Ceremonies and prices

Three ways to get married, and one for doing it again.

Each one is written for the two of you, and the three legal ones get exactly the same care with the paperwork. What changes is the length, the guest list and how much of my time you need before the day.

Check my date Compare all four

Your own vows come after the legal ones, and most couples read them from a card.

At a glance

Side by side.

Saturdays cost the same as any other day, and travel within 40 km of Northcote is included in every price.

The four ceremonies compared by length, guests, days, rehearsal and price
Ceremony	Length	Guests	Days	Rehearsal	Price
The full ceremony	25 to 35 min	Any number	Any day	Included, within 40 km	$1,450
Small and simple	15 to 20 min	Up to 30	Any day	Optional, $150	$850
Just the legal bit	About 15 min	Up to 10, including witnesses	Weekdays	Not needed	$450
Vow renewal	15 to 25 min	Any number	Any day	Not usually needed	$950

Travel beyond 40 km is quoted before you book. The three legal ceremonies share the same groundwork, listed after the four.

Prices and the few extras

A small cream vow booklet tied with a dark red velvet ribbon, beside a white rose on a stone step — Your vows, printed and ready to read on the day.

The full ceremony

$1,450

For couples who want the whole thing: your story, your people, and a rehearsal so nobody spends the morning wondering where to stand.

It starts with a free first chat. Once you’ve booked, you each answer my questions and we meet for a longer story session, which is where the script comes from. Then I send drafts for you to mark up until it sounds like the two of you. On the day it runs about as long as people can stand in the sun and still listen.

Length: 25 to 35 minutes
Guests: Any number
Days: Any day

On top of the groundwork

A dozen questions for each of you, answered separately, and a story session of about 90 minutes
As many drafts as it takes (the third is usually the one)
Help with your own vows if you want it, and a deadline so you don’t write them in the car
Readings, rituals and family moments written into the script, not bolted on
A rehearsal within 40 km, on a weekday evening in the week before

Check my date What happens, start to finish

A couple in the sun with their foreheads together, eyes closed and smiling, in front of an olive tree — With thirty guests, everyone gets a front-row seat.

Small and simple

$850

For thirty people or fewer, in a backyard, the back room of your favourite restaurant or on a picnic rug in a park.

We still have a proper first chat, and I still write the ceremony for you. It just gets to the point sooner, with one full draft and a round of tweaks rather than open-ended back and forth. Thirty people rarely need a rehearsal to know where to stand.

Length: 15 to 20 minutes
Guests: Up to 30
Days: Any day

On top of the groundwork

A shorter script, with one full draft and a round of tweaks
A few minutes on how you got here, and your own vows if you want them
Room for one reading or a small ritual
A rehearsal if you want one, for $150

Check my date

Two gold wedding rings in a dusty pink velvet box beside an ivory ribbon — The law doesn’t ask for rings. It does ask for two witnesses aged 18 or over.

Just the legal bit

$450

For couples who need to be married, not to have a wedding. You, your partner, two witnesses and the words the law requires.

Some couples are saving the party for later, some are having the big celebration overseas, and some simply want to be married without a fuss. It can be in your lounge room, your backyard or a quiet corner of a park.

Length: About 15 minutes
Guests: Up to 10, including witnesses
Days: Weekdays

The one-month notice still applies. Your signed notice has to reach me at least a month before the day (and no more than 18 months), and the month starts when I receive it, not when you book. Put in a date and I’ll count back for you.

Your wedding date

Count back one calendar month from your wedding date. That’s the last day your signed notice can reach me.

A guide worked out from the Marriage Act; I confirm the exact day when you book. Already inside a month? Here’s what can and can’t be done.

On top of the groundwork

The legal words, your legal vows and the signing, done properly
A few lines of your own after the legal vows, if you’d like to say something

No story, no drafts and no rehearsal
No weekends (they go to the bigger ceremonies)

Check my date

An older couple laughing together on a garden bench — Forty-odd years in, and still laughing at the same joke.

Vow renewal

$950

For couples who are already married and want to say it all again, in front of the people who have been there since.

A renewal isn’t a legal marriage, so there’s no notice, no one-month deadline and nothing to lodge. That frees things up. The people standing with you can be the kids who weren’t born last time, or the best man from the first time. I write it the same way I write a wedding: a long chat about your story, then drafts you mark up.

Length: 15 to 25 minutes
Guests: Any number
Days: Any day

What usually goes in

New vows, or your original ones read back to each other (if anyone kept the card)
The kids, grandkids or original wedding party, written into the ceremony rather than just standing near it
The same microphones, speaker and signing table as a wedding
A keepsake certificate to sign (not a legal document)

Check my date

Included in all three

Every legal ceremony starts from the same groundwork.

Each ceremony above only lists what it adds to this. A vow renewal gets the same, minus the legal paperwork.

A free first chat, about an hour, in person around Melbourne or on video
Help with your Notice of Intended Marriage, witnessed in person or by video
The separate in-person meetings the law requires
All the paperwork, lodged with BDM Victoria within 14 days
A PA with wireless microphones and Bluetooth for your music, plus a signing table and two chairs
A keepsake certificate on the day
Me, arriving 45 minutes early
As many emails as it takes
A celebrant I trust, with your script, if I’m ever ill

The legal details on this page are general information only. Check bdm.vic.gov.au or ag.gov.au for the current rules.

“We renewed our vows for our thirtieth anniversary, and Elena made it feel like a real occasion. She spent a long afternoon with us beforehand and found stories even our kids hadn’t heard. Both of them read something, and she made sure they were comfortable with it first. A lovely, relaxed day.”

L & K, Thornbury · vow renewal

A renewal, in their words.

More about Elena

What I think of the extras couples add.

None of these cost extra (the small ceremony has room for one). They come up in nearly every first chat, so here’s what I usually say.

Readings

One or two is lovely. Three is fine if they’re short. By the fifth, a lawn full of people is quietly checking the time, so I’ll gently suggest cutting one. Poems, a page from a picture book, a letter from someone who couldn’t come: all fair game. Give each reader a printed copy, not their phone.

Print it big (16 pt), so nobody has to squint.

Handfasting

A cord or ribbon wrapped around your joined hands while I say a few lines. It takes about three minutes and photographs beautifully. I’ll show you the knot at the rehearsal (or on a video call if you’re not having one), because whoever ties it shouldn’t be working it out in front of everyone.

Ring warming

The rings go around the guests before the vows, and everyone holds them for a moment. With forty people it’s a nice pause. With 150 it takes twenty minutes, so for bigger weddings I suggest doing it at pre‑ceremony drinks.

Kids and dogs

Children can hold the rings, read something or stand with you for the vows. I’ll write them a line they can actually say, and if they change their mind on the day, nobody gets dragged up the front. Dogs are welcome too. Bring a handler who isn’t in the wedding party, check your venue allows it, and keep the real rings in a pocket.

A second language

I only speak English, so if half your family is more at home in Greek, Hindi or Vietnamese, a relative can read parts of the ceremony in their language and I’ll leave room for it. If either of you would rather say the legal parts in another language, tell me early. There are rules for that, and I’d rather plan it than guess.

Someone who has died

Most couples want to mention someone who isn’t there. I keep it short and specific: their name, one true thing about them and a moment of quiet. A long tribute in the first five minutes can tip the whole ceremony into grief, so we’ll place it where you’d like it. If you want to say more, we’ll find the right spot together. An empty chair, or their favourite flower in your hand, says a lot.

Tell their closest family it’s coming, so nobody hears it for the first time from the second row.

Married here, celebrating there

Having the big day overseas?

An Australian celebrant can’t marry you outside Australia. Plenty of couples do the legal bit here first instead: a short weekday ceremony with two witnesses, the paperwork lodged, and the overseas day kept for the vows, the speeches and the party.

The one-month notice still applies, so your signed notice has to reach me at least a month before the ceremony here.

Just the legal bit, $450

Not sure which one? Tell me about the day.

There’s a “not sure” option on the form. Plenty of couples tick it, and it’s a perfectly good answer.

Check my date