I know how important a celebrant is, but how much is too much?

Dear Bride,

Oh dear - well I am a Celebrant, so I will endeavour to answer your question.  I do not want to get "unethical" here.  I think if you are wanting a Celebrant who is a Celebrity in their own right, then they will be part of your entertainment.  Then $1200 probably is not too much as their fee.  Do you want your marriage ceremony to have the focus off you and onto a Celebrity.  Your wedding ceremony is the most important part of the day and it is all about the two of you and your love and committment.  

Some celebrants, only  present the legal wordings and legal paper work.  Other celebrants go to an enormous amount of energy and time into writing a ceremony unique and individual to you.

Ask your celebrant, exactly, what you will be getting for your money. The process, is normally (I think) that you meet your celebrant sit down and have a good chat.  They should tell you what to expect from them and how they will be writing your ceremony.  They should also explain about all the legal work and so on.  You should get a feel for this person as you are chatting.  Do you like them, do you think they present well do you trust them with your emotions and do you think they will make you feel confident on the day? 

As for the cost - across the board- if their fee is knocking on the door of $1,000 for a personalised ceremony, their fee is way too high.

I really hope I have helped you with this one and best of luck.

Jan 

Hi

Celebrants can charge what they want. They can give discounts and set various inclusions in their schedule of fees. Some may charge because they are in demand or be old hands at it.

When you meet the celebrant and speak to her about your requirements, you get a good feel for her personality and how caring she is. Her personal presentation is a major factor.

It doesn't matter how long she has been a celebrant, or how in demand she is but how she consults with you and what she produces for the ceremony. If you have had input to personalise your ceremony, you should not be dissapointed. Certainly it is about communication.

Check what isin the schedule of fees.

You need to consider what is important to you. You can always see a few Celebrants and decide from their profiles and their experience their approach and style and personality. From all of this you can see that your Celebrant is professional, knows their work well... offers you advice and suggestions and also asks what you want and works with you. You can then decide on what you want to pay in this respect. Hope this is helpful. Regards Sharen Pelly.

Hi, there are many factors why some Celebrants charge more than others. It is a self worth thing judged on experience, referrals, some who are country based include their mileage for meetings and ceremonies. The most important thing is to meet with several Celebrants and go with your gut feeling on which personality suites you as that is the person who will create your perfect ceremony and it doesn't matter if it's the cheapest, middle of the range or the most expensive. Sometimes the less experienced Celebrant can give you a perfect Ceremony as long as you both gel. Good luck with your quest.

The cost really is a bit like were you shop, we are reasonably priced and we put a lot into our weddings but that is because we love doing what we do. We like to make our couples feel comfortable so spend quite a bit of time on our couples. This probably did not help but I feel everyone has their own value on their work. But a lot of hours go into what we do.

If you get he most expensive- you will lose money. If you get the cheapest you may be dissappointed, If you interview those in the mid range, that presents themselves as organised and then choose on which one makes you feel relaxed - then that is the one you should choose

You choice is very personal and as many have stated pricing can range from $350-$1200+

Some celebrants like myself offer different packages at a number of prices to suit all types of budgets. It is also important to get along with your celebrant. You are right it is important to have the right celebrant for you. Initial meetings are a great way to get a feel for celebrants and what they have to offer. It is important to have a celebrant that wants to make the ceremony unique and all about the bride and groom.

In roder to get to know my bride and groom I provide them with questions to answer to get an insight into their relationship, meet with them so I can have a conversation and get to know them personally and also provide them with a USB full of inspiration. All of these give me and insight into the type of ceremony the couple would like and it also provides them with the opportunity to have a say.

It is important that you pick someone who wants to work with you as it is your day and it should be done your way :)

All the best

Katie Clayton

The answer is to have a coffee with a person you are considering engaging.

If you laugh over the coffee, you will have humour in your ceremony.

If you feel warmly about how some things are said, you will feel warmly in the ceremony.

And if it doesn't work out, it only cost you a coffee.

Decide if you want that person, and then consider whether the ceremony being brilliant is worth as much as say the wedding cake or the flowers or the cars. If it is worth more than that, then pay for it. If you don't think so, get a cheap celebrant.

It takes 20 hours to prepare for a wedding ceremony, if you do your job properly. You need to interview the couple, get to know them and tailor a ceremony that caters for their needs. Planning the choreography, including assessing lighting and possible OHS issues and much more attention to detail is required to make it a problem free special day. We charge between $950 and $1100. The start up costs to be a fully equipped celebrant are quite expensive.