Wedding planning tips: Celebrant’s unexpected piece of advice for planning a wedding

Planning a wedding can be one the most exciting life milestones, but it can also be incredibly stressful from start to finish. 

Once the excitement of the engagement wears off, the reality of wedding planning kicks in – there’s picking the date, debating over the guest list and the bridal party, booking a venue, a celebrant, a photographer, a DJ… the list goes on.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way? Georgia Fletcher, a celebrant and wedding & events professional, has one unexpected piece of advice for couples that could help ease the stress of wedding planning.

READ MORE: Before her daughter’s death, Vicky made a heartfelt plea. The princess listened

“Don’t feel like you have to be engaged to reach out to your vendors,” she tells 9honey.

These days, it’s common for couples to know they have plans to get married well before they actually get engaged. 

If that’s the case for you, Fletcher says – why not get some of the wedding admin out of the way sooner rather than later?

Especially when popular venues and celebrants can be difficult to lock down, starting the conversation with wedding vendors well in advance can make wedding planning much more smooth sailing.

READ MORE: Detail in mum’s 16-week pregnancy scan set off alarm bells

“I have had so many couples recently reach out and ask for my availability before they’ve gotten engaged,” Fletcher says .

“So don’t feel like you have to get that ring on your finger or begin the planning process to then lock in your vendor.” 

Fletcher suggests “finding the vendors that you love” and asking for their availability. If you don’t have a wedding date in mind yet, “finding out your vendor’s availability helps you narrow down your date”.

“The sooner you can reach out to people that you love and you’re going to connect with, the better your wedding planning process will be,” she adds.

So, how far in advance should you start wedding planning? 

Fletcher says it can never be too soon to start the conversation with your wedding vendors. 

She recommends working out what your wedding day “non-negotiables” – whether that’s a really good celebrant,  a great photographer or a stunning venue.

Start reaching out as soon as you can to the vendors that are the most important to you and then move onto planning everything else. 

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

As a celebrant, Fletcher says she can take on clients between three and six months before the wedding date but says the more time you have to communicate with the vendor the better. 

Fletcher currently has a wedding booked in for two years from now.

“I don’t know what I’m having for dinner, let alone lunch today – but I know where I’ll be on the 12th August 2027,” she jokes.

This means she can really invest in the couple and their story before she officially marries them on their big day. 

“To find a really great celebrant that you can love and they will love you in return and want to be able to support you wholeheartedly … I would be looking 12 to 18 months in advance.”

But, what does a wedding celebrant actually do?

There are so many moving parts of planning a wedding, so it can be tricky to know what’s what and many may wonder what a celebrant’s role actually involves.

Fletcher says there’s a common misconception that “a celebrant just rocks up on the day for 20 minutes” to marry the couple and their job is done, but there is so much more to the job that goes on behind the scenes. 

READ MORE: ‘I’ve been around lawyers’: Ryan Reynolds’ remark amid Lively, Baldoni lawsuit

Before they stand at the altar to marry a couple, a celebrant has to do a lot behind the scenes to learn the couple’s story and craft a beautiful story to lead the ceremony as well as helping the couple with their vows.

Then there’s the legal stuff – a celebrant needs to make sure legal processes, including a completed notice of intended marriage, are complete to ensure the couple is legally married.

“They have to know about the legalities of getting married,” Fletcher says 

What’s the perfect time and duration for a wedding ceremony?

When it comes to locking in the finer details of the wedding like when to ask guests to arrive, Fletcher, who has been in the industry since 2018, has some hot tips. 

Fletcher says the perfect start time depends on the time of year and the location but overall she says late afternoon, just before the soft light of golden hour is usually a winner. 

READ MORE: Elle Macpherson opens up on her ‘new beginning’ at 61

In general, she says around 3pm or 4pm wedding is a great time.

“[As a celebrant], I’m not up there to do anything other than tell a really captivating, beautiful, personalised story where guests will go away going, ‘Wow’.”

“I really think that sweet spot is 20 to 30 minutes,” she says.

How do I write my wedding vows?

For the big day, many couples will choose to write their own wedding vows – something that can be very daunting.

Fletcher stresses that couples shouldn’t feel that they have to read their own vows in the ceremony. They could do a private reading or write them down to read separately. 

But for those who do want to, Fletcher’s advice is simple. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding in photos

“Just write from your heart,” she says. 

“Keep it really simple in a really lovely, meaty but vulnerable sandwich about gratitude and appreciation for the journey that you’ve been on up until the day, how grateful that you are to be there, three to five promises of things that you are already doing… and then finish with an, ‘I love you’,” she adds. 

“You can keep it really simple, sentimental and easy.”

READ MORE: ‘In Scotland, we have snow’: Megastar astonished by Aussie winter

She also says don’t feel afraid to lean into AI to help you put together your vows. 

“Don’t feel like Google and ChatGPT can’t be used as a tool,” she says. “Don’t rely on them, but lean into that support.”

Then most importantly, Fletcher recommends practicing reading your vows out loud before the big day to help you feel comfortable reading them in front of a crowd.

What are some unique wedding trends?

But of course, some couples will want to incorporate different elements into their wedding that could change its duration. 

Fletcher says every wedding is unique to each couple but there are some particularly unique wedding elements that have stood out for her.

She’s had couples choose not to have a wedding party, grooms walking down the aisle with their parents and brides choosing to walk down the aisle on their own. 

In one ceremony, Fletcher was also asked to announce the couple’s pregnancy to their family.

“I feel very lucky I got to announce that news.” 

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.