With Brisbane City Celebrants

2014 WOW! What an incredible year and for so many reasons which make us so happy. So here goes in no particular order here are Brisbane City Celebrants 2014 highlights:

QLD CELEBRANT OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

It was such an honour to be approached by Wedding and Events of Australia (WEOA) and recognised as the industries elite. To go on to be recognised as a QLD Finalist at the black tie awards night was beyond our imagination! For more on this check out our post on the QLD WEOA awards night.

WEOA Awards Night image by Milque Photography

Brisbane City Celebrants Finalist in the 2014 WEOA awards

BRISBANE CITY CELEBRANTS WENT INTERNATIONAL!

When we first became Celebrants the thought that we would one day be in demand for overseas weddings never even entered our minds, so when Danica and Jerry contacted Jamie and said they absolutely had to have him as their Celebrant for their wedding at a winery on New Zealands beautiful Waiheke Island we were completely blown away!

Jamie performed an incredibly upbeat and happy ceremony that had the guests cheering through applause, it suited the couple perfectly and was a huge hit! Here is what the newlyweds had to say about their experience with Jamie:

“Jamie was brilliant from start to finish, from the helpful advice and guidance right up to the ceremony itself, Jamie was such a pleasure to deal with.

We weren’t sure of how to plan a ceremony and he was just brilliant at talking us through the process, giving us ideas and suggestions and then helping us finalise the details. It was all made so easy, even with us being based in New Zealand.

On the day both of us were pretty nervous but Jamie was able to help us relax and enjoy the ceremony. It was delivered with lots of warmth and joy and there were smiles and laughter from everyone!

It was an absolute pleasure to have Jamie be part of our special day and all our friends and family have commented on how much they enjoyed the ceremony and how perfectly it reflected us as a couple. We wholeheartedly recommend having Jamie Eastgate as a Marriage Celebrant.”

Jamie Eastgate Marriage Celebrant performing a celebratory and upbeat Wedding.

BRISBANE CITY CELEBRANTS FIRST SAME SEX WEDDING

Paul and Paul celebrated their commitment in an elegant black tie soiree at Cloudland earlier this year. We were so excited when we received their enquiry and even more excited when we met and they booked us. I say ‘us’ as in an unprecedented move we gave them the services of both of us leading up to their wedding with Jamie performing the ceremony on the day.

Paul and Pauls wedding at Cloudland. Images by Studio Impressions Photography

When they first contacted us, they asked what experience we had with gay weddings, and with the exception of Ciara being a bridesmaid at a wedding for 2 girls several years earlier in Auckland, we had never had the opportunity to officiate a same sex wedding, so it meant so much to us that they trusted in us for their big day.

Our first gay wedding was a huge success. Here is what the grooms had to say.

“Jamie was wonderful! He was professional, warm and caring. His ability to speak in front of everyone was perfect and eloquent.

Communication between us and Brisbane City Celebrants was regular and genuine. A personal and sincere interest in your life and how your wedding plans were coming together was apparent and appreciated during our correspondence leading up to our special day.

We were so, so, so happy we went with Brisbane City Celebrants!”

For more on Paul and Pauls wedding, check out their Real Wedding.

Thank you Paul and Paul, we are so grateful that we had the opportunity to be a part of such a special day.

BRISBANE CITY CELEBRANTS BECAME REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS FOR AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST WEDDING BLOG – POLKA DOT BRIDE

Throughout 2014 we have had a number of our articles published on Polka Dot Bride. This is a real honour for us as it not only confirms we know our stuff when it comes to weddings, but it also gives us an opportunity to share with brides and grooms all over Australia some Celebrant insights, tips and ideas. We believe that being informed with a wealth of insider knowledge and ideas, can assist couples to take their ceremony to a different level and above all else ensure it reflects them as a couple.

Brisbane City Celebrants article featured on Polka Dot Bride

Thank you Polka Dot Bride for always being so supportive and publishing our articles and thank you to the wonderful photographers who have been so kind to provide us with images to accompany our blog posts so perfectly.

For more check out Brisbane City Celebrants articles on Polka Dot Bride.

BRISBANE CITY CELEBRANTS FULLY BOOKED IN 2014

Demand for Brisbane City Celebrants DOUBLED in 2014 from the previous year (lucky there’s 2 of us!) resulting in us being FULLY BOOKED for the first time ever! Best of all we feel so lucky that all our clients have been nothing short of amazing to work with, we truly feel blessed to have met and married so many incredibly lovely people.

It’s been amazing watching our business grow so quickly over the past 6 years and to reach capacity is such a huge achievement.

We attribute this success to all our amazing clients, guests that have attended our weddings and the wedding vendors that have seen us in action, who have all been so kind to recommend us to new clients that they just know we are the right ‘fit’ for. We LOVE referrals!

We are so grateful to each and everyone of our clients who have booked us and trusted us with such an important role on their big day, regardless of how many times we get to do this, it is always a huge honour and we truly believe we get to work with the best clients we could ever hope for!

Brisbane City Celebrants FULLY BOOKED for 2014

A special mention also goes to Google for the fab little spot on the front page that they have allowed us to call home for the past 5 years.

That’s a wrap, thanks to 2014 for our best year yet and we look forward to another amazing year in 2015.

Cara and Jamie – Brisbane City Celebrants

Contact Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.

Grooms taking brides surnames, is this a new wedding trend?

With Brisbane City Celebrants

MX Newspaper contacted Brisbane City Celebrants with this question and here’s what we told them.

Approximately 30% of our brides plan to keep their own last name in favour of changing it to their husbands surname.

However we are often contacted by these brides a year or 2 down the track requesting to be reminded of the name change process, as they have had a change of heart and are ready for a change of surname.

One newlywed surprised her husband on their first wedding anniversary with his surname now her surname too.

While the majority of our brides that decide against taking their grooms last name, will commence life as husband and wife with their existing names, a number of grooms have decided to legally adopt their wife’s last name.

MX Newspaper were particularly interested to hear the reasons for this, the most common reasons Brisbane City Celebrants have encountered include:

– With the huge shift in weddings for brides and grooms to do it ‘their way’ and defy tradition, the tradition averse and equality pro couples are simply doing it their way.

– Grooms may have a surname they aren’t too fond of or the brides surname may simply be considered to be a better name by the couple.

– Grooms choosing to disassociate them self and any future children from an absent father, or a father that they choose not to continue the name of.

Thanks to Kellie from MX Newspaper for raising this interesting point and for asking for Brisbane City Celebrants input.

MX Newspaper interview with Brisbane City Celebrants

If you found this article interesting, you may be interested in hearing more about the Celebrants behind it. Contact Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.