My Wedding // My Inspiration
How I became a celebrant is a pretty awesome tale and something I cannot help but share. It all began when I started planning my own wedding.
How my wedding planning planted the seed
Most celebrants become celebrants because their family/friends said “hey could you be our celebrant?”…So they undertake the intense training and find a love for it. Or they were born into it (a family of celebrants). Or they went to a wedding or two or three, and witnessed one too many lame ceremonies.
The grassroots of my inspiration are not far off. I’d already been married before. A church wedding where the priest only met us once, for a whole 10 minutes the day before. Although he had a sense of humour, he read a generic script and I might have had a wee catnap during the hymns. Sadly, the ceremony was not memorable. The party was epic though.
Second time ‘round, a little more mature and in the know about how to plan a wedding. We decided we’d do a festival style wedding, you know the 3-day type. Excitedly, I started planning but then quickly hit a couple of road blocks. Firstly, I couldn’t find a private property that would allow us our grand vision. I get it, owners are super cautious these days about people renting their properties out for big parties. We’d have been the respectful type, cleaning up after ourselves. Secondly, I wasn’t finding any celebrants in our region that was going to cut it. Lightbulb moment no. 1, where are all the cool celebrants!?
Wedding plans take a turn
With no real progress, I was losing enthusiasm. I started to think out of the box. In just three months’ time, we were heading overseas for 6 months. How about we bring everything forward and do it overseas, you know elope? Ooh, now that sounds more like it!
I looked into getting married in Ibiza, South of France or Amalfi Coast. No, too hard. I wasn’t equipped with local knowledge or the local language either. Then it all came together just like that. We were flying via the USA – Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York then onto London. My husband and I always joked about getting married in Vegas. I’d just been there on a work trip, dealing with the Las Vegas Tourism Board. That was it! We’d stay in Vegas but get married out in the desert. Just the two of us. No Vegas Chapels or Elvis impersonators.
I organised everything in those three months. And if you’re in the midst of wedding plans, you’ll know that the To Do list seems endless. The most exciting thing was I’d secured our celebrant, Victoria (aka Flora Pop) who was funky and creative. She owns a teardrop vintage caravan that acts as the alter/arbour. Victoria also creates the flower bouquet and buttonhole and sets up a little picnic complete with Veuve champagne and a box of delicious donuts. Lightbulb moment no. 2, I absolutely loved what she offered! That was the defining moment when I decided to become a celebrant in Australia, offering something similar. Well, I haven’t got around to buying the teardrop yet…
OUr day of magic
We started in Downtown Vegas which has a ghost town vibe compared the craziness of The Strip. Downtown was eerie yet magic. Our photographer, Gaby J took shots of us amongst the old Vegas memorabilia (like the retro Neon lights, old run-down motels). There was so many great spots. We were already running late for our sunset ceremony. We quickly hopped into the classic old Red Rambler that we hired and head into the wild desert to a place called Corn Creek. Literally nothing around, just desert, some scrubs and amazing mountains in the distance. The light at this time of day is incredible, to say the least. It was a barren yet beautiful landscape. You’d think there would be nothing to take photos of, however we really got carried away in the moment. Photos of us on the wide desert roads, walking through the scrubs, dancing to nothing, having the time of our lives. Before we knew it, the sun was setting over the horizon.
Oh crap, we better get this ceremony underway before it’s completely dark. Victoria got us to stand in front of her teardrop, facing each other, holding hands then we began. It was really special, and it was getting really dark. Gaby didn’t have flash on her cameras, so we improvised. We positioned the Red Rambler so it’s front lights were facing us and the teardrop. We have light!
After saying I Do and our vows, rings were on, we shared a big kiss. Whoop! We’re married. We cracked open the Veuve, I asked Victoria a trillion questions about her business and we celebrated in true Vegas style until sunrise.
WHEN MY DREAM BECAME A REALITY
We went onto New York for the first part of our honeymoon before landing into London. It wasn’t long before I signed up for my Certificate in Celebrancy IV (via distance education). We returned home to Australia 6 months later, continuing my study.
It was around one year after signing up to study, I obtained my licence as a Registered Celebrant in Australia. Boom! And I’ve ever looked back.
What a way to start a marriage, not to mention my career pivot. It’s been a remarkable five years and couldn’t be happier doing what I do!
Now I can’t wait to hear all about your adventures together. Look forward to chatting soon!
