Tumut NSW; I moved to Sydney where I commenced a long career with the Post Master General’s Department (later to become Telstra). I returned to my home town ten years later, as an employee of Telstra in a customer service representative role. I have become more familiar with my local area and nearby regions of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.
This weeks featured celebrant is Meg L'Estrange from Eltham Victoria.
I am Meg L'Estrange, a celebrant for all occasions, a former teacher and school counsellor, and a family woman with three adult sons.
While I was teaching I experienced the death of my mother. When my dad had died two years earlier, she was so distressed by the funeral he was given, which was totally inappropriate for him, that she said, 'Let no man of the cloth come near me when I die!'
reminder