Without a wedding celebrant, you can’t get married. Whether they’re associated with a church or other religious organisation or not, a wedding celebrant is there to help the ceremony part of your wedding flow smoothly and legally. Today we’re going to share with you some tips on choosing your wedding celebrant and explaining their role in your special day.
Selecting Your Wedding Celebrant
It’s important to choose a celebrant which you both like as in the short term, you’ll be spending a fair bit of time with them! Meet your potential celebrants in person at least once, but the more times you do meet them, the better you can get to know them and them to know you. Ask questions to discover if you feel comfortable talking to them about what you and your fiancée want. This will help you get a real feeling about them and check it that fits with what you want.
Make sure that they are registered with the Department of Internal Affairs and are a member of The Celebrants Association of New Zealand. Get a contract signed in writing, to cover everything that you both expect of each other as a service and any other costs that need to be covered. Decide the tone of your ceremony and use your venue choice as a guide on the type of celebrant that would be most appropriate.
When you find the right celebrant, book them in as soon as possible to lock them into your wedding date. You don’t want to end up with someone you dislike just because you were slow off the mark in the planning stages. It’s then time to sit back and trust in their ability to deliver the perfect wedding for you on the day.
What Does a Wedding Celebrant Do?
A marriage celebrant should give you lots of options and ideas to formulate the introduction and the welcoming of guests to your wedding, your heartfelt vows, readings, and other special touches. A good celebrant should be able to work with you to have your ceremony reflect your style and theme, as well as the overall feel and vibe for your wedding. They should also be able to personalise it for you both.
The initial meeting is where you both meet with the celebrant to see if you are a good fit. The celebrant learns about you both by meeting with you again. This is where they discuss with you your ideas for the wedding. The celebrant also instructs you both about the legal requirements of the ceremony and the documents that you have to get beforehand in order to get legally married.
The celebrant can provide you with many examples of wedding vows which they can help you to re-write if you want. They may also be able to provide a list of readings and poems for you to choose from, for family and friends to read during the ceremony. The celebrant helps to create the order of events or a guideline of how things will play out during the ceremony.
On the big day, they will perform the wedding ceremony. They will also supervise the signing of the marriage license by the couple, two witnesses, and themselves which they will send away to the proper authorities.
For help choosing your wedding celebrant, take a look through our directory of Marriage Celebrants and check out their profiles to narrow down your options.
Good luck!
Looking for other wedding services? Try out NZ’s most comprehensive wedding directory My Wedding Guide