Weddings with Cara Hodge Archives - Page 3 of 5

Brisbane City Celebrants 2015 Highlights

on December 24, 2015 · 5 Comments

As we reflect on 2015 our most amazing year to date, we are so thankful to all the wonderful couples we have had the absolutely pleasure of being the Celebrant for over the year.

Here are some of the highlights that made our year such a cracker!

QLD’s No.1 Recommended Celebrant on Google

It was such an honour for each of us to not only become the top 2 recommended Celebrants in Brisbane on Google, but for Jamie to become the No.1 recommended Marriage Celebrant on Google! Such a huge honour and a phenomenal achievement, all attributed to the wonderful feedback and recognition from our clients.

We are absolutely thrilled to have received 5 star reviews from so many of our clients telling us that we’re getting it right.

Brisbane City Celebrants are Brisbane's most highly recommended Marriage Celebrants.

We genuinely strive to make each and every one of our client’s ceremonies the highlight of their day so the rest of the day becomes a celebration of that.

Brisbane City Celebrants performed 3 same-sex weddings this year

Last year Brisbane City Celebrants performed our first ever same sex wedding (view their wedding highlight video here). We went on to perform a further 3 same sex weddings this year, so fingers crossed that means we’ll be booked for 9 next year?

We have learned so much and developed a genuine love and passion for celebrating same sex ceremonies.

Celebrant Jamie Eastgate officiating Claire and Jess’s same sex wedding at Cloudland. Image: Pelizzari Photography

We are passionate advocates for marriage equality and while civil partnerships have recently been introduced, which are a step in the right direction, with so many countries now legalizing same sex marriage, we REALLY hope to see marriage equality come to fruition in 2016.

Brisbane City Celebrants launched our revamped shiny new website

We were so excited to see our new and improved website go live! So much thought went in to making the user experience of our website easy and enjoyable. However our web developers couldn’t quite grasp our vision for our key point images, so Ciara took it on to herself to doodle her own little images, making our website as personalized as our ceremonies are for our clients!

Brisbane City Celebrants became TOP RATED Brisbane Celebrants on Easy Weddings

Having only been listed on the Easy Weddings website for 8 months, and in that time we are thrilled to have received 18 ‘5 STAR’ reviews from our clients! Making us TOP RATED BRISBANE CELEBRANTS on Easy Weddings.

A huge thank you to all of our clients that have kindly shared their wonderful feedback about us on here.

Every time we receive a notification of a review for us, whether it be Google or Easy Weddings or even on our Facebook page we are beside ourselves with happiness to hear that we helped to make a special day just that bit more special!

Easy Weddings – 5 STAR Celebrant Reviews

Brisbane City Celebrants fully booked in 2015

Demand for Brisbane City Celebrants increases year on year and yet again we FULLY BOOKED for 2015!

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.

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 every one of our clients who have booked us and trusted us with such an important role on their special day, regardless of how many times we get to do this, it is always a huge honour that we will never take for granted. We truly believe we get to work with the best clients we could ever hope for!

That’s a wrap, thank you to each and every one of you that were a part of our 2015 – our BEST YEAR EVER!

We look forward to another amazing year in 2016.

Cara and Jamie – Brisbane City Celebrants

Karen Tran in Brisbane!

on December 7, 2015 · 3 Comments

When Karen Tran came to Brisbane!

With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants

Karen Tran is an international floral designer who is highly regarded by florists worldwide and who’s glamorous work fills many brides ‘Wedding inspo’ boards on Pinterest.

Within the wedding industry she is quite the star so needless to say there was much excitement when Karen Tran came to Brisbane and hosted a gala dinner dripping with opulence and of course thousands and thousands of flowers.

I was thrilled to be a guest of honour at this stunning event accompanied by other local wedding and international wedding professionals.

The event took place at Hillstone St Lucia, a venue we both know very well as local Celebrants we have performed many weddings here over the years.

Karen Tran Brisbane Event Celebrant Ciara

Celebrant Ciara in awe of the flower wall at the Karen Tran Brisbane Event

The venue was absolutely breath taking, after mingling with fellow guests over a glass of bubbles and canapes I entered though a door way covered by an arch of fresh flowers, and to my surprise I was greeted by a warm and friendly Karen Tran in front of a huge flower wall, full of fresh roses in various pastel shades. I took the opportunity of a photo with the lady herself before taking a walk around the room to take in every magnificent little detail.

Karen Tran’s Flower wall at Hillsone St Lucia

A generous team of sponsors had donated their time and expertise to bring the event together which included a company that creates flower walls with artificial flowers, these adorned the ceiling and rear wall while the tables were full of extravagant displays of orchids and roses. Undoubtedly more flowers than I have ever seen in one room in my life!

The food and service was exceptional and I loved getting to meet new people and hearing the stories of their businesses as we all shared so much passion and a love for the wedding industry.

I am so grateful that I got to experience something so special and I have no doubt we will be seeing more of Karen Tran’s signature floral extravaganza style here in QLD as she left such a wonderful impression on everyone that attended.

Cara – Brisbane City Celebrants x

City Botanic Gardens wedding with Celebrant Cara

on October 25, 2015 · 4 Comments

City Botanic Gardens wedding with Celebrant Cara

With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants

On a perfect October day Jess and Cameron said their ‘I DO’s’ at this very beautiful spot, Fig Tree Avenue at the City Botanic Gardens.

I received these beautiful photos and feedback from the happy couple which I am so excited to share with you.

As a Celebrant not only do I love how beautiful these photos are, but also how perfectly centred the couple were for both the ceremony and the kiss!

Admittedly I am a bit of a perfectionist and love having my couples perfectly centred with the arbour while allowing the photographer ample opportunity to capture all the special moments (without me in the shot).

Brisbane City Botanic Gardens Wedding with Celebrant Ciara Hodge

“Cara was fantastic from the very beginning. The blog posts I read online about tips for your ceremony were fantastic and I knew I wanted to contact her straight away.

From the first time we met she was great, everything was so simple and personalised for us.

The wording she put together for the ceremony was excellent and she helped ensure the vows we wrote secretly were both on the write track.

Everyone who attended loved how great the ceremony was with a mix of humour and a relaxed atmosphere.

I would very highly recommend Cara to anyone and everyone who asks.”

“Cara, Thank you so much for everything we had a wonderful day and thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony. We have had so many comments from guests on how much they loved the relaxed atmosphere and the humour in our ceremony so thank you so much for all your help in making it exactly how we envisioned.

We loved the configuration of the bridal party and where you stood on the day which made our photos so perfect!

Thanks again so much, Jess & Cameron”

Testimonial for City Botanic Gardens wedding at Fig Tree Avenue with Brisbane City Celebrants

Brisbane City Botanic Gardens Celebrant Review

Photos: Jason Gotto (friend of the happy couples)

If you enjoyed seeing this gorgeous wedding ceremony and are looking for a Celebrant for your Brisbane City Botanic Gardens wedding, Cara would love to hear from you. Contact Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.

Celebrant Review – Brisbane Powerhouse Wedding

on October 23, 2015 · 7 Comments

Celebrant Review – Brisbane Powerhouse Wedding

With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants

This amazing bride and groom did their wedding their way, throwing tradition straight out the window and creating a day that was full of happiness, such an inspiration.

Brisbane Powerhouse Wedding with Celebrant Ciara Hodge

Brisbane Powerhouse Wedding with Celebrant Cara Hodge

CELEBRANT REVIEW “Cara was the Celebrant for our wedding at the Brisbane Powerhouse. We could not be happier that she was there with us.
She was helpful throughout the organisation of our ceremony, and set the perfect happy and joyful tone on the day. It was a wonderful day for us, and I highly recommend that you have Cara join you for your own wedding.”

Lesley & Craig – Brisbane Powerhouse Wedding

Wedding at the Brisbane Powerhouse with Brisbane City Celebrants

They fell in love with Melbourne’s Brown Paper Parcel Photography and flew her up to capture their day and what a wonderful job she did! I love how genuinely happy and real these moments she captured are.

Brisbane City Celebrants Wedding review, Brisbane Powerhouse.

Congratulations to the happy newly weds and thank you so much for the rave review.

Cara – Brisbane City Celebrants

If you enjoyed hearing about this modern Brisbane Powerhouse wedding and are looking for a Celebrant for your Brisbane wedding, Cara would love to hear from you. Contact Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.

Quirky Hillstone St Lucia Wedding

on August 31, 2015 · 5 Comments

With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants

This cute and quirky bride and groom have just had their super sweet wedding featured on Easy Weddings!

Hillstones Wedding with Celebrant Ciara of Brisbane City Celebrants

Hillstones Wedding with Celebrant Cara of Brisbane City Celebrants

Using their woodland animal nicknames as inspiration for their wedding day to perfectly reflect their quirks and personalities. The groom even wrote a very special piece of music for his wife to be, for a string quartet to play as she made her way down the aisle!

You won’t spot me in the fun bunch of photos captured by Anne Bremner Photography because at Brisbane City Celebrants we believe our couples day is 100% about them, not us so I successfully slipped out of camera shot for all the special moments, while still being there to guide them through and ensure everything went seamlessly.

I felt pretty special to be chosen as the Celebrant for this lovely couple as they met with a whole bunch of Celebrants before meeting me and locking me in!

Congratulations to the happy newly weds and thank you for my wonderful 5 star review and for sharing your special day.

Hillstone St Lucia Wedding Review

Read all about this super cute, super fun wedding here.

Cara Hodge – Brisbane City Celebrants

If you enjoyed hearing about this quirky Hillstone St Lucia wedding and are looking for a Celebrant for your Brisbane wedding, Cara would love to hear from you. Contact Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.

Stamford Plaza Wedding Celebrant Recommendation

on May 10, 2015 · 7 Comments

Stamford Plaza Wedding Celebrant Recommendation

With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants

So thrilled to receive this beautiful feedback from this absolutely gorgeous Stamford Plaza Brisbane bride and groom!

“Hi Cara, Ben and I just returned from our honeymoon and wanted to say a big THANK YOU for helping make our day a special one.

Helping keep us organised given we both live interstate made it a stress free celebration that we could both really enjoy!” Nic & Ben

Aww, thank you so much for your lovely feedback ♥

Stamford Plaza Wedding Celebrant Recommendation. Image: Steven Newham Photography

P.S. How elegant is the indoor wedding ceremony option at Brisbane’s Stamford Plaza Hotel!

Image: Steven Newham Photography.

If you are looking for a Celebrant for your Stamford Plaza Brisbane wedding that is eager to perform your wedding, your way then we would LOVE to hear from you. Contact Brisbane City Celebrants here to confirm availability for your special day.

Brisbane Wedding Locations

on May 10, 2015 · 6 Comments

With Jamie + Cara – Brisbane City Celebrants

With over 10+ years experience performing wedding ceremonies at Brisbane wedding venues and Brisbane parks, we are excited to fill you in on these stunning Brisbane wedding locations.

BRISBANE PARK AND GARDEN WEDDING LOCATIONS

With the perfect climate for outdoor weddings year round, Brisbane offers a fantastic choice of wedding ceremony locations.

View our new and updated post ‘Best Wedding Venues in Brisbane‘

We have put together the following featuring some of our favourite Brisbane wedding ceremony sites to assist couples with finding the perfect place to say “I Do”.

The following Brisbane wedding ceremony locations feature wedding ceremonies styled by With Love – Brisbane Wedding Decorators.

New Farm Park Rotunda

This highly sought after rotunda is a popular choice for weddings. Offering so many features and benefits, from the historical 100+ year old structure, to the central riverside location, not to mention it’s so spacious, providing shade on sunny days, and shelter on rainy days, so no alternative wet weather venue is required.

Image via An elegant and fun filled wedding at New Farm Rotunda. You can book the rotunda through Brisbane City Council and you can even book access to power if needed.

View more New Farm Park weddings here.

Captain Burke Park

With the majestic Story Bridge giving a nod to Brisbane in the backdrop, with a large spacious grassed area, Captain Burke Park in Kangaroo Pt is a great location for a wedding ceremony.

View more Captain Burke Park, Kangaroo Point weddings here.

Roma Street Parkland

With a variety of immaculately maintained lawns to choose from, Roma Street Parklands is an oasis in Brisbane City and even has wet weather options they can offer in the unlikely event the forecast doesn’t look favourable for your day (wet weather ceremony locations are subject to availability). Another unique feature of this park, is you can request permission for your wedding transport to drive you up to the entrance of your lawn.

It’s not surprising that so many couples choose Roma Street Parklands for their wedding ceremony. With a choice of six beautiful wedding sites, each surrounded by an abundance of greenery, Roma Street Parklands cater for the most small and intimate wedding to large groups of up to a thousand guests. With waterfalls, a lake, photogenic bridges and fine mist sprays, photo opportunities are abundant making this a favourite place for photographers to take their couples between their ceremony and reception.

View more Roma Street Parklands weddings here.

Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens

The Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens have 3 wedding lawns to choose from, with Palm Tree Lawn being the most popular choice, perhaps for it’s privacy with surrounding greenery. A unique benefit of choosing to have your wedding ceremony here, is that (to the best of our knowledge) this is the only Brisbane wedding park that includes 20 x chairs as part of your booking!

Your wedding photographer will be in their element here with the abundance of beautiful landscapes and photo opportunities.

We have performed many weddings at Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, and we love performing ceremonies here!

View more Mt Coot-tha Botanic Garden weddings

Sherwood Arboretum

If you love the idea of tying the knot between two tall rows of trees, a visit to Sherwood Arboretum is a must! This quiet park in the Brisbane suburb of Sherwood offers shady ceremony locations with stunning backdrops.

View more Sherwood Arboretum weddings here.

Image by Still Wild Love

Please note: The descriptions of the Brisbane wedding parks provided reflect our own opinions and experience of these ceremony sites and we take no responsibility for service provided by venues or restrictions imposed by Brisbane City Council Park Bookings.

Details of wedding sites that can be booked through Brisbane City Council are located here.

If you found this guide to Brisbane wedding ceremony locations helpful, the Brisbane City Celebrants duo would love to hear from you. Contact Jamie + Cara – Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.

STUNNING BRISBANE WEDDING VENUES

Having being a part of hundreds of weddings over the years, we know Brisbane’s wedding venues extremely well, and of the many venues we’ve been fortunate enough to experience, the following venues truly shine when it comes to being a unique venue with excellent service. So in no particular order, here goes:

Weddings at Victoria Park

This centrally located venue certainly has the wow factor, the garden marquee ceremony site has sweeping views of the city, which is equally as impressive when the sunset and the colourful city lights come to life. As a preferred Celebrant of the venue, Jamie + Cara of Brisbane City Celebrants have performed many weddings at Victoria Park and we love performing weddings here. Read more about some of the weddings we have performed here.

Photo credit: Lauren Joy Photography

If you found this article to be helpful, the Brisbane City Celebrants duo would love to be your Celebrant for your wedding.

Contact Jamie + Cara – Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.

Stamford Plaza Wedding Celebrant Testimonial

on March 29, 2015 · 2 Comments

With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants

I am thrilled to bits to receive this beautiful feedback from a super sweet Stamford Plaza Brisbane bride and groom.
“I just wanted to say a massive thank you for being our Celebrant – we couldn’t have been happier and we are both so glad you were our celebrant! Attached are some photos from the day.”

This lovely little note has me smiling from ear to ear, what a gorgeous bride and groom! I loved working with these love birds to create their super special wedding ceremony which took place at the Brisbane Stamford Plaza flagpole garden.

Cara Hodge – Brisbane City Celebrants

Stamford Plaza Brisbane Wedding with Celebrant Ciara Hodge. Images: Diana Wakeham Photography

Weddings at Stamford Plaza Brisbane

Stamford Plaza Brisbane is a truly spectacular wedding venue, perfectly located on the Brisbane river beside the City Botanical Gardens, this venue has the added benefit of providing brides and grooms with an abundance of wedding photo opportunities.

The elevated ceremony gardens of Stamford Plaza have the most amazing panoramic views of the Brisbane river with the Story Bridge and Kangaroo Pt cliffs in the backdrop beyond on the river.

The wedding lawns are beautifully maintained and the venue provide an indoor ceremony alternative in the event of wet weather in one of their grand function rooms.

You and you guests can continue to take in the amazing Brisbane river views with a reception in the apty named ‘River View Room’, or alternatively for larger functions the Grand Ballroom is another great choice of reception venue.

If you are looking for a modern professional Celebrant for your Stamford Plaza Brisbane wedding, or for your wedding else where in Brisbane, Cara or Jamie from Brisbane City Celebrants would love to hear from you!

A fun and happy Cherbon Waters Wedding

on February 14, 2015 · 6 Comments

With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants

I remember the first time I met Rosie and Ernie, a super cute crazy in love couple who oozed happiness. So when we discussed the kind of ceremony they envisaged it fitted like a jigsaw that they were looking for a simple, fun and happy wedding “nothing too stiff” I recall Rosie saying.

We bounced around ideas and I loved that they really got me in to a super creative zone as I prepared their ceremony script, ensuring it reflected and respected their love for each other while maintaining a fun and happy vibe.

Cherbon Waters wedding with Brisbane Celebrant Ciara Hodge. Captured by Jonas C Photography.

Cherbon Waters wedding with Brisbane Celebrant Cara Hodge. Captured by Jonas C. Photography.

On the day I arrived at their wedding at Cherbon Waters in Burbank, and was greeted with a rotunda overlooking a lake that had been sweetly decorated by the couple and their close friends the previous day. There’s always something very personal about weddings that incorporate a little bride and groom DIY.

As the guests began to arrive, we received a call advising us that the bride and bridesmaids were running a little late so the groomsmen and myself did our best to keep the groom occupied while we waited to keep his nerves at bay.

While we waited Ernie told me “as soon as met you we felt relaxed in your presence and knew we wanted you as your Celebrant, which is exactly how I feel right now” it put a huge smile on my dial hearing that he felt relaxed, as I truly believe if brides and grooms can put the nerves aside and relax, they can really enjoy every special moment of their ceremony.

Smiles, love and laughter at this Cherbon Waters wedding with Brisbane Celebrant Cara Hodge. Captured by Jonas C. Photography.

Before the ceremony started I asked Ernie if he had any tissues on him ‘just in case’ to which he responded, “no, I won’t cry, but Rosie might”, I handed him some tissues and whispered to him to take these just in case you need to wipe a tear from Rosie or from his very proud mother (who was sat in the front row proudly beaming with love).

Rosie arrived and walked down the aisle looking absolutely radiant, while the excited guests cheered!

Cherbon Waters wedding with Brisbane Celebrant Ciara Hodge. Captured by Jonas C. Photography.

Their fun and happy ceremony was a huge hit with with their awesome crowd, and even Ernie completely surprised himself by shedding a few happy tears!

The newlyweds looked over the moon with happiness as I pronounced them husband and wife and they made their way back down the aisle where they were greeted with a shower of bubbles and congratulated by their guests.

Wishing the newlyweds every happiness for their future together and thank you for choosing me as your Celebrant for your Cherbon Waters Wedding

A huge thank you to the team at Jonas C. Photography for being so wonderful to work with, for capturing these beautiful images which truly capture the essence of the day and for being so kind as to allow us to share these images here.

If you are thirsty to see more from this super happy wedding, check out Jonas C’s blog post here.

In the meantime here are a few favourites from the day.

Rosie and Ernies dream team included the following Brisbane wedding vendors (as credited by Jonas C):

Super talented Photographer : Jonas C. Photography

Second Shooter : Joshua Easton

Wedding Venue : Cherbon Waters, Burbank QLD

The happy & fun Celebrant : Cara from Brisbane City Celebrants

Hair & Makeup Artist : My Hair Affair

Bouquet : Redland Bay Florist

Wedding Cake : Jocelyn’s Provision

Wedding dress : Babushka Ballerina

Decor : Rosie + Awesomesauce Friends + Family

If you enjoyed hearing about this happy, relaxed and love filled wedding, Cara would love to hear from you. Contact Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.

A sweet Botanical Mt Coot-tha wedding

on February 1, 2015 · 2 Comments

With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants

A sweet Botanical Mt Coot-tha wedding with guests asking their own fun vows of the bride and groom, the bride and groom surprising each other with fun and heartfelt vows, followed by an evening of celebration and fun!

Botanical Mt Coot-tha Wedding with Marriage Celebrant Ciara Hodge.
Image: Nicole Barralet Photography

This happy couple traveled all the way from North QLD to marry on the spacious covered deck of the Botanical, surrounded by the stunning greenery of the Botanical Gardens which was also the perfect place for their post wedding photo shoot.

Botanical Mt Coot-tha Wedding with Brisbane Marriage Celebrant Ciara Hodge.
Image: Nicole Barralet Photography

When I first met with the happy couple to discuss the atmosphere they envisioned for the ceremony and to bounce around ideas, they were excited about the concept of a light hearted and fun wedding ceremony that was inclusive of all their guests.

Together we created a ceremony that involved not only their surprise wedding vows to each other (which they heard for the very first time on the day), but we also included their close family and friends who before the day sent me their own surprise vows that the bride and groom had to agree to.

The guests vows were a combination of fun promises for the bride and groom to commit to, vows based around the couples future goals and some side splitting hilarious vows!

Botanical Mt Coot-tha Wedding with Brisbane City Celebrants.
Image: Nicole Barralet Photography

I loved working alongside the bubbly and effervescent Nicole Baralett Photography for this wedding. Brisbane City Celebrants have had the pleasure of working alongside Nicole a number of times over the years and she is the kind of photographer that lights up a room with her passion and enthusiasm.

She has an amazing ability to instantly have people relax in her presence and let their personalities shine through which makes for some pretty special photos.

Botanical Mt Coot-tha wedding
Photo credit: Nicole Barralet Photography

A huge thank you to the lovely Nicole Barralet Photography for this beautiful 5 star review.

If you enjoyed hearing about this wedding and you are looking for a Celebrant for your Mt Coot-tha wedding, Cara would love to hear from you. Contact Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.