What a Wedding Celebrant costs and why their services are worth every dollar.
The 2020-2021 Australian Wedding Industry Report compiled by Easy Weddings, states that the average wedding celebrant cost in Australia is $780.
When it comes to understanding my cost, which is less than this average, it is really helpful to look at everything I put into creating your Ceremony to ensure the most important part of your wedding day runs seamlessly and sets the perfect tone for the whole day, starting the party before the bride even walks down the aisle!
You may want:
- A short and sweet celebration, or
- A bespoke, contemporary ceremony with a variety of elements, or
- A celebrity-style ceremony (which is created around the welcome, continues through speeches and ends with the signing and the cutting of the cake).
No matter which of these styles you are leaning towards, the actual script will be approximately 20 to 30 minutes, but there is so much more that goes into making your special day preparation completely hassle-free and the actual ceremony flow like sweet treacle.
Consider the travel time, preparation of all the legal documentation, the Celebrant’s arrival at your venue half an hour prior to the Ceremony to connect with your planners, musicians and photographers to ensure everyone is ready and on the same page, and at least half an hour after the ceremony to check everything is correctly completed and packed down.
Celebrants also often help with the gathering of family for the various formal photographs – we are the ones with the mic in hand after all! And Celebrants often assist with moving flowers from the chapel or outdoor location, to the reception venue. I know I do! And not forgetting about candles or sand containers that have been used in beautiful ceremony rituals that need to be taken care of and looked after – ensuring they get to the right place for safe-keeping. This means that the time allocated to your ceremony extends far beyond that 20-30 minutes.
Whichever dreamy style you choose, each wedding ceremony requires three hours for personal or video appointments, and at least two hours for communications by email and phone. Hearing your stories and what matters to you both is so important to creating a warm and heartfelt ceremony. I journey with you, guide you and become a part of your family in the months leading up to your wedding, on the day and after your ceremony is over.
The time spent with you, the couple, makes such a difference to the tone of the Ceremony. Knowing you better means I can calm and relax you, keeping your love story from now and into the future heartfelt and sincere, and foremost for you and your guests. I would never dream of cutting an appointment short or rushing my time with you, and miss out on getting to know you better.
Other inclusions are a custom ceremony script, vow writing tips and inspiration, examples of readings and poems, guidance, assistance with ID verification, lodging of legal documents, travel, and an off-site rehearsal, and I will spend anything from 10 to 15 hours on your wedding.
Compared to a registry wedding at the Brisbane RBDM which averages $550 (and don’t forget to add parking at $30 each time), with a very simple cookie cutter script, no choice of date and time and an office-like venue in the City – it’s not hard to see that the average Celebrant cost is worth every dollar!
I will marry you at your chosen location in the country, in a park, in a forest, at the beach or your chosen venue – on the day you want, at the time you want and in front of as many guests as you want. I also think it’s important that what I wear fits in with your colour theme and a high-end MiPro PA system with Bluetooth which can connect to your playlist is an additional bonus.
Couples love the beautiful booklet I leave with them which includes a copy of the ceremony and decorative Marriage Certificate – beautifully presented, always so thrilled to be able to go through the ceremony later as it brings back all sorts of special memories. A glitzy pen to use for the signing is yours to keep as a memento.
The thought and attention that goes into your special day adds so much value and creates memories to cherish forever.