Marriage celebrants in Canberra - Recommendations?

Try Karen at http://www.celebration4life.com.au
She will help you create the most special and memorable ceremony
You should shop around and speak to a few different celebrants.
You can reach Karen on 0423814162.

Always shop around first! You must meet them and feel comfortable with them. They should be able to do anything and everything you ask.

I’ll never forget, ten years ago, looking for a celebrant. We met one in Belconnen. She a had a speech impediment. She rolled or slurred her Rs. I couldn’t believe anyone would use her as a celebrant! She sounded like Peter Cook in the Princess Bride (“Wuv and mawwiage…”)

also, it’s always best to shop around first – go and meet a few and see who you like…

+1 Roger Thompson.

Lovely chap. Calm, clear spoken. Was happy to do it virtually anyway you like with or, as in our case, without all that frilly, touchy-feely, hippy, spiritual crap.

Really calming, gentle sort of bloke – nothing fazed him which is what you need on a day when your head is going to be worrying about lots of things.

Also, before he was a private celebrant he was the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages for the ACT for 20yrs so he knows what he’s doing and, if you are like my wife and were born in Canberra, his signature is probably on your birth certificate too!

I can also recommend Peter Hyland. My Japanese wife and I got married in Nara Park, and Peter was very patient with her, both in practising, and on the day itself.
He was able to be both friendly and professional, which took much of the stress out of the situation 🙂

If it’s needed, the other person we found really helped us was Thierry Nguyen Cuu of Nomad Photography (www.nomadphotography.com.au)

Good luck, hope it all goes well ;D

darakat said :

I would say that Mick Andrews was the bloke I found most useful for the more alternative wedding, he was quite happy to help us do exactly what we wanted and include it in a legal ceremony. http://www.earthlycelebrations.com.au/

Mick married friends of mine. He is lovely.

StrangeAttractor said :

We had Roger Thompson, very nice man, based in Chifley. It was nice to see him again presiding over a mate’s wedding.

http://www.rogerthomson.com/

Another vote for Roger Thompson. He has been used by quite a few people I know.

gertel said :

Bill Marsh was our celebrant – a lovely man, dressed well, easy to speak with and supportive before the day…!

+1. Attended to our ceremony over a decade a go, and both naming ceremonies for our kids. Nice bloke, very good at putting nervous brides, grooms and later parents at ease!

edgyoyster said :

Peter Hyland: http://www.weddingcelebrant.com/
We married in 2006 and he did a wonderful job. Very dignified and professional. We were provided with lots of ideas without being overwhelmed and the ceremony was exactly what we wanted. Reliable, and to my memory wore a dark-coloured suit – no tree-hugging hippy s**t 😉

molongloid said :

We were very happy with Peter Hyland. We heard good things about Roger Thomson and also Stefanie Morosi too.

Another vote for Peter Hyland- we were extremely happy with him for our small garden ceremony in 2003. Lovely man, unobtrustive but gently guiding you when you forget the words (nervous anyone?), extremely professional. you get to write your own ceremony but he had a book of options/suggestions you could choose… would not hesitate to recommend him.

I’m fairly sure that I and my (now ex) wife used Mick Andrews as well. Nice bloke.

Not exactly a horror story but at the end of the ceremony when he introduced us as a married couple to the gathering he called us by my wife’s maiden name. Quite funny and he was very embarrassed. Given that my ex has a very strong personality everyone thought she had put him up to it.

I would say that Mick Andrews was the bloke I found most useful for the more alternative wedding, he was quite happy to help us do exactly what we wanted and include it in a legal ceremony. http://www.earthlycelebrations.com.au/

Barry Williams (also founder of Lone Fathers assoc) recently did my mum’s wedding at her house and he was wonderful (in a suit).

Sorry for three posts.

**That was long before they moved, I have no idea now.

I do recall the registry office for an extra fee will send the celebrant out to your venue too.

We felt that every celebrant looked old and crusty; we wanted someone young and funky. We found Stefanie Morosi Ditchburn – she’s great!

http://www.dayofchoice.com.au/

Granny said :

We got married in the registry office, so we just had one assigned to us. She was really good, though, considering she didn’t know us from a bar of soap.

Same here and she was dressed well and most patient with us (I will be late for my own funeral) and the room they use is lovely we all thought 🙂

BenMac said :

The celebrant for my wedding was Carol Moon. She was fantastic, reliable and had tons of ideas for the ceremony that my wife and I wouldn’t have thought of, but she also embraced our ideas.

More info HERE

I know Carol…I used to work with her…she is a truly beautiful soul. I don’t know how she goes as a celebrant as I’ve never seen her in action but I do know she is such a delightful lady. Caring, thoughtful, engaging…and she makes a mean sticky-date pudding…yum 🙂

We were very happy with Peter Hyland. We heard good things about Roger Thomson and also Stefanie Morosi too.

Charles something. An American. Also a physco counsellor. Does gay marriages too. nice guy.

Hi, I used the lady called Deb Roach and her company is called Cornerstone Ceremonies (02 6161 0506). We had a very nice, relaxed ceremony at the Cotter. She is like a nice aunty doing your ceremony.

Bill Marsh was our celebrant – a lovely man, dressed well, easy to speak with and supportive before the day. I felt his voice didn’t carry as much as we’d hoped in the garden environment – but he probably did quite well sans microphone.

Our friends were married by Roger Thompson and he seemed very professional but easy going. Good strong voice!

We had Roger Thompson, very nice man, based in Chifley. It was nice to see him again presiding over a mate’s wedding.

http://www.rogerthomson.com/

We got married in the registry office, so we just had one assigned to us. She was really good, though, considering she didn’t know us from a bar of soap.

I work with a guy who has just become a celebrant. People keep asking him to marry them to cups of coffee, but I think hes pretty serious about the whole thing..

Judy Aulich- she was FANTASTIC. She made our ceremony everything we wanted and so much more. So easy going, so straight forward- perfect.

http://www.brideonline.com.au/act/judyaulichcelebrant/

Stay clear of a bloke with glasses who does weddings at Gold Creek Chapel. No idea of his name but he married friends of my wife and mumbled & stuttered his way through the Service, mispronounced their names, completely stuffed up their Vows and generally made the Service a shambles.

** disclosure -this is a client of mine **

Chris Counsel at Gundaroo is a celebrant who fits your bill. See her website for details. Her mobile’s listed there too.

Peter Hyland: http://www.weddingcelebrant.com/
We married in 2006 and he did a wonderful job. Very dignified and professional. We were provided with lots of ideas without being overwhelmed and the ceremony was exactly what we wanted. Reliable, and to my memory wore a dark-coloured suit – no tree-hugging hippy s**t 😉

The celebrant for my wedding was Carol Moon. She was fantastic, reliable and had tons of ideas for the ceremony that my wife and I wouldn’t have thought of, but she also embraced our ideas.

More info HERE

Meet them before you book them. Can’t recall her name but there is one who definitly fits the description of what you don’t want.

Years ago I got an invite to a colleague’s engagement party, to be hosted in his parents’ fairly expansive backyard / rear deck. When we turned up (dressed fairly informally, as directed) and got settled down with food and drink, the colleague stood up with his beloved, cleared his throat and said something along the lines of

“Hi guys, thanks for coming along today. We lied; today is actually our wedding day and we just wanted to keep it low-key.”

I’d been wondering who the one guy wearing a tux was… As it turns out he was the celebrant. Great wedding, I thought. Possibly the most pleasant I’ve attended yet.

Sorry, useless post. I have no idea who the celebrant was 🙁

If you’ve got time, head along to any wedding fairs – they usually hang out there, and you get a chance to meet ’em.