Do you want the wording of  your wedding ceremony to be a surprise, or do you want to know in advance everything your celebrant is going to say?

Your answer to this question probably depends on what kind of people you and your partner are. If you like to be in control and don’t particularly like surprises (even nice ones), then you are probably a couple who want to see and approve a full script of your wedding ceremony before the big day. And that’s fine. But if you are a fan of those OMG moments, if you like the emotional punch of an unexpected turn of words, then maybe a less scripted ceremony is for you.

I say ‘less scripted’ rather than ‘unscripted’ because, as your celebrant, I need to make sure I have my facts right, so the essentials of your story––important names, dates and events––will always be checked. And you have the final say on what you would like me to include in terms of your story as a couple, how you met, what you love about each other, and so on. 

But I’ll tell you why I like to leave room for impromptu moments and that element of surprise: First, you never know what may happen on the day–––a sudden rainstorm, uncooperative page boys and flower girls, your ring-bearing dog runs away with the rings, the guests have had one pre-wedding tipple too many, and so on. Anything can and will happen. A more flexible ceremony means that I can adapt to these events at the spur of the moment, and you and your guests will be none the wiser. You will just think, what an amazing ceremony! 

My aim as your celebrant is to create and deliver a ceremony that is authentic, unique, heartfelt and memorable. And I want you both to be truly moved by this most important moment in your lives. When you have agonised in advance over every word of your ceremony, I believe you do lose some of that emotional impact, those moments that bring laughter to your hearts and tears to your eyes.  So I am happy for you to leave that agonising to me.