Unless your cousin is a celebrant, it is a very big ask to have a friend or family member be your celebrant. You might do it to save money, but think about it from their prospective - particularly if you have a destination wedding, you are asking this person to pay for flights, transfers, accommodation, a gift, take time off work - all of which is costing them a lot to come to your wedding. And then on top of that you are asking them to perform at your wedding. They will want to get it perfect for you so they will put in time and effort to understand what is required of them, and to write and create a special unique ceremony for you. It takes me a long time to do this, so for someone who does not do this as a job this is a very big ask. They will tell you initially that they are touched and honoured to be your celebrant, but as the weeks and months go by, they often regret having said yes. I am often asked to step in near the date of a wedding by a couple whose friend has changed their mind and they feel let down. Don’t do it- just let your families and friends have a wonderful time, and entrust a professional with your ceremony.

I only officiate at one wedding a day. It is your special day and I am there for you, and you only. I also include a rehearsal in my price as I believe it is really worth walking through the ceremony the day before to put all the wedding party at their ease, and for a seamless ceremony on the wedding day. You can relax the night before knowing it will all go to plan. I put a lot of time and energy into every single one of my weddings to make them unique and a true reflection of you. I’m not interested in being the cheapest, I just want to be the best.

You choose your venue, find your photographer, book your caterer, source an excellent band and dj - great main suppliers chosen. Then you think about the florist, the clothes, the bar, the invites, maybe a videographer. And then you think about the ceremony and who is going to lead it… finally you think about the celebrant. I know because I arranged weddings for years and the celebrant was never the first to be booked. Fair enough, great music, great party are key to a great wedding, but I want to tell you that the celebrant is also key. The celebrant is right there, the ceremony is the start of your wedding celebration, and so a really good ceremony sets the tone for your whole wedding night. Its the reason you are having this huge party, you are getting married and your vows, the words that are said, the emotions that are expressed, the love that is shared, is KEY to the happiness of your whole event. Reminding all your guests about the importance of love, your love and your love story, brings a genuine joy and peace and raises the spirit of your whole occasion.

I recommend between 30 and 45 minutes. It’s important to give people time to sit and take in what is happening. Everyone has had a busy time getting to your wedding on time and after the ceremony it is non-stop socialising. So your ceremony is the one quiet time your guests and you have to pause and reflect on your marriage, and their own relationships, and so don’t rush it. At the same time, don’t make it so long that guests are itching to get up and go to the bar.

I recommend you click on my review page, or go to google reviews. Don’t take my word for it, read the reviews from all my happy couples and why they are so grateful that they booked me. I have lots and lots of experience, I was a wedding planner so have sat in on literally hundreds of weddings and know what makes a wonderful ceremony. I have been a celebrant for 7 years now and love it. And I bring lots of life experience so I am very empathetic and I just love seeing couples happy.

To create a very personal ceremony, yes I do need effort from you. But I am acutely aware of how much time is required by each couple to arrange a wedding, particularly a destination wedding. So I need you to share your love story with me, and make decisions on the content of your ceremony. But time and time again, couples tell me that they loved working on their ceremony because it gave them a chance to reflect on their journey together so far, think about their dreams and aspirations for the future, and discuss how they wanted to express this in front of friends of family. So rather than being an item to tick off the wedmin list, this was a celebration of their decision to get married in the first place.