Many celebrants can be booked out anywhere from 12-18 months in advance, so my advice is to get in early – particularly if you have a celebrant in mind. For reference, peak wedding months in Adelaide are between September - April.

Enquire, make a booking to meet up and then pay a booking fee to secure your date.

There are also timing requirements for when you are required to complete the first part of the legal paperwork — no earlier than 18 months or no later than one month before the intended wedding date.

The best part about having a celebrant is that you can choose whoever you want, but the most important is that you and your celebrant are on the same page. This may depend on you as individuals or the style of your wedding as this can be reflected in your ceremony.

You should feel comfortable with your Celebrant, trust them and be confident that they will deliver the ceremony of your dreams.

How long is a piece of string? As with most things wedding, there are plenty of options out there offering different services for varying fees, so it can be easy to be drawn to who is the cheapest. I would encourage you to treat booking your celebrant much the same as any other important wedding vendor. Invest in who you feel confident with and know they will deliver a ceremony that will set the tone for the rest of your day.

Whilst rocking up and delivering your ceremony is important, a celebrant does so much more than that. I spend roughly 20 hours working on each couple’s ceremony, which includes all the legal paperwork, creating your story, meeting with you in the lead-up to your wedding, attending rehearsals, and coming up with surprises to include that are perfect for you as a couple, meeting and greeting your guests and being your cheerleader on your special day.

As amazing as wedding days are, many don’t realise that there are legal requirements and paperwork to be completed according to the Marriage Act 1961. These must be cited and completed by an Authorised Marriage Celebrant for a marriage to be legally registered in Australia. The legal requirements also include the following conditions:

*both parties are required to be at least 18 years of age

*a Notice of Intended Marriage must be completed and received by the Authorised Marriage Celebrant within the legal timeframe of no earlier than 18 months or later than 1 month before the intended wedding date

*both parties must sign a declaration that there is no legal impediment to the marriage taking place, such as a party is currently legally married to someone else with no finalised divorce, are not of legal age, the parties are too closely related

*you are required to have two witnesses who are at least 18 years of age to witness the ceremony and sign the certificate and register with you

*there are legal statements that must be included in the ceremony, but the rest is completely customisable.

We will meet up a number of times, firstly to complete the first piece of legal paperwork, your Notice of Intended Marriage.

I will then provide unlimited correspondence, so if you have any burning questions or want to run by ideas for your ceremony, I am all here for it.

I will provide you with a questionnaire so I can get to the nitty-gritty of who you are as people and why you work so well ~ I usually ask my couples to complete this individually. I will also provide you with my resource toolkit, ‘Your story, your way’, to help build your perfect ceremony.

Every Celebrant is different, but I usually encourage hearing the ceremony for the first time on the day, so you feel everything in that moment. However, if you would like to view a draft, I am happy to do so of course!

We then have a run-through meeting, or you can opt to include an in-person rehearsal, which is when we sign the next piece of legal paperwork, The Declaration to No Legal Impediment to Marriage. If anything, it is a good idea to have a quick run-through to know what will be happening on the day.

Finally, it's your Wedding Day! There will be laughter, sweaty palms, tissues, tears and a whole lotta smiles followed by celebrations. Completed with Signing of the Register where we, and your two witnesses, will sign your Marriage Certificate, copy of your Marriage Certificate for my records and Ceremonial Certificate. And me stalking around after your ceremony getting all the happy snaps, with a champers in hand!