If you know who you want standing up there with you, I’d book them sooner rather than later.

Venues, photographers, videographers and all the other people who help bring a wedding together are very important — but your celebrant is the person who actually makes the married part happen.

So please don’t feel as though you need to have half the wedding organised before you get in touch with me.

You can book me as far in advance as you like. The legal paperwork simply has its own timeframe: your Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) can be lodged with me no earlier than 18 months before your wedding and, in most circumstances, no later than one month before.

If you book me before that 18-month window opens, that’s completely fine. We’ll take care of the NOIM when the time comes.

My preference? If you’ve found the celebrant you want, book them. Then go back to choosing flowers - by the way, I love a good floral arrangement.

Not as much as you might think — and I’ll guide you through it.

We’ll complete your Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM), I’ll check the identification and other documents I’m legally required to see, and closer to the wedding there are a couple of other declarations we’ll take care of.

On the day, there are certain words that I’m legally required to say, certain words that each of you must say, and we’ll need two witnesses who are over 18 years of age.

After you’re married, I’ll take care of lodging the required paperwork with Births, Deaths and Marriages.

You don’t need to remember all of that. That’s my job.

I’ll tell you what I need from you, when I need it, and make sure everything is where it needs to be along the way.

I’ll let you know exactly what I need from each of you, so there’s no need to arrive at our first meeting carrying your entire filing cabinet.

I’ll need documents that provide evidence of your date and place of birth, as well as current photo identification so I can confirm your identity.

If either of you has been married before, I’ll also need evidence showing how that marriage ended — for example, a divorce order or a former spouse’s death certificate, depending on your circumstances.

The exact documents can vary depending on what you have available and your individual circumstances, so we’ll work through that together.

I’ll tell you exactly what I need, and when I need it.

On your wedding day, I’ll give you a commemorative marriage certificate to keep.

After the wedding, I’ll lodge your marriage paperwork with Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM), who will register your marriage.

Your official marriage certificate is issued by BDM after your marriage has been registered. This is the certificate you may need for things like changing your surname or providing legal proof of your marriage.

If you’ve booked The Whole Story, Share The Microphone or Something Smaller, I’ll order the official BDM certificate for you and the certificate fee is included in your price.

If you’ve chosen Make It Official, the official BDM certificate isn’t included, but you can order one directly from BDM if you need it.

Either way, I’ll make sure you know what happens next.

That depends on the kind of ceremony you’re planning.

The Whole Story will usually sit somewhere around 30 minutes — enough time to tell your story, include the moments and people that matter, and let the ceremony actually be part of the day rather than something we race through.

Share The Microphone will depend a little on how we’ve structured it and how much your chosen person is taking on, but we’ll work out the timing as we build it.

Something Smaller is designed to be around 15 minutes.

And Make It Official? That one really is short and sweet — we’re there to take care of the legal requirements, sign the paperwork and get you married.

I’m not going to stretch a ceremony simply to make it longer, and I’m not going to rush something that deserves a little more room.

We’ll give your ceremony the time it deserves — whatever that looks like for the two of you.

Absolutely.

Your personal vows are one of the few parts of the ceremony where you get to say whatever you want to each other — heartfelt, funny, short and sweet, or somewhere in between.

If you know exactly what you want to say, brilliant. If you’re staring at a blank page wondering how on earth you’re supposed to put all of that into words, I can help with that too.

There are also legal vows that each of you must say during the ceremony. They’re separate from your personal vows, and I’ll make sure those are included exactly where they need to be.

And if personal vows really aren't your thing? You don't have to write them at all.

No pressure. No forced declarations. No homework assignment.

INope.

Rings are a tradition, not a legal requirement. If exchanging them is important to you, we’ll absolutely make room for it in your ceremony.

If it isn’t? Leave it out.

You can exchange two rings, one ring, no rings — whatever makes sense for the two of you.

The marriage is the important bit. The jewellery is entirely up to you.

Not legally — but they can certainly play a much bigger part in your ceremony than you might realise.

As your Authorised Marriage Celebrant, there are certain parts of the ceremony that legally need to come from me, and I remain responsible for making sure your marriage is valid and all the legal requirements are met.

But outside of those legal parts? There’s plenty of room to share the microphone.

Someone you love can welcome your guests, tell your story, lead parts of the ceremony — or take the microphone for almost all of it while I step in where I legally need to.

And they won’t be left to figure it out on their own. I’ll work with them beforehand so they know what they’re doing and feel confident when the day arrives.

In fact, I built an entire service around exactly this idea — Share The Microphone.

Absolutely.

If there are children who are important to you, there are plenty of ways we can include them.

They can carry the rings, walk down the aisle with you, say a few words, have a small role in the ceremony — or simply stand up there with you if that’s where you’d like them to be.

And pets? I’m very happy to share the aisle with the four-legged members of your family too. We’ll just have a little think beforehand about what’s realistic for them, the venue and the ceremony you’re planning.

Because as gorgeous as the plan might be for your dog to trot perfectly down the aisle carrying the rings… dogs have been known to have their own ideas.

We’ll make a plan — and probably have a Plan B.

Sure can. In fact, I’d quite like you to. Because remember this is your day.

You don’t have to walk down an aisle. You don’t have to be given away. You don’t need matching sides, a wedding party, readings, traditional vows or any of the other things you might have seen at weddings before.

You can arrive together. Have your grandmother carry the rings. Ask your best mate to tell part of your story. Get married barefoot on the beach, in your backyard, at a winery, on a mountaintop — or somewhere I haven’t even thought of yet.

Keep the traditions that mean something to you. Leave out the ones that don’t. And if you have an idea that makes you wonder, “Are we actually allowed to do that?” — ask me.

There are a handful of things Australian marriage law requires us to do, and those bits are staying. Everything around them gives us a lot more room to play.

So if you’ve got an idea, throw it at me. We’ll work out how to make it happen.

Not necessarily.

For most ceremonies, a full rehearsal isn’t essential. By the time your wedding day arrives, we’ll already have worked through how everything will happen — who’s standing where, who’s doing what, how everyone is entering, and anything else we need to think about.

If your ceremony has a few more moving parts, lots of people involved, children or pets with starring roles, or there’s simply a reason a rehearsal would be useful, we can talk about it and decide what makes sense.

If you’ve chosen Share The Microphone, that’s a little different. A rehearsal is already part of that service because I want the person taking the microphone to have a chance to practise the flow and handovers with me before the wedding.

Otherwise, nobody needs to spend the afternoon before the wedding practising how to walk in a straight line.

Unfortunately, the one thing I can’t organise for you is the weather.

If you’re planning an outdoor ceremony, I strongly recommend having a wet-weather plan — even if Plan B is simply knowing exactly where we’re moving to if the heavens open.

If the forecast starts looking questionable as the day gets closer, we’ll keep an eye on it and make sure everyone who needs to know the backup plan knows it.

And if the weather changes its mind at the last minute? We adapt.

Umbrellas, verandahs, marquees, living rooms — we’ll work with what we’ve got.

The ceremony might move. The plan might change. You’ll still get married.

And chances are, somewhere in amongst the umbrellas, the dash for cover and whatever else the weather throws at us, there’ll be a moment you couldn’t have planned if you tried.

Because a wedding doesn’t have to go perfectly to be absolutely brilliant.

Quite happily, a very long way. It doesn’t take me long to pack a bag — or grab my passport if necessary.

I’m based in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, but I’m definitely not limited to weddings around home.

For The Whole Story, Share The Microphone and Something Smaller, my fee includes travel up to 80 km by road from Tewantin.

Getting married further away? That’s absolutely fine. I’m happy to travel throughout Queensland, interstate — or even overseas.

If your wedding is outside my included travel area, we’ll work out any additional travel and accommodation costs upfront, so you’ll know exactly what’s involved before you book.

Basically, don’t let a pin on the map stop you from asking.

It would take something pretty significant to keep me away from your wedding — but life occasionally has other ideas.

If illness, an emergency or something completely outside my control meant I genuinely couldn’t be there, my first priority would be making sure you weren’t left wondering what on earth happens now.

I have connections within the celebrant community, and I would do everything reasonably possible to help arrange another Authorised Marriage Celebrant to step in for me.

I’d also make sure they had the information they needed about your ceremony and work with them to make the handover as smooth as possible.

Would it be the plan we started with? No. Would I do everything I could to make sure you still got married? Absolutely.

Thankfully, this is very much a just-in-case conversation — but I’d rather you know there’s a plan than wonder what would happen.