If you’ve never worked with a celebrant before, it’s completely understandable if you’re wondering what actually happens.

Do we meet once or several times?

Will you ask us to fill in lots of forms?

How do you get to know us?

What if we don’t think our story is particularly interesting?

They’re all good questions.

The truth is, working with a celebrant is much less formal than most people imagine.

It begins with a conversation.

Not an interview.

Not a questionnaire.

Just a chance for us to sit down together, perhaps over a coffee, and talk about the two of you.

I’d love to hear how you met, what first attracted you to each other and the moments that have shaped your relationship. Sometimes they’re the big milestones, but more often they’re the little things that have become part of your everyday life together.

The holiday that didn’t quite go to plan.

The first meal you cooked together.

The running joke that only the two of you understand.

The way one of you always knows exactly how to make the other laugh.

Those moments might seem ordinary to you, but they’re often the stories that make everyone else smile because they’re so unmistakably you.

As we get to know each other, I’ll begin to understand not only your story, but how you want your wedding to feel.

Do you imagine a ceremony that’s elegant and romantic, with a few happy tears?

Would you love your guests to laugh along with you?

Is it important that your children, your parents or your closest friends play a meaningful part?

Or perhaps you simply want everyone to leave saying, “That was so them.”

There aren’t any right or wrong answers.

Your ceremony should feel like an extension of who you are, not who you think you ought to be on your wedding day.

Once I’ve got to know you, I begin writing.

Not by opening a template or adapting someone else’s ceremony.

I begin with a blank page.

Every ceremony I write is created from scratch, inspired entirely by your story, your personalities and everything that makes your relationship unique.

While I’m writing, I’ll often visit your venue, think about how the space will work, speak with your planner or coordinator if you have one and make sure every part of the ceremony flows naturally. Much of that work happens quietly behind the scenes, so that when your wedding day arrives, everything feels calm and effortless.

By then, I hope you won’t feel as though you’ve hired someone to conduct your ceremony.

I hope you’ll feel as though there’s a familiar face waiting to welcome you.

Someone who already knows your story.

Someone who understands what’s important to you.

Someone who’s quietly making sure you can simply enjoy one of the happiest moments of your life.

One of my favourite moments comes after the ceremony.

It’s hearing your guests talk about what they’ve just experienced.

They’ll often tell me they laughed, they cried and that they learnt something new about you, even if they’ve known you for years.

That’s because a celebrant-led ceremony isn’t simply about sharing your story.

It’s about creating a moment where everyone feels part of it.

When you look back on your wedding, I hope you remember so much more than how it looked.

I hope you remember how it felt.

The excitement before everything began.

The laughter that echoed through your ceremony.

Looking into each other’s eyes and seeing the people you love smiling back at you.

The feeling of knowing that every word reflected who you are.

Because those are the moments that stay with us.

The flowers will have faded.

The cake will have been eaten.

The photographs will become treasured reminders.

But the memories you created together will still be there, year after year.

Because the best ceremonies don’t just tell your story.

They are your story.