About civil ceremonies
Ceremonies help you to connect with your loved ones, with your family and friends - your community. As more and more people find that religious ceremonies are not meeting their needs as individuals, civil ceremonies can fill the gap - your wedding ceremony can still incorporate religious or spiritual elements if a church wedding is not an option (due to divorce or inter-faith marriages or a non-church-aligned spiritual faith). A baby naming takes the place of a christening or baptism, a coming of age ceremony for a teenager replaces confirmation or bat mitzvah or bar mitzvah, a celebration of life or memorial service can honour your beliefs and those of the one you have lost. A renewal of vows on the anniversary of your marriage or commitment ceremony can reaffirm your relationship and put new energy into it. Or it may be a way of having a wedding ceremony with all the trimmings if you missed out on a full scale wedding when you did marry.
As a civil marriage celebrant, Marlee structures your ceremony for your particular circumstances - a one parent family, same sex partners, a separated family - some traditional religious ceremonies and forms may not be flexible enough to do this. Your ceremony can also inlcude very traditonal elements if you wish. Although same sex ceremonies are not legally recognised in Australia, a commitment ceremony is a way of publicly proclaiming your commitment to each other - it can be a traditional or contemporary ceremony.
Ask Marlee about the type of ceremony you want - her aim is to create a ceremony with you that is as individual as you are and that you will cherish always.
