Weddings and marriage | The SMH archive

I hate wedding directories so I built yet another wedding directory

Jo asks: Hey Josh, it’s one of your favourite subjects – P.A. systems. I am saving up for my first one, not even sure where to start but think my budget might stretch to $2k. Is that too little? Can you provide some opti

There are over 10,000 registered marriage celebrants in Australia. In 2024, there were 120,844 marriages. Even accounting for the 20% performed by religious ministers, that’s roughly 96,000 civil ceremonies split between

One of your colleagues wrote to me recently about the quandary that presents itself when you happen to be a parent and a marriage celebrant. I spoke to her issue— and shared my embarrassing story— on the Celebrant In

The Betoota Advocate satires Australian life, but can Australians just trying to live their life benefit too?

When I sit down with a couple for the first time, I always buy their coffee. Not just because I’m a nice guy (which, let’s be honest, everyone already knows I am), but because it works. It’s a tactic straight out of t

The story of marriage celebrancy in Australia over the past two decades is not just a tale of registration numbers — it’s a window into what happens when a regulated profession opens the doors too wide, too quickly, and

Let’s be honest for a second: the wedding industry has been under this illusion for years that brides and grooms — couples — are scrolling through wedding directories like they’re flicking through the David Jones catalog

Being a celebrant is a strange and wonderful job. You stand in front of a group of strangers, legally authorise a marriage between two of their favourite people, and speak words that might stick in someone’s memory for t

As an Australian marriage celebrant, we’re juggling multiple responsibilities–from crafting personalised ceremonies to managing client relationships and handling administrative tasks. The recent advances in AI technology

I feel like there's a lot of here-say as to the state of the wedding industry today so I thought I'd engage our friend ChatGPT, in particular the new "Deep Research " model on ChatGPT 4.5, to see if there was any data out

We’ve all been there. A couple enquires about your celebrant services. You exchange emails, maybe have a phone call or even meet for coffee. The connection seems genuine, the conversation flows, and you’re mentally slott

A sharp look at why traditional wedding directories are facing their "Yahoo moment " as couples' search habits evolve, plus what makes a truly valuable directory in 2025 – including free listing opportunities for Australi

Discover why linking out from your celebrant website to other quality resources actually improves your SEO, builds industry relationships, and helps potential clients see you as a trusted wedding expert. Learn practical linking strategies that can boost your online presence and attract more bookings.

The digital landscape is shifting beneath our feet, and as wedding celebrants, we need to adapt or risk becoming invisible. Coming back to Australia from living in Mexico I put a lot of money into old school marketing

When planning a wedding, legal questions can sometimes create emotional challenges, especially when family dynamics are involved. Recently, a mother of the bride asked a complex question: could her daughter marry her hus

Jake asks: "When I get couples to sign via video chat it's pretty clunky and I'd rather it be less clunky. I'd love to know the best ways to arrange the e-signing of the NoIM " How to Remotely Witness a NOIM over

As we analyse the latest consumer behaviour data from the USA, clear trends are emerging that will likely influence the Australian wedding market. Here’s how you can position your celebrancy practice to meet evolving

In an exciting development for Aussie marriage celebrants, Apple has announced new features that could help make your business more professional and trustworthy in the eyes of potential clients using Apple devices like i

As authorised marriage celebrants, we’re entrusted with some of the most sensitive details in our clients' lives. One of our colleagues - an Australian marriage celebrant - was recently hacked and the hackers gained acce

Artificial intelligence workshops for wedding professionals and celebrants by

A barbershop in Canberra I visited once—when I was flying in and needed a cut before a wedding—emailed me this week.

An industry body just emailed me a PDF magazine showcasing wedding vendors and weddings from the region. The email sold it as a "labour of love", and as much as...

Let’s talk about why I, as a celebrant, stand in the middle of the ceremony, right between the couple, instead of off to the side. The short answer? Our senses demand it. We don’t experience weddings purely through

A commitment ceremony can be an important and simple way to celebrate a marriage-like-love when the legal formalities of marriage according to the law in Australia aren’t possible, as in one of our member's cases today w

For the last decade, I’ve famously recommended the Sennheiser EW range of wireless microphones to celebrants. They’ve been my go-to for reliable, high-quality sound in all kinds of wedding environments. And while I stil

When you're building your celebrant website, you’re crafting the digital front door to your business, the handshake before you meet your couple. And like any good intro, it needs to do more than look good—it needs to wor

A wedding blog that you and I both love posed some questions to me about how much celebrants cost, how to budget for one, and what to expect from certain fees. I know from a recent celebrant group chat I'm in that this c

If you don’t know who MrBeast is, then jump onto Youtube and search for the guy with 312 million subscribers, and almost 60 billion views over his 800 videos released over the last 12 years. Jimmy has a large staff to

If you're a wedding celebrant looking to improve your online presence and attract more couples, here’s a straightforward SEO content strategy you can use to make your website more visible on Google and Bing. If things ar

I've got to be honest about Jimmie before I share his message. His burst onto the wedding scene was the first time I f...

My friends at WedShed surveyed 600 different wedding venues and vendors and crafted together some narrative and understanding

Kiera is the girl that made me respect the art and craft of wedding planning. In my career, before meeting her, wedding planners had been stylists given control...

The nicest guy in the wedding industry for a decade running is Jake Smith If you ever manage to tie him down for a coffee or a meal, y...

The most common question I receive from celebrants is about what to say in a ceremony? Where do we get inspiration and words from?

Glenn was one of the first people I ever met in the wedding industry who ran the kind of operation I could aspire to run. Not in size...

My goal at a wedding is to take the individual happiness of each guest and get them to share it with the rest of the audience and the couples.

Writing a marriage ceremony is like any other form of writing, with one big difference: in a few weeks, you'll present it publicly just once, never to be repeat...

I felt sick when I saw my brother's wedding photo, the two of them are the middle of their first kiss and there's my big fat head right in the middle.

Are you ready to take your Instagram game to the next level? Join us for an exclusive online event, the Instagram Mythbusters event, featuring the incredible Edwin Smith from The Social Sandwich and hosted by me (Josh Wi

Josh Mikhaiel on being human and also being a wedding business person:

Webinar on this topic: $10 to watch on demand webinars to learn about the new marriage law changes. From 12 June 2024, all authorised marriage celebrants must meet with each party separately and in person before

Our everyday jobs wedding-creating and magic-delivering can become rather "every day" pretty quickly.

Hamish & Andy took Casual Fridays to another level, Pants Off Fridays (they even got U2 in on it), and it's a bit of a stretch but I want to take this daily letter to the world's best wedding creators to another level, so I'm going to start asking my friends to write to you too.

What are the best hashtags wedding creators should use to increase their reach? None

I've just viewed a wedding photographer's Instagram post that was cross-posted to Threads but with all the "Instagram hacks" attached.

Long-term thinking, playing the long game. This is the most expensive but the most advantageous game to play, but almost no-one is doing it.

Heritage can't be created, but it can be celebrated. For a while there it was very cool to be the new kid on the block, but their heritage is close to zero.

Craftsmanship is easy for wedding creators. All we do is craft and create, albeit we create ephemeral moments but those are the best things to craft because all...

The luxury wedding creator can take inspiration from the luxury makers of the world, like Hermes or Dior.

Twice a year I sit in an important government meeting about marriage law and another attendee brings up the idea that there are, apparently, too many celebrants...

Let's have a chat about something not everyone loves discussing, but we all know is essential: accountants. Your celebrancy business needs an accountant like a wedding needs a celebrant. Seriously. And there's no better

Come dive into Sharon and Adam's wedding in the picturesque Douglas Vale Historic Vineyard and Homestead in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. Sharon's wedding was not just a lovely occasion but also a masterclass in th

The wedding industry in Australia is vibrant and evolving, despite the shifting societal views on marriage. As a celebrant deeply embedded in this industry through both personal and industry-wide lenses, I've distille

I completely rewrote todays marriage ceremony just before I delivered it — I’m in Queenstown, New Zealand for a few couples this week — after spending the tw...

We understand that accessibility is key in providing seamless services as a marriage celebrant, and we also understand that the Notice of Intended Marriage and Official Certificate of Marriage being provided from the AGD

Your style of presenting a ceremony is different to mine, and most likely different to everyone else's.

This Insights podcast episode is with Josh and Sarah-Louise Anderson, who is planning her wedding on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for the 1st of October. They discuss the process of choosing a wedding date around he

The beautiful thing about being a wedding officiant or celebrant is that we get to craft a life for ourselves. What kind of celebrant we are, what product we pr...

Are you ready to earn more money and make it big as a wedding celebrant or officiant?

You have a unique opportunity to create community and provide leadership in your local wedding industry. Celebrants and officiants are independent, often solo, ...

Kim and Zac married in Cronulla and they always knew that Tania Marsh was going to be their celebrant. The couple got married in Cronulla and flew Tania down to Sydney for their wedding. [audio mp3= "https://celebra

I like to work in local knowledge and context to my ceremonies, and NearbyWiki helps me do that. It shows me Wikipedia articles near a...

It's so common for celebrants and officiants to send a questionnaire to help them create a ceremony for couples.

Here's a free thing to say in your next wedding ceremony.

The French writer, poet, and aviator Antoine de Saint Exupéry said,

We often consider ourselves - celebrants, people who create ceremony - to be people that are only giving to a wedding.

To invent you have to experiment, and if you know in advance that it’s going to work, it’s not an experiment. Invent and experiment in your ceremony

When someone books you to be their wedding celebrant they're expecting you at full energy, full-on, 100% of you, on that day. It's impossible for you to deli...

As a wedding celebrant, our role is pivotal in creating a memorable experience for couples on their special day. Public speaking is an integral part of this role, and there's much to learn from seasoned speakers across d

In my dual role as celebrant and also bookkeeper for my wife's business The Elopement Collective I receive and pay invoices for t...

I've described my ceremony preparation and writing style before as a series of "bits ", much like how a comedian will assemble a show from their jokes and bits, I'll assemble a ceremony together much the same. So when

Explaining the 2024 dip in wedding enquiries and bookings, or the shortening of planning time, Shane references a New York Times article which references the investors letter from the world's largest retailer of diamond

The 2023 WeddingPro Benchmarking Report offers a comprehensive look into the current state of the American wedding industry, focusing on the challenges and strategies wedding professionals use to grow their businesses.

The Easy Weddings 2024 Australian Wedding Industry Report provides an overview of the state of the wedding industry from the point of view of Easy Weddings and its 4,200 engaged and newlywed couples that completed the su

A friend refused to use his own name as the name of his wedding business because he was worried people wouldn't spell it properly so I asked him to spell Annie ...

In this episode of the Insights podcast episode - [memberful_buy_subscription_link plan=106531-insights-monthly]Insights level members[/memberful_buy_subscription_link] can [memberful_podcasts_link podcast=20822]listen h

Sitting down for a coffee with my grandma a week after I returned from Iceland in 2016 I was excited to show her photos of the marriage ceremonies I'd made ther...

Being the best local wedding celebrant near me today doesn't mean as much as it used to in the days of the Yellowpages.

Madelin and Jeremy had no idea how much Sue would cost but they were prepared to pay whatever Sue would cost because they were set on her without even knowing her fee.

As wedding celebrants we collect a mountain of data about our clients, some is strict stuff like names and dates of birth, but the most interesting data to a ha...

Right now, 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, and they’re one of the fastest-growing religious — or nonreligious — groups in America. An even larg...

I've just taken a quick trip to Noosa for an elopement and I flew the same airline I always fly.

We're in the business of connecting with, selling to, and marrying real humans who live in the real world - not the wedding industry world.

Did you know that in a very specific circumstance a certain kind of celebrant can marry a certain kind of couple in a country that isn't Australia - and it's all allowed by Australian law, plus it's a valid Australian ma

Lifelink was a controversial project, first proposed in 2002, it cost almost $50 million to bring it to life, but one of the small blessings it brought was surety to celebrants that the marriage was registered properly,

Why do I call our job celebrant and not officiant like everyone outside of Australia does? As one is apt to do at a wedding, allow me to quote the dictionary...

I would like “new stuff” to include in my ceremonies.

I believe that a wedding should feel and sound better than it looks and there's something about reading word for word from a page that taints that. The truth...

The marriage ceremony isn't the closing ceremony. It's not a funeral for their single, dating, courting life. The wedding isn't a participation certificate for ...

This isn't rocket surgery, and it's not a walk in the park. This is a marriage ceremony. With or without all the trimmings, flowers, photographer, champagne, ni...

I witnessed a celebrant performing a marriage ceremony from a display book, one of those books with plastic envelopes in it that you insert your printed paper i...

I often find myself by the concept of award ceremonies for creatives - especially for wedding celebrants - because I simply don't think we're in a race and I co...

We're all trying to do different things when we create a marriage ceremony. Me, I don't merely want to create a wedding that is just fine and ok.

If I visit your wedding officiant website, in the first moments can I determine:

Whenever a couple ask me how long my wedding ceremonies are I can always give the same easy answer: about 18 minutes.

In January we asked Australian celebrants to complete a survey. Of the 10,339 authorised marriage celebrants in Australia, 297 responded, giving us a 2.87% response rate, and this is our analysis of the survey results.

As the person creating and leading a wedding ceremony consider the five senses in ceremony creation.

The Attorney-General's Department's Marriage Law and Celebrants Section announces a significant update: a new Certificate of Faithful Performance by Interpreter. This change and changed form for 2024, results from mo

As of June 12 2024 remote witnessing of Notice of Intended Marriage forms is now law and you can visit this page for an update. Rounding out my 2024 prediction series of blog posts we know for sure that change i

As wedding celebrants, we've weathered the storm of the pandemic, continuing to offer our cherished services amidst unprecedented challenges. However, it's time to acknowledge a critical aspect of our business that many

[et_pb_section admin_label= "section "] [et_pb_row admin_label= "row "] [et_pb_column type= "4_4 "][et_pb_text admin_label= "Text "]I am excited to forecast that 2024 will be hailed as the year of the intentional wedding. Th

In the evolving world of wedding planning, the role of a celebrant is continually transforming. Today's celebrants are not just facilitators of a ceremony; they are storytellers, advisors, and now, thanks to Artificial I

With new celebrants entering the market every month, your marketing, sales, enquiry, and booking process need as much attention as your ceremony production and delivery do. I want to introduce the concept of red-teaming

Go to any wedding celebrant's website and there's a 50% chance that somewhere on the front page they'll say something like "your wedding your way " which is lovely and kind. Of course, the customer is always right as Harr

As more Australian states start delivering digital drivers licenses it's important for Australian marriage celebrants to know if they can use digital drivers licenses as ID when solemnising marriages.

If you've ever heard my story of going full-time as a wedding celebrant you can skip the next three paragraphs. I'd already been plugging away at celebrancy, not getting quite as much traction as one would like, for four

Luke emailed me yesterday as I was about to solve for myself the problem he identified: What software would you recommend to use for a marketing list? Again are there any zaps or workflows in setting up the marketing lis

Are you thinking about becoming a marriage celebrant just to officiate at your friends' weddings? That's a beautiful sentiment, but there's a lot you need to know and consider before taking this route.

To celebrate fifty years of the Marriage Celebrants program in Australia, Josh Withers looks at how the movement has moved the entire industry forward.

If you've seen people using AI in their business and you're wondering how you could use it in yours, here's a demonstration on how I'm using ChatGPT to reply to wedding enquiries with emails like this. Before you do step

Be awesome at your job, do your job, only your job, not other people's job, and don't make it hard for them to do their job.

As of June 12 2024 remote witnessing of Notice of Intended Marriage forms is now law and you can visit this page for an update. Over sixty years ago the Australian people were gifted one of the most progressive

How many times do we all hear it from a friend, a wedding industry colleague, or someone at a wedding, that they think they'd make a great celebrant and they want more information on it. After being asked the question a

As a wedding celebrant, you know better than anyone else how important it is to be prepared for the unexpected. From weather conditions to late vendors, to a family member showing up late, there's always something that c

I was thinking about 1 Corinthians 13:4 to me recently. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. " If you're a wedding celebrant you've probably heard it a thousand times befor

Marie asks: I married a couple last night and when I got home registered the marriage and ordered their marriage certificate. This morning I woke up to a string of texts from the bride to not register the marriage and th

A celebrant friend was complaining to me recently about the market, we've all had the same conversation, either us being whined at, or us doing the whining. The truth is that we are not owed our next enquiry or booking,

Five phrases you can incorporate into sales meetings with your couples to help win the wedding booking.

Karen asks: What are the differences/similarities, restrictions and allowances between a celebrant-led wedding and a church wedding, that is, by an ordained minister. I have noticed a lot of confusion and even ignoran

When I talk about being unscripted in a ceremony, people often misread that as the oral version of just shooting from the hip, seeing where the bullets lie. The truth is, I'm more likely to be more prepared, more nervous

Sarah and I have been reviewing the Guidelines to the Marriage Act and one chapter caught my eye and I thought maybe you didn't know how many things you could do that would end you up in jail for at least six months, or

In early December the Commonwealth Attorney-General's department's Marriage Law and Celebrants Section let us know that the remote witnessing of NOIMs has been extended to 31 December 2023.

Yes, yes artificial intelligence can write a marriage ceremony, but can it present one well? You've probably read the news about OpenAI's new GPT-3 chatbot, ChatGPT, so I won't mansplain AI to you, but I simply wa

A member asks, "Can you claim a tax deduction for the cost of holding a couple meeting at a cafe? Paying for their coffee? I hear different answers to this. "

There's a new podcast episode out and Josh is moving to Mexico. Sarah's still not at rest but she has found a spectacular little trick for funerals using iMovie. Still no movement on the NOIM video witnessing push, and w

Where should the celebrant stand in a marriage ceremony? There's no rule, law, or correct answer, but I'll lay out the fundamentals on how I make my decision on where to stand, because it's not always the same decision b

Every celebrant should read this post from Ted Gioia on his 10 rules for public speaking, and my challenge to you is to integrate at least one, if not all of them, into your next ceremony.

I'm sure that all of you have familiarised yourself with the Marriage Act of 1961, so you probably don't have to read this, but on the off chance you missed some key points, I thought I'd share them here.

S writes in with a question about data loss and iPads: What are your back up plans when it comes to “Digital Paperwork”? I recently had the scenario of my iPad wiping all my files on the way to a wedding! Not

A few responses to my May 2022 email about having done 27 marriage ceremonies this month before prompted questions from celebrants across our Australian membership base and even internationally. Donna asked "how do you j

When you mention my name to another celebrant, apparently the most common thing people talk about is how I'm unscripted. Some people call it ad lib. I would never describe my method of creating and delivering a ceremony

Every day I wake up and check the technology news - as is my habit - and scroll through the headlines I'm expecting to find a marriage celebrant in there. Why?

If you've been wanting a way to spy on what other people in the wedding industry are doing with their Facebook Ads, here's a very easy, open, and regulated way to do so.

There's gold in the questions you get asked by other celebrants, people in the wedding industry, our clients, friends, and social media followers. Do you know what to do with them?

For over five years now I’ve crusaded against wedding industry awards. I don’t like them, I don’t enter them, and I try to convince my friends and colleagues to avoid them as well. I understand how nice it feels t

Lizzie asks: "My couple is getting married on a boat in The Pittwater located on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Please advise how I best record the "at " on the docs for a wedding adrift. " The Guidelines to the Marriage

I'm not backwards in coming forwards about celebrants raising their price. I've given a number of good reasons in the past, but as lockdowns and travel bans continue to fuel the bonfire that is the state of the wedding i

I've got a confession to make: I can recall every single bad review I've had, and I barely remember the good ones. There's one I received while I was in Washington DC in 2015, a few days before I was about to spea

Many celebrants don't know the science and method behind choosing where to position their speaker in a ceremony. This video will take you through the basic elements of choosing where and why and how to position your spea

It's been a weird year behind us as a wedding industry. I don't want to dwell on it for fear of crying, but I'm of the belief that sometime soon we need to focus our energies forward, and I wanted to encourage you to do

I recently spoke via video at the Wedding Business CEO Summit and spoke on the process of creating a customer journey. My talk was called There’s A Fraction Too Much Friction: Automation For Your Customer Journey. I beli

"I’ve a question about that first meeting - I’ve met a few couples, tried coming from different angles ie. Asking what they have in mind for their ceremony, how they met, build rapport, let them talk or I do most of the

For almost the past three years an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil has been my computer that left the home. I'd always loved a Mac but I predominantly left that at my desk and if I left the office for a marriage ceremony,

Many governments are requiring people running events to collect data about who attends the event using QR codes and web forms. Your legal responsibilities regarding COVID and COVIDSafe plans are your responsibility and t

After meeting with the Marriage Law and Celebrants Section of the Attorney-General's Department, Josh and Sarah bring you all the updates to marriage forms, OPD in the years ahead, signing NOIMs online, plus we've got so

Luke asks: One of my couples that had a Qld wedding booked, now want to change the ceremony location to NSW since the new border easing. What do I need to know and how do I go about doing a wedding in NSW? Is there a set

A reader asks: "I have a handful of elopement related questions, and I think they will be more relevant than ever given how our world has changed in 2020 and how weddings have changed/will change in the coming year(s).

Tam asks: I have my first wedding coming up next month. My question is in regards to using my PA system. I have Bose S1 with Sennheiser microphone. The wedding is only small (approximately 10 guests). Would you use a PA

There's a new fact sheet on the Attorney-General's department website on correcting marriage paperwork, and it's an important read. We're copying and pa

An Australian wedding celebrant directory recently emailed it's members guilt-tripping them into keeping non-refundable deposits. What a guy.

Neil Gaiman made a speech on May 17, 2012, as the keynote speech for the commencement ceremony to The University of Arts. As I read it I am thinking of the wedding ceremony as a work of art, and I'm sharing it with you t

Gail asks: Sooo... your couple love you and want to leave a review! Where is the best place/s for them leave this review to really market your business and what links would you send them?

A member asks: Am I correct in assuming that couple's cannot live stream their marriage ceremony given music copyright issues? So there's a few issues to address in this one short question. The first is re

222 reasons why professionally operating marriage celebrants should secure their domain name registrar account and make sure their domain name is on auto renew.

A celebrant enquired today about a couple who wanted to do a live stream of their wedding to family in Europe, but the celebrant didn't know where to start or what to do. I thought it was a good prompt for me to remind c

The Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria, all have their own online systems for logging in online and submitting marriage paperwork electronically. The Australian Capital Territory B

Instagram’s latest feature ‘Reels’ is in addition to it’s existing product suite of regular Instagram news feed posts, Stories, and IGTV. This is a deep dive into how celebrants and people in the wedding industry can tak

10 ways to make wedding fairs, wedding directories, wedding blogs, wedding magazines, expos, and virtual wedding fairs, work for you.

If you've been lucky enough to create a marriage ceremony recently, and it was in New South Wales, you might have noticed a change to their eRegistry software that requires all last names to be in UPPERCASE. If yo

My friend, and article writing accountability partner, Jeremy asks: You mentioned in a previous podcast you would put up a post about how you live stream a wedding and what tools you use to do so. You still planning to p

A reader asks: I am officiating my cousin's wedding next month and this is a particularly special one. It is going to be very intimate and relaxed - it's also really important as my cousin was actually diagnosed with sta

Maria asks: Hi Josh, you’ve mentioned you record the audio during your ceremonies to give to the videographer if they choose for better audio. Firstly, what equipment do you use and how do you hook it up and secondly, do

With Police Officers and JPs being the most popular witnesses to notices of intended marriage forms when a celebrant cannot attend the witnessing...

This blog post does not serve as legal or financial advice. We’re all just reading the Economic Response to the Coronavirus, fact sheet on Income Support for Individuals, on a Monday morning, the 24th of March at 9

If you’re a marriage celebrant, or officiant or even just a wedding vendor of some description, and your main clientele are inhabitants of planet earth, you might find yourself in a position in the coming weeks where the

Jeff asks: I’m heading into my busiest year yet, I’m so happy I get to work alongside so many great humans who want to be married! The downside (if we can call it that) - my ceremony writing process is my least favourite

a reader asks: “I know celebrants are required send all the legal documents after the wedding day or submit via lifelink within 14 days of the ceremony but what actually happens if we forget?” Sarah’s

Sophie asks: When performing a ceremony out in the blazing sun with no undercover area nearby are either of you protecting your speaker/receivers etc from the direct sun? I’m nervous about it all overheating and thought

While I’ve talked a lot about how I sign my paperwork on an iPad, you’re welcome to choose your tablet and software of choice, I haven’t detailed exactly where the paperwork comes from. Of course you can [download

A member asked for help with the Queensland BDM pushing back on a marriage registration and wanting more info on parents.

I married a couple recently and the bride had one of those names where there was a few different ways it could possibly be pronounced. In that situation, when we first meet, I introduce myself with my name, and expect th

I thought I'd share a quick and small story about a wedding I didn't get booked for.

If you've been following an earlier blog post where we made submissions to our local MP regarding removing some redundant parts of the Marriage Act of 1961, well, I got an update:

A favourite read of mine is the regular Susbtack email from Ariel Stalling. You might know her name from a little blog called Offbeat Bride. In this week’s mailout, Ariel tells the story of how someone a little bit like

On this week’s podcast episode I talked about contacting our local member of parliament to request a change to the Marriage Act of 1961. The act requires two official certificates of marriage be prepared, which in a digi

Jeff asks: When/how did you now it was ok to not share ceremony content with the couple but just have them trust you on the day of? Couples and guests really love what I put together (I guess I've figured out that much h

Jeff, a Canadian celebrant, asks: I'm wondering what sections you two include in your ceremonies? I have a very similar trajectory for each ceremony, and add or subtract (readings etc) based on what the couple are lookin

The most popular question I’m asked in person by my wedding industry colleagues, and here on , is which website do I advertise on or which directory do I list in that works? Somewhere along

Tracey asks: I'd really love some input about how/where in the ceremony you would say the Monitum. In amongst all the beautiful 'love' words it can feel a bit cold and clinical. I'm yet to find a way to bring it into the

Sophie asks: “After a beach ceremony last weekend I vowed to never lug my massive speaker around again - its ridiculously heavy, I’m pregnant, plus sand = a terrible time. I loved your set-up at the conference and def di

Liene at Think Splendid shares five powerfully simple ways to get more enquiries to your wedding celebrant business today. They're so simple that you are hopefully already doing them, or if you're not, this is a quick an

Veronica asks: I know where you stand on refunds. Yesterday, I had a bride who cancelled her November wedding due to the relationship splitting, texting me nasty abuse and demanding the clearly stated non-refundable

I've been telling couples that after their marriage ceremony the Queensland Births, Deaths, and Marriages will email them with "an opportunity to order their marriage certificate " but I had not actually seen one of those

Liene at Think Splendid has dropped some absolute fire on the wedding industry today. I love this. You should read the piece and follow her links for context, but here's the drop:

I’m sitting in a cafe in Queenstown sitting next to a table of people I don’t recognise, but judging by their conversation, they’re actresses from the USA who have varying thoughts about the Tony Awards.

Some emails get quick replies from me, others have to wait a week. Sometimes I'll go a few days without posting on social media, but I haven't missed a wedding yet. I have a simple set of priorities in my life. My family

In the chaotic and wild adventure that planning and hosting a wedding is I always try to remain a calm, cool, friendly face to my couples. This sounds like a great idea, but you need systems and processes to allow yourse

Hi, I am a new country celebrant with three weddings booked late this year, early next year but none performed so far. I am attending a wedding expo soon ( in the country) and am not sure what to do. I have collaborated

Elle asks: I have a wedding where I am marrying the couple on a boat, we are all going to get on and cruise for 10mins until the couple get a feeling like yep lets pull up here and then I will do their ceremony, then the

A celebrant friend has been going back and forth with a couple who want a celebrant that's not her. Maybe they've been on the blogs and Pinterest and they've decided that this is how you deal with a celebrant, or maybe t

Tori asks: I would really love to hear from you both (knowing that you prefer rehearsals Sarah, and you don't tend to do them Josh), what is your approach to ensuring a ceremony runs as smoothly as possible and flows wel

Kelly asks: What do we legally have to say? Just read guidelines and act section 45/46 and I’m reading we only need to say monitum and a couple the legal vow. I read/was trained that we have to introduce ourselves as the

My couples tell me they love it, wedding vendors are always surprised, and other celebrants are always blown away. They are bewildered by my ability to perform a marriage ceremony without a script or notes.

The recent post on sighting ID included some powerful language from the Attorney-General's office:The Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for authorised celebrants is issued to assist celebrants to comply with the Marria

For the past six months I have been pursuing a line of inquiry with the Attorney-General's office Marriage Celebrants Section over the line in the Guidelines section 4.4.2: It is not acceptable for a celebrant to accept

Tenielle asks: Hey guys, I'm hoping you can lend me some advice or wording to send to a couple. Met with them on Saturday and whilst they are lovely, the vibe was NOT there. Conversation was really stunted and it didn't

Deb writes in asking "I appear to get myself into hot water time and time again, by saying that the Guidelines are just that GUIDELINES, and the act and the regs are the actual LAW. Am I right? "

Julia asks "I was just wondering how you all prepare your pretty Form 15s. Does anyone use traditional calligraphy? Hand write? Use a template on a printer? " I'll answer Julia's question along with a wider explanation of

When creating a marriage ceremony, my goal isn't to personalise my ceremony, but to make it personal. That's a subtle but pointed difference. Personalising my ceremonies is the

Thoughts on creating remarkable work, as a marriage celebrant.

I've had a few people ask how I sign marriage paperwork on an iPad, and I had the grandest of intentions of preparing a fully professional video detailing that. However we're expecting a baby any day now and I figured a

Old marketing would put the right message in the right place so the right people would find it. The celebrant would advertise in the wedding magazine because people having weddings bought wedding magazines. The tools wer

351 Australian marriage celebrants were deregistrated this week because they “did not pay the celebrant registration charge“ and here are the three letters they received after their initial invoice: Date: Wed, 8 Aug

Great question today: Let's talk follow up emails. You've received an enquiry, or worse, have met with a couple. You've sent them an email back, but it's crickets from their end. How do you word your emails to try and el

I have been simmering on the idea that our clients don’t actually know what they want, despite almost all wedding vendor websites claiming to give them whatever they want, for quite a while now.

We've had a number of questions about MC'ing wedding receptions recently, so I've wrapped it all up in this quick and easy how-to guide. The host, or MC, of an event is as unique role as the whole event is held in yo

If you're a celebrant who reads off your iPad, you might not be aware of a simple way you can help photographers and videographers. If the ceremony is inside with lower lighting, your iPad's screen brightne

Sarita asks: I'm a relatively new celebrant and just after some advice on the world of wedding directories. There seem to be loads. Apart from the obvious ones like easyweddings, ABIA, there's lots of smaller ones like p

This week I've been in Vancouver, British Columbia, for two marriage ceremonies and it has been an amazing experience, with the one caveat: in Canada they drive on the incorrect side of the road. You might think this has

"Here's a fun one for you guys. How do you deal with crying? I'm currently studying and in my performance assignment, my "bride " burst into tears and I realised I was totally unprepared for what I imagine is a very commo

Networking amongst your industry colleagues, other wedding people, like photographers, venue co-ordinators, planners, and others, is a vital part of being an active member of the wedding industry. For the longest time th

Veronica asks: After reading this article and listening to the podcast "A tribute to the greatest episode in the world ", you mentioned speaker placement. Being a newbie to the industry, where would you suggest is the bes

A recent Seth Godin post about presentations of the corporate/Microsoft Powerpoint kind, spurred me on to thinking about our presentation style as celebrants. My ceremony presentation style has it's roots in a) what I'm

A common conversation amongst everyone in the wedding industry who is not a wedding photographer is asking photographers for photos. It's great when you get them, it means your social media feeds have a professional feel

I'll never forget my very first wedding expo, where I arrived to the convention centre so green that I didn't realise there was an expectation that I would design a booth. So we painted a board with blackboard paint and

Tenielle asks: Just a quick question about intellectual property of ceremony drafts. Hasn't happened to me, but have heard of stories of celebrants issuing a draft ceremony for the clients to look over, and then that cer

This afternoon a couple got engaged and they have never heard of you, they've not made any decisions about their wedding, and it's highly likely they don't know anything about the wedding industry, how it works, what thi

This website exists for celebrants who struggle with their competence. It's ok, you're not alone in thinking "maybe I could do better." Marriage celebrancy is my full time job, it's all I do, and more often than not