HELLO AND WELCOME!

I’ve basically worked just about every job at a wedding.

Before becoming an Adelaide based Marriage Celebrant, I’d already spent years working in the wedding industry as a wedding planner, venue manager, event manager, musician and DJ - and I’ve even driven the wedding car. Eventually I found my way to celebrancy and more than 500 weddings later, I can confidently say I found the best job.

I became a celebrant in 2020 after working with a couple who were looking specifically for a younger, modern male celebrant in Adelaide. I remember thinking, “I could do that. And I think I’d be pretty good at it.”

Thankfully, many couples over the years have since let me test that theory!

MY APPROACH TO WEDDING CEREMONIES

There’s no formula for a great marriage ceremony. Every couple is different, every group of guests is different and sometimes the moments everyone remembers most are the ones nobody planned.

My style is light-hearted, relaxed and genuinely personal. I love a good laugh, but I’m not interested in rattling through a catalogue of wedding jokes or trying to make myself the star of the show. The best humour comes from the two people getting married - the stories, quirks and little details that have their friends and family laughing because they know exactly what I’m talking about.

And when the moment calls for something a little more heartfelt, I’m very happy to let it be exactly that.

After hundreds of weddings, I’ve learned how to read a room. When to bring a little more energy. When to pull it back. When to let the laugh run. And occasionally, when to simply shut up and let a really lovely moment happen.

I know how to command a room, but I also know my place in it. Your ceremony isn’t about me.

TELLING YOUR STORY

For me, a huge part of being a great marriage celebrant is in the storytelling - and just as importantly, the delivery.

When I get to know a couple, I’m not only looking for the big milestones. How you met and how the proposal happened are lovely, but often it’s the little things that tell me much more about who you actually are.

The everyday rituals. The things you do for each other without thinking. The mildly irritating habits you’ve somehow learned to live with. The stories your friends have heard 100 times and still laugh at.

The big moments tell me what happened. The little ones tell me who you are.

These details help shape the language, humour, sentiment and overall feel of your ceremony, so the finished product feels like it genuinely belongs to you.

WRITTEN TO BE HEARD, NOT READ

My background in acting and public speaking has probably influenced my approach to celebrancy more than I ever expected.

I rehearse every personalised ceremony aloud before the wedding. Not because I’m going to memorise a script and perform a one-man show, (absolutely nobody has asked for that) but because a marriage ceremony is written to be heard, not read.

Something can look perfectly good on a page and sound completely unnatural when spoken aloud.

By the time I’m standing there with a microphone, I know your ceremony well enough that I can actually deliver it. I can look at you. Look at your guests. React when something happens. Let you interact with me. And tell your story rather than simply reading it from a piece of paper.

That’s the bit I really love.

MORE THAN JUST THE PERSON WITH THE MICROPHONE

Having worked across so many parts of the wedding industry also means I understand that a ceremony doesn’t happen in isolation.

There’s a photographer trying to get the shot. Musicians waiting for their cue. A venue keeping the day moving. A wedding party wondering where they’re supposed to stand.

I know how all of those moving pieces fit together.

I’m there early, the PA is set up and tested, I’ve checked in with the people who need to know what’s happening, and when it’s time to start, I’m ready to run the ceremony.

It’s probably why one of my favourite Google reviews says:

“He’s thought of everything so you don’t have to.”

And then finishes by calling me “the celebrant you want to go for drinks with after it’s all done.”

I’ll happily take both.

YOUR ADELAIDE CELEBRANT

Six years and more than 500 ceremonies later, I still genuinely love what I do.

I’ve married couples at weddings of just about every size and style across Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, the Barossa Valley and beyond. But regardless of where we’re standing or how many people are watching, I’m trying to create the same thing:

A ceremony that feels personal, natural and completely genuine.

There’ll be great storytelling, plenty of heart and the right amount of humour. I’ll bring the experience, preparation and delivery - and when something brilliant happens that none of us could have planned, we’ll run with that too.

Because after so many weddings, one thing I know for certain is that some of the best moments aren’t the ones I write into the script.