Why Search For a Celebrant?
A celebrant’s perspective (yours truly) on why finding the RIGHT celebrant is an important part of your wedding planning journey.
Let me start by saying, I know that not everyone puts a great weight into finding a celebrant for their own special occasion… You might feel obliged to engage that one family member who you know has their registration, there may be an unspoken agreement that you’ll use the same celebrant that married your parents or, perhaps, you just don’t care all that much and that’s OK… I get it!
But when you’re planning your dream wedding, if don’t have a clue where to begin but want your ceremony to be a highlight of your day; here are just a few reasons why you should dig a little deeper than simply Googling ‘Queenstown Celebrant’ and clicking the first listing.
We’re all just people…
(albeit with varying levels of experience officiating weddings of course, but that shouldn’t matter!)
Seriously, the only things that really define a celebrant are who they are as individuals. We’ve all gone through the approval process, we can all make you say the lines that will make you ‘official’ (seriously, only TWO sentences and ta-da, you’re married!) and we can all point at the paperwork and say ‘sign here, sign there.’ But it’s our own personal flare that we bring to a wedding ceremony that will make your own occasion something a little different; our voices, our mannerisms, our sense of humour, our ability to make you and your guests feel relaxed and comfortable…
As much as it would be great for everyone to like everyone, it’s just a reality that we all ‘vibe’ with some people whilst we can be overwhelmed with awkwardness in the presence of others… The last thing you want is for that awkwardness to be a part of your ceremony - seriously!
Find a celebrant that you feel comfortable with, that can understand you and will genuinely show an interest in who each of you are and where you’re at in your life together. Marriage nowadays is not often a ‘beginning’ like perhaps it once was, but rather an acknowledgement that you are already well on your way (and intend to keep moving onward and upward!) Find someone who will celebrate YOU!
A ceremony sets the tone for your day.
Much like having a wholesome breakfast sets you up for the day (even though I actually firmly refute this - NOT a breakfast person!) your ceremony is the start to your day and should therefore set you up for the rest of your wedding celebrations… Think about what this means, and apply this to your celebrant search!
There are PLENTY of celebrants to peruse, and you don’t necessarily have to meet us all to get an idea of our different approaches to what we do. There are some who ‘Love love’ a little more than I’m willing to declare, whilst others may take things a bit more seriously than I would deem necessary (each to their own of course!) By visiting a range of websites, you can pick up a lot from our language and writing style, but if you really want to know what we’re like, then talking to us is always the best route - a phone call, Zoom, Skype or Facetime should always be an option.
As I write this, I realise that both of my points above boil down to the same thing: making sure you’re confident that your celebrant is someone you can relate to and be yourself with. Simple as. You want your day to kick-off in fashion? Find someone who will get get you, and get your guests to laugh, cry, ‘awwww’, and cheer along with you during your ceremony!
Cooperation over competition.
There’s no way I can speak for everyone, but for myself and my wonderful celebrants friend the concept of ‘cooperation or competition’ is important… We’d much rather we were marrying couples that genuinely want us for what we do, than booked us because we were the cheapest option!
I get that price plays a part in planning a wedding, but on the scale of things your celebrant is likely going to be one of the lower items on your list of costs. For the most part (in Queenstown and Wanaka anyway) celebrants are all providing their services for a similar cost, so I implore you to make a connection first and talk prices later.
So, why search for a celebrant… Well, why wouldn’t you?!
It’s you DREAM day, so why not let your celebrant be a part in making it happen.
These blog posts are my own thoughts from having been in the local (Queenstown, Wanaka, Central Otago and beyond) wedding industry for the past five years. If you got this deep, you’re probably already diggin’ what I have to offer, but if not I genuinely mean no offence (If I may have offended?) and firmly believe that there is a celebrant for EVERYONE.
Y’all know how to use Google, but if you’re struggling to find your person I can highly recommend the Wedding Discussion Group on Facebook as well as any of the lovely folks listed at Celebrants Collective.
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