Surprise Gay Wedding
Oh how I loved working with these two gorgeous girls in planning their surprise gay wedding.
A Relaxed & Modern State Library of QLD Wedding
A Relaxed & Modern State Library of QLD Wedding
With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants
I just love it when couples do their wedding their way, for couples like Christine and Ed that meant putting tradition aside and creating a day that could enjoy every moment of together.
Their black tie wedding ceremony and reception took place at the grand State Library of QLD in South Brisbane. The couples modern wedding commenced with both the bride and groom welcoming the guests as they arrived, which really set the tone for the relaxed vibe.
The couple opted not to have a bridal party, and Christine decided not to have a wedding bouquet as she simply didn’t feel the need to have one. They did however have Francescas Flowers install a dramatic hanging Monstera cheese plant leaf display and the greenery worked perfectly with the high ceilings of the Terrace Room.
When the ceremony time arrived, the guests were seated and the bride and groom, holding hands took a relaxed stroll down the aisle together before turning to face each other as the ceremony commenced.
The lovely couple couldn’t take their eyes off each other as they enjoyed their short, sweet and authentic ceremony. They could barely contain their excitement when I pronounced them husband and wife!
The happy newlyweds kindly left a 5 star review on Brisbane City Celebrants Facebook Page stating “Thank you Cara for being our Celebrant, everything was wonderful!”
Congratulations to the happy newlyweds and thank you for choosing Brisbane City Celebrants for your State Library of QLD Wedding.
Images by Pip Musso Photography
If you enjoyed hearing about this contemporary wedding ceremony 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.
Brisbane Golf Club wedding with a very special ring bearer
Brisbane Golf Club wedding with a very special ring bearer
With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants
This Brisbane Golf Club wedding ceremony was such a special wedding to be the Celebrant for. The happy couple have so much love for their sweet little boy and it’s so easy to see why, not only is he the cutest little thing, but his excitement and energy on the day was through the roof.
I love how the beautiful bride had so much fun including him in the getting ready photos (playing peek-a boo beneath her gown) and how he enthusiastically sprinted down the aisle faster than his little legs could carry him with the ring cushion, thankfully those rings were firmly tied to the ring cushion.
If you are looking for ideas to include children in your wedding Brisbane City Celebrants would love to hear from you. In the meantime, enjoy this gorgeous love filled wedding with the sweetest little ring bearer.
Celebrant Cara of Brisbane City Celebrants
Photography Prue Franzmann Photography
The cute little ring bearer sprinting down the wedding aisle with the rings!
“Here’s the rings Daddy”
That magical moment when the groom sees his beautiful bride for the very first time.
As a Celebrant I love seeing the guests smiling from ear to ear, looking on lovingly and enjoying every moment of the wedding ceremony.
Brisbane Golf Club Wedding with Cara of Brisbane City Celebrants
The sweet couple wrote beautiful heartfelt wedding vows to each other. I just love how their photographer Prue captured this special moment from this angle.
Just married by Brisbane City Celebrants
Congratulations to the happy newlyweds! If you have a child or children that you would like to include in your wedding ceremony, we recommend checking out our article tips for weddings with children.
If you enjoyed this Celebrants blog and you are looking for a like minded Celebrant for your Brisbane wedding, Cara Hodge from Brisbane City Celebrants would love to hear from you, contact her now for more information or to confirm availability for your special day.
Some of my Favourite Wedding Moments
Some of my Favourite Wedding Moments
With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants
I was so excited when the Polka Dot Bride wedding blog invited me to share some of my favourite wedding moments with their readers. With way too many amazing moments to realistically list, here are just some of my favourites, in no particular order
1. The first dance
I adore everything about this incredible shot captured by Milque Photography and Films of this very talented dancing duo.
From the perfect composition of this image with the ceiling drapes and opulent chandeliers framing the couple, to the guests cheering enthusiastically in the background.
I have no doubt a lot of planning and practice went in to pulling this dance move off and the happy couple are now rewarded with this very impressive image and wonderful memories.
2. The Hollywood style back bender first kiss
You really get a feeling of romance and a sense of the love this couple share in this image beautifully captured by Dreamlife Photos and Video. You can imagine the guests cheering enthusiastically and applauding as the groom Justin dips his beautiful bride Katie, and the bridesmaids squeal with happiness as they wave their bouquets in the air!
Jamie was the Celebrant for this couple and I love that he got well and truly out of shot (as every Celebrant should) for the photographers to capture this magical moment.
I also love the fresh greenery styled arch, designed by the bride who is a very talented florist.
3. Fresh Floral Arbour
I am absolutely besotted with this fresh floral arch by the talented creatives at Brisbane Wedding Decorators which was covered in beautiful fresh oversize Colombian roses and perfectly complements the brides white wedding theme. Image by Laura Slade Photography
4. OMG the wedding cake just toppled off the table!!!
Actually it was all part of the plan. My gorgeous couple, Gabbi and Dan love to laugh and have fun and they knew they wanted their wedding full of fun and laughter. Nothing stiff, boring or predictable.
Something about the traditional cutting of the cake just didn’t feel right to them, so together with their equally fun loving photographers from Naomi V Photography they came up with a plan to trick their guests in to thinking they knocked the cake off the table.
So they got a pretend polystyrene cake and had that iced so it looked like the real deal. As the cake cutting took place and the cake went flying off the table, the photographers captured the shocked look on the guests faces! Seeing Gabbi and Dan smirking then burst in to laughter raised suspicions and a guest ran up to the cake and confirmed they had all been tricked!
We love it when our couples do things their way, truly making their wedding their own and plus this made for a series of hilarious photos too.
5. Flower walls
Ooh look it’s me! It was such an amazing experience to be a guest of honour at the Karen Tran Gala dinner in Brisbane hosted by Event Planner Celebrations by Alysia. What you can see behind me here is a spectacular floor to ceiling water colour inspired flower wall, yes those are all real flowers! The fresh florals, the opulence, the decor, everything was simply breathtaking!
Image via Brisbane City Celebrants
If you enjoyed hearing about some of Cara’s favourite wedding moments and you 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.
A UQ Schonell wedding on the rugby field
A UQ Schonell wedding on the rugby field
With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants
I am so excited to share some happy feedback from this super fun ceremony that took place on the rugby field at the University of Queensland, a spot that the happy couple and their friends share many happy memories of from their days studying and playing at UQ.
After the ceremony the happy couple even went on to kick off their shoes and pop on their footie boots for a quick kick around on the pitch! The perfect way for them to have a little fun and make their day a true reflection of them.
I was thrilled to receive a 5 star review and this lovely feedback from the happy newlyweds.
“Ciara made our wedding day not only memorable but stress free! Right from day one she was so helpful with all the ceremony details including our vows.
Our ceremony was beautiful, unique, lighthearted and fun! I would highly recommend Ciara to anyone planning their wedding.”
Alison & Sean – UQ rugby field wedding
The very lovely Adam from Raconteur Photography was on hand to capture the day and was also kind enough to provide the following feedback about his experience working alongside me:
“Ciara was amazing, the ceremony was very relaxed and fun while still being very personable towards Alison and Sean and their journey.
Ciara stuck around after the ceremony to help out which was nice. I highly recommend Ciara – amazing job”
UQ wedding ceremony with Brisbane Wedding Celebrant Ciara Hodge
To complete the dream team of suppliers the happy couple selected, here is there feedback on their photographer Adam.
“I’m so glad we chose Adam to photograph our wedding, he made the day lighthearted and fun, and truly got the best out of all of those he was photographing.
He interacted so well with everyone and we got so many comments on how fantastic our photographer was. Our photos look amazing and were above and beyond what I anticipated. I can’t recommend Adam and Raconteur photography highly enough.”
Alison and Sean
Thank you Alison and Sean for choosing me to be a part of your wedding and also to Raconteur Photography for capturing and allowing us to share these timeless images.
Ciara Hodge – Brisbane City Celebrants
If you enjoyed hearing about this fun UQ Schonell wedding ceremony 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.
Tips for weddings with children
Tips for weddings with children
With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants
Let’s talk children at weddings. While some couples opt for child free weddings, others embrace the joy of having excited children involved in their day, particularly when their own children get to play a very special role in their day.
Brisbane City Celebrants top tips for Children at Weddings. Image Naomi V Photography
There are many ways to include little ones in your ceremony which depending on their age may involve including a very special mention of them in the ceremony wording or giving them the role of ring security or flower girl, to having them present readings, hand out bubbles, be ushers or be in the bridal party if they are a little older.
Brisbane City Celebrants top tips for Children at Weddings. Image Naomi V Photography
Having performed many weddings with children involved the best advice we can give is simply to let children be children.
If they see Mum and Dad stood at the front looking like a Prince and Princess out of a Disney movie, naturally they will be curious and will instinctively want to wonder up and join them, we absolutely encourage this. Trying to keep them away could potentially result in a mid-ceremony tantrum.
Brisbane City Celebrants top tips Weddings with Children Image Naomi V Photography
We believe having your own child or children around you during the ceremony, adds to the love shared between the family and let’s face it, it doesn’t get much cuter than having a little page boy dressed as a mini-me of his Daddy or a flower girl up there clinging on to Daddy’s leg!
Brisbane City Celebrants top tips Weddings with Children Image Naomi V Photography
For guests with babies and young children that have also been invited along, the etiquette at weddings is generally to sit towards the back so if baby decides to let out an almighty scream just for giggles, they can quickly exit out of ear shot without any disruption to the ceremony.
If you are expecting a few excitable toddlers may be running around before or after the ceremony, consider child friendly decorations, for example cylinder glass vases or candles lining the aisle or on pedestals may be an accident waiting to happen. Consider keeping potentially breakable décor to a minimum or out of reach and if you’re expecting lots of kiddies to be present, perhaps even have a ‘kids zone’ or welcome toy that can keep occupied. Bubbles are a great way to entertain little ones at weddings and also make for some really great photos.
Brisbane City Celebrants top tips Weddings with Children Image Naomi V Photography
Finally, as cute as little ring bearers are, avoiding giving them the actual rings until the very last minute. It’s all fun and games when he’s whacking Uncle Phil with the ring cushion, until a ring goes AWOL. Best to have the rings well tied to the little ribbons on the ring cushion and to hand them over to the ring bearer at the last minute.
Brisbane City Celebrants top tips Weddings with Children Image: Naomi V Photography
Most of all involve and enjoy your little ones as they will play a huge part of the magical memories of your special day.
Big thanks to Gabbi and Dan and their sweet son Blaine for allowing us to share these beautiful photos from your wedding at Riverlife and also to Naomi V Photography for capturing these fantastic images.
Cara Hodge – Brisbane City Celebrants Riverlife Wedding
If you enjoyed hearing these tips for children at weddings and are looking for a Celebrant that gets the importance of involving your children on your special day, Cara would love to hear from you. Contact Brisbane City Celebrants for more information and to confirm availability for your special day.
Why everyone loves a sunset wedding ceremony
Why everyone loves a sunset wedding ceremony
With Celebrant Cara Hodge of Brisbane City Celebrants
We are so excited to have our article about sunset wedding ceremonies published on the Polka Dot Bride Wedding Blog!
With weddings now becoming less traditional, and more about couples doing it their way and putting their own personal stamp on their day, there’s never been a better time for couples to really consider their wedding day schedule, in particular the time their ceremony takes place.
In Brisbane the vast majority of wedding ceremonies typically take place at around 3pm. The primary reason being this gives the photographer 1-2 hours of beautiful golden light to take advantage of during the couples post wedding photo shoot, before the bride and groom make their way to rejoin the guests at the reception, so here’s some food for thought.
Brisbane City Celebrants sunset wedding ceremony guide as published on Polka Dot Bride
With the wedding ceremony being the most special part of the day, what if it took place at the most jaw dropingly beautiful time of the day? in that gorgeous golden light, with everyone present getting to share in the stunning sunset as the bride and groom share their heartfelt vows and first kiss as husband and wife to the romantic and dramatic backdrop of a beautifully lit up sky.
Sunset Wedding Photos by Leah Cruikshank Photography
Naturally a gorgeous sunset ceremony requires a little tweaking to the traditional wedding day schedule, so here’s some tips on planning the perfect sunset ceremony.
Firstly most wedding photographers will no doubt still love the opportunity to shoot you as a couple in natural daylight. A great way to do this is as a ‘First Look’ or ‘Reveal’ shoot, a couple of hours before the ceremony takes place, at a different location when the photographer captures the grooms reaction when he sees his beautiful bride for the very first time, minus the nerves that often accompany having all the families and friends present during this special moment.
Not only does a first look shoot mean that you get to include this extra special element in your day and your photo album, and have a stunningly romantic sunset ceremony, it also means that once the ceremony has concluded you get to stay and immediately celebrate with your guests instead of being whisked away from them for photos.
Sunset Wedding Photos by Leah Cruikshank Photography
The guests will love it too not only for experiencing the most beautiful sunset ceremony, but also for being a cooler time of day and most of all for not being separated from the stars of the show (you!) and having to endure the ‘waiting around’ time that typically takes place between a ceremony and reception.
The sunset ceremony schedule also takes away the pressure of having to organise entertainment and additional refreshments to keep the guests occupied between the ceremony and reception.
As the sun sets, this is also an opportunity for the photographer to showcase their night time photography skills and creative lighting techniques with sparklers and candle lighting.
Sunset wedding photos from a gorgeous Spicers Hidden Vale wedding with Brisbane Celebrant Ciara Hodge.
Images kindly provided by Leah Cruikshank Photography
Considerations when having a sunset ceremony, include:
- Choosing an open ceremony location that is easily accessible and will embrace the sunset;
- Considering where you will stand to get the best effect from the sunset and without the sun in your or your guests eyes;
- If the ceremony is outdoors, as it will get dark fairly quickly once the sun has set, consider assigning ushers or groomsmen to assist in promptly directing the guests on to the reception area for refreshments;
- Consider adding ambient lighting as ceremony décor, like strings of light bulbs, candles or a sparkling chandelier over the ceremony to enhance with the romance of the sunset.
If you love the idea of a sunset ceremony for your wedding, experienced Brisbane Celebrants Ciara and Jamie would love to hear from you contact us to confirm availability.
Happy wedding planning!
Love Brisbane City Celebrants x
A special thank you to the gorgeous Leah of Leah Cruikshank Photography for kindly providing the beautiful images to accompany this post from a stunning wedding with Cara that took place at Spicers Hidden Vale.
Brisbane City Celebrants 2015 Highlights
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.
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!
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.
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