Celebrants are involved in a wide range of ceremonies, often held outside involving children, dogs, emotional family members and people taking part in rituals for the first time in their lives. What could go wrong? The answer is anything and everything!
Today we have our regular guest blogger Melanie Lawson from Oberon, NSW raising awareness of potential calamities in your ceremonies and tips on how to be prepared.
First of all, what is the role of the celebrant?
The role of a civil celebrant is to:
Here are some questions that you might consider when engaging a civil celebrant.
* ________________________________________________ *
Thank you for joining us....
?? We would love it if you would let us know what you think ?.
There is a comment section ? at the bottom ⬇ of the blog for you to do just that.
?Click on the word "Comment" and go for it!
? Don't forget to subscribe ? to this blog - the "subscribe" button is up the top of the page ⇞⇞⇞ and the blog will magically ?? appear in your email inbox ?.
Also please feel free to share ? our blog on your social media ? so we can spread the love ?!
Please use this ? link: https://www.celebrations.org.au/blog when you share. ?
Find us on Facebook & Twitter
The law in Australia at the moment is that legal marriage you must comply with these five things:
1. your relationship must be between a man and a woman
2. you must be 18 years of age or over *
3. you must not be married to anyone else
4. you cannot marry a person who is your antecedent or descendant by marriage or adoption
5. you must both be capable of and give free consent to marry the other
If you can say yes to all five of those stipulations, then you are clear to start the getting married process with your celebrant.
Your first job, after finding your celebrant, is to complete the Notice of Intended Marriage form, commonly known as the NOIM. Once this is filled in (your celebrant can help you) you lodge it with your celebrant. This must be done no earlier than 18 months and no later than one whole month before your ceremony date.
If you are lucky enough to have found the one you love and they just happen to be the same sex as yourself then we are working hard to ensure that you are able to marry legally here in Australia. However, until that time comes there are avenues in some states where you can register your union. Click here for more information.
Why not speak to your celebrant about a Commitment ceremony or 'Betrothal' ceremony in preparation for full equality in marriage becoming legal in Australia?
* Under rare circumstances, a person between the age of 16 and 18 can marry, provided their prospective marriage partner is 18 years or over, and the couple have been granted permission by a Court as prescribed in the Marriage Act 1961.
This week featured celebrant is Sonia Collins from Batemans Bay NSW.
My name is Sonia Collins and I am a Civil Celebrant in Batemans Bay, New South Wales. This is a very popular area for weddings, with couples coming from Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, and country towns across NSW and Vic, as well as our local area. The area has great venues for weddings and for receptions and with the natural beauty of the coast and the bush it is not surprising that Batemans Bay is a first choice for many couples especially those with happy memories of time spent here on holidays.I have enjoyed a satisfying career in Human Resource Management and my interest in people led me to undertake the training to become a Marriage Celebrant.
Congratulations to our lovely Lyn Knorr
Lyn achieves 40 years today as civil celebrant having been appointed in Australia on 24th July 1973, the second Civil Marriage Celebrant appointed in Australia and the first in Victoria.
Celebrants and Celebrations Network Australia - TCN is privileged to have Lyn Knorr as one of our founding TCN Inc Committee members and a TCN Life Member.
And with some long-timers at the 40 the Anniversary last Friday of the appointment of the first Civil Marriage Celebrant, Lois D'Arcy.
Lyn shared some of her memories of the Early Days at a 2005 celebrant conference.
We thank her for her faithful service to the Australian public and our civil celebrancy profession and wish her all the very best in the years ahead.
From Rebecca Skinner
The Celebrants Network Incorporated Blog Coordinator
Celebrants & Celebrations Network Australia Celebrant Member
www.celebratinglifeschapters.com
Hand tying or handfasting adds a lovely new dimension to a wedding ceremony. But what coloured ribbons should you choose?
All colours have their significance. For instance red is the colour of passion, strength and fertility; orange represents attraction and kindness while yellow is linked to confidence and joy.
Green, often used by financial institutions, represents prosperity along with health while blue, the colour of the ocean, stands for tranquility, devotion and sincerity.
Purple represents power, white- purity and peace and black, strength and success.
Pink is the colour of romance, brown is very grounding while gold is linked to energy, wealth (of course!) intelligence and longevity.
Silver on the other hand is the colour of creativity and inspiration.
So knowing all that, which colours would you choose? Maybe a mixture of them all...