The Celebrant

What is a Celebrant?

A Celebrant has to be able to understand social, cultural diversity and the importance of the individual/couple for different types of ceremonies whether they are celebrating a union, renewing vows, or having a funeral/ life/birth blessing. With this in mind, there are some important guidelines that will make sure all ceremonies will be conducted with the minimum chance of any unforeseen challenges.

Civil celebrants can and do facilitate parties who have religious beliefs but choose not to have the traditional ceremony in a church, temple, mosque or place of worship. Contrary to the normal authorities or system, in celebrant ceremonies a lot of the decisions about how the ceremony is conducted are chosen by the parties involved. Thus, the civil celebrant has come to be defined as a professional and experienced ceremony provider who works in accordance with the wishes of the parties involved. Their own beliefs and values are irrelevant. The role is more that of a facilitator, whom the parties personally choose, ensuring that their conduct is professional towards the parties needs and wants, whether there are religious beliefs or not. The celebrant is the client’s advisor, a resource to assist and the director of the celebration.

For myself, as a marriage celebrant, I pride myself on providing a high quality religious/non religious ceremony which I take very seriously. I am passionate about my work and provide all parties involved with an appropriate way to mark one of the most important moments in their lives.

A marriage celebrant…

• must always maintain the highest standard of service in their professional conduct and practice
• must respect the importance and wishes of the marriage ceremony with regard to the other agencies, organisers and participants involved in the ceremony
• provides vital and helpful information and guidance to the party, helping them to choose, compose and organise a ceremony that will meet their needs and expectations
• provides guidelines to the parties involved to ensure the standard of the ceremony will be to the expectation and requirement of the party, including rehearsals, dry runs, reading of any extraneous vows
• looks to their own personal presentation as being an appropriate standard for the ceremony, respecting and enhancing any expectations of the parties regards the ceremony
• ensures that the important background requirements like lighting, audience noise or interruptions, ceremony audio equipment is taken care of
• always arrives on time, well groomed and have an aire of relaxed authority
• in every case, makes every effort, using their skill, experience and knowledge, to make sure that all parties receive the highest level of service with regards to generic, special and individual party requirements
• is always humbled by the fact that the most important people on the day are the parties involved