The Wedding Ceremony: Helpful information:
When you begin to plan your wedding ceremony, you should go to all the pages you can see under this heading!
The text below is adapted from the booklet "It's Your Wedding" with the permission of the author.
THE CEREMONY IS YOURS
A celebrant marriage ceremony allows you complete freedom of choice. -- It is your wedding; you are the reason for, and the focus of the ceremony. -- You choose the celebrant, the date, the time, the place, the words, the music and how you wish the ceremony to be conducted.
CHOOSING A CELEBRANT
First Rule: Beware of cheap celebrants. Some cheap celebrants say they do everything others do, but they do not! Some do far too many or fart too few weddings and cannot possibly give your wedding the attention it deserves.
No two marriage celebrants are the same. They are all individuals, so choose a Celebrant who is committed to standards (SEE BELOW) and who suits you personally. You need to feel relaxed and confident that your celebrant will carry out your wishes - and also give you the best advice. Celebrants should give you complete choice and encourage you to have a ceremony that reflects your ideals, values, feelings, beliefs and personality. See also - Fees and Prices. See choosing a celebrant. Look for a 3, 4 or 5 diamond celebrant.
YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING MUCH WITHOUT RESOURCES
The best book on celebrant ceremonies by far is Ceremonies and Celebrations, by Dally Messenger, Hachette Livre avaialbel for the Celebrants Centre 1300 446 786. Many couples prefer to read this book first,and start choosing their ceremony, so they have a few ideas before they see a celebrant.
Your Celebrant may supply you with a copy of "Ceremonies and Celebrations", or "It's Your Wedding" (a shorter version) which gives you a wide choice of poems, introductions, vows, askings and ring ceremonies and includes example ceremonies. After you have a basic resource as a starting point why not then search the Internet or go down to the library to also explore your favourite poet or author?
FINDING THE RIGHT CELEBRANT
Personal Recommendation is always the best way — but fo through the check list. Make enquiries among your friends and acquaintances. It is easy to find someone these days who can recommend a good celebrant.
In Australia : Phone the Celebrants Centre1300 446 786. We will let you know the celebrants in your area. Most on our list are committed to the highest standards.
In the USA phone the Celebrant USA Foundation 1-973-746-1792. The best way to check whether a celebrant is suitable without inconveniencing anyone is to make a simple phone call or check the celebrant websites. e.g. http://www.marriagecelebrant.com.
You should ask the celebrant what is their system in regard to ceremonies (see below: The 11 Point Quality Wedding)- discuss with any proposed celebrant the points which are important to you). Ask what resources they are prepared to provide you with, whether they are willing to do on site rehearsals, how many weddings they do etc. If this is satisfactory to you then you should ask the celebrant if they are available on the day and time you require.
Increasingly, the best qualifications came from the International College of Celebrancy (Beware of similar names - the key word is "College") Monash University, Vicxtoria University, or Qualtrain WA. Otheres have to be very carefully assessed - there are some very "dodgy" courses. Those spending money and time to become top professional celebrants demand your consideration. Those who train them (Mentors) must also be considered as celebrants who lead the field!