Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Celebrant?

A Celebrant is professionally trained to perform a variety of ceremonies to mark milestones in your loved ones life, including: weddings, renewal of vows, commitments, baby welcomings and adoptions, survivor tributes, coming of age, divorce, retirements, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, memorials, end of life celebrations, civic and corporate ceremonies. My mission as a Celebrant is to create a ceremony that reflects your needs, beliefs, cultural background, values and tastes.

Celebrancy originated in the late 1970’s in Australia, where it was decided that trained laypeople be endowed with the legal right to perform ceremonies like Weddings and Funerals.

“I am a ritual maker and celebrant who designs, organizes and celebrates contemporary ‘rites of passage.'

- Mary Hancock, Celebrant, New Zealand

How do Civil Celebrants differ from other officiants, such as clergy or judges or registrars?

In a Celebrant Ceremony, you are empowered. Nothing is imposed on you. Instead, in a collaborative process, the Celebrant will guide you in choosing rituals, readings, symbols and music to fulfill your ideals.

As your Celebrant, I will:

· Meet with you at a relaxing interview to discuss your vision of the ceremony.
· Consult with you by phone and email until the ceremony is just right.
· Interview family and friends and include their words and participation in the ceremony.
· Present you with a keepsake copy of the ceremony to mark the occasion.

What do Celebrants believe?

The beliefs of a Celebrant are immaterial in this process. I believe that appropriate ceremonies are an important way of bringing happiness and mental balance to individuals, and connection and beauty within society. I believe in people, and I
also believe that a rite of passage such as marriage is a very important moment
in a person’s life. It is a human right to be able to have a ceremony that rings true
and is meaningful to you personally, instead of having to sacrifice meaning to
convenience, efficiency or necessity. As a Celebrant, I am trained to focus on the
values and priorities of the Client. Your ceremony will be a total reflection and an extension of who you are and what you believe in.

Who would use the services of a Celebrant?

The answer is anyone and everyone! Whether you are secular, religious, spiritual, nondenominational, part of an interfaith or multicultural family, or if you simply wish to express yourself in a manner of your own choosing, a Celebrant can help you create a ceremony that respects all that is meaningful to you. I became a Celebrant because I believe in the right of everyone to have a meaningful wedding ceremony regardless of whether they belong to a church or not. I believe that ceremony and ritual belong to everybody, and I will help you to find a way to make your ceremony uniquely yours.

Why use ceremony to mark life’s milestones?

Life is a journey for us all. It is a growing process. We all go through many physical stages in our lives: infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and maturity. We go through personal, sentimental and emotional stages as well: we might find a partner, build a career or have children; we live through illnesses and the loss of family and friends. There is a deep human need to find some sort of stability in this ever-changing state. Since ancient times, humans have created ceremony to mark these rites of passages and create a space and place to express our humanness in all its simple
glory.

Below are quotes about the importance of ceremony and ritual from respected authorities in the field:

“Ceremony assists people to adjust to change (a marriage ceremony does this for families), to recognize achievement (a classic example is a graduation ceremony), to relate, to express love, and/or to establish a relationship. Ceremonies are the human way we have to signpost a deal such as a business merger, to trigger off a healthy grief process (such as in divorce or funeral ceremonies), to welcome another human being into the family. So Ceremonies have these excellent effects - they can be used further to announce intentions, to express loyalty and to reinforce a sense of identity.”

- Dally Messenger III, President of the International Federation of Civil Celebrants

“We need rituals at many times, whether for healing or transformation, celebration or mourning. To learn to create our own is to empower ourselves, and this can enrich our lives immeasurably.”

- Juliet Batten, Power from Within

“A culture that forgets its rites of passage eventually loses its capacity to celebrate joy and unity.”

- Michael Meade

"The tribal ceremonies of birth, initiation, marriage, burial, installation, and so forth, serve to translate the individual's life-crises and life-deeds into classic, impersonal
forms. . . The whole society becomes visible to itself as an imperishable living unit. Generations of individuals pass, like anonymous cells from a living body, but the sustaining, timeless form remains. By an enlargement of vision to embrace this
super-individual, each discovers himself enhanced, enriched, supported and
magnified."

- Joseph Campbelll