Vendor Feature: Kathy Young, The Sunshine Coast Wedding Celebrant

Telling your love story sounds simple in concept, but often the reality of putting “those vows”, “those words” to paper can be more challenging that you realise. The truth is that loving each other in a way that is hard to describe in words, is sometimes just that, hard to describe in words!

Finding a celebrant who can turn your words into a wedding ceremony as individually beautiful as your story, is as important as finding the dress that just fits in that beautiful, seamless, meant to be kind of way.

Kathy Young, the Sunshine Coast Celebrant is known for being more than “just a wedding celebrant”, she is a teller of love stories. Here is a little of the story behind the teller, and also some great gems of advice for new brides-to-be.

Kathy Young: A unique celebrant for a unique ceremony

A few years ago, one of my daughters was planning for her wedding. When she met with a celebrant she was presented with a choice between three generic wedding ceremonies. I was amazed by the idea that there were only three ways to describe the kind of love they were feeling. Becoming a celebrant was something I had always wanted to do and, right at that moment, I thought why not do it now, and why not do it in my own way?

Fast forwarding to the current day, the way that I do things is very different to what was presented to my daughter 5 years ago. I see my role, not only as the celebrant on the day, but to uncover the story behind the couple to build a ceremony that is uniquely them.

There is something so very beautiful about putting together the words that will forever bind the couple as husband and wife. For me it’s really important that the building of a ceremony is a natural and organic process born of conversation and connection; not of preconceived ideas of what a wedding ceremony should be. The ceremony needs to be as individual as the couple that it represents.

I adore working with couples that are open to ideas, creative  and have a genuine desire not just for a big event but more to just simply be married to their best friends.  I am constantly amazed that this is “my job”. Meeting loved up couples, having amazing conversation and witnessing the most beautiful days.

When planning your big day, my advice is:

  1. Find a celebrant who you genuinely connect with. The more comfortable you are with them, the more of yourself you will feel comfortable sharing to build your story into your vows.
  2. Be true to yourselves. Don’t be constrained by what you think a wedding ceremony ‘should’ look like, make sure it authentically represents who you are.
  3. Simplicity is beautiful. We often make the mistake of forgetting that sometimes the simplest things are the most beautiful. One of my favourite ceremonies to date was when I married my nephew and his bride in beautiful Victoria. My nephew promised his new bride that he would buy her a puppy and pretend not to notice how many shoes she brought; she promised to always let him watch the AFL when his team was playing.
  4. Feel free to add some humour. Who doesn’t want a giggle on the happiest day of their lives?
  5. It’s about a love and a promise. Above all, if you end up married to the one you love at the end of the day, then everything went exactly to plan

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