Your wedding / marriage ceremony is the central event

Wedding ceremony in the garden

THE CEREMONY IS YOURS
A celebrant marriage ceremony allows you complete freedom of choice. It is your wedding; you are the reason for, and the focus of the ceremony. You choose the celebrant, the date, the time, the place, the words, the music, and how you wish the ceremony to be conducted.

YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING MUCH WITHOUT RESOURCES
The best book on celebrant ceremonies by far is Ceremonies and Celebrations, by Dally Messenger, Hachette Livre, available as an eBook or from the Celebrants Centre 1300 446 786. Many couples prefer to read this book first and start choosing their ceremony, so they have a few ideas before they see a celebrant.
Your Celebrant may supply you with a copy of "Ceremonies and Celebrations" or "It's Your Wedding" (a shorter version) which gives you a wide choice of poems, introductions, vows, askings, and ring ceremonies and includes example ceremonies. After you have a basic resource as a starting point, why not then search the Internet or go down to the library to also explore your favorite poet or author?

CHOOSING A CELEBRANT
First Rule: Beware of cheap celebrants. Some cheap celebrants say they do everything others do, but they do not! Some do far too many or far too few weddings and cannot possibly give your wedding the attention it deserves.
No two marriage celebrants are the same. They are all individuals, so choose a celebrant who is committed to standards and who suits you personally. You need to feel relaxed and confident that your celebrant will carry out your wishes - and also give you the best advice. A celebrant should give you complete choice of every component of the ceremony. Ahe should encourage you to have a ceremony that reflects your ideals, values, feelings, beliefs, and personality.

FINDING THE RIGHT CELEBRANT
Personal Recommendation is always the best way — but go through the checklist. Make inquiries among your friends and acquaintances. It is easy to find someone these days who can recommend a good celebrant.

The best way to check whether a celebrant is suitable without inconveniencing anyone is to make a simple phone call or check the celebrant websites, e.g., http://www.marriagecelebrant.com.
You should ask the celebrant what is their system in regard to ceremonies - discuss with any proposed celebrant the points that are important to you. Ask what resources they are prepared to provide you, whether they are willing to do on-site rehearsals, assist with your peersonal story, plan the music with you etc. If this is satisfactory to you, then you should ask the celebrant if they are available on the day and time you require.
Increasingly, the best qualifications came from the International College of Celebrancy (Beware of similar names - the key word is "College"). Celebrancy Training Australia. Others have to be very carefully assessed - there are some very "dodgy" courses. Those who spend money and time to become top professional celebrants demand your consideration. Those who train them (mentors) must also be considered as celebrants who lead the field!