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Looking for an English Speaking Wedding Celebrant

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  1. #1

    Looking for an English Speaking Wedding Celebrant

    Hi there,

    I'm wondering if anybody has any recommendations on where I could find a LOW COST English speaking wedding celebrant to carry out the formalities during a wedding ceremony.

    I don't need them to handle any of the official marriage registry paperwork as this has already been done.

    I just need someone who will be able to act as the celebrant at the ceremony.

    Any recommendations and suggestions would be highly appreciated. Many thanks!


  2. #2

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    It's been nearly 3 years now, but I was happy with the service from Don Vong at Vong's. But all civil celebrants will speak English well - they're solicitors and that's their working language.

    No idea what he would charge just for the ceremony. We had them do all the preliminary paperwork as well. In any case he does need to prepare various papers and lodge them with the registry, so it's not just 10 minutes of his time. He charged us $3800, but that included the registry fees as well. I guess if you just want to do the minimum stuff at his office you might get it for $2500 or so, but obviously if you want him somewhere else and out of normal office hours then it would be more(his website says $4988).

    Last edited by PDLM; 15-02-2010 at 12:39 AM.
    Smithy7779 and Sam Yung Gai like this.

  3. #3

    Thanks so much for your reply PDLM. Will try to contact them and ask for a quote. Appreciate your time. Thanks again.


  4. #4

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    hi

    Hi,If you tell me what all has to be done, I am prepared to do it as I speak excellent english. I am from India. I will charge reasonably.
    shobha.


  5. #5

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    First you need to be a licensed Celebrant of Civil Weddings, i.e. your name needs to be on this list. Somehow I suspect it isn't!

    Last edited by PDLM; 15-02-2010 at 05:49 PM.

  6. #6

    Actually, I am just looking for someone to act as a celebrant at the wedding ceremony. I'm guessing they don't have to be a licensed Celebrant of Civil Weddings because the couple is already legally married (i.e. they have carried out the wedding registration and obtained the marriage certificate at the Marriage Registry). They are basically having a "proper" wedding ceremony and dinner celebration and the purpose of the celebrant in this case, is to conduct the ceremony - so I guess anybody who is willing to play such a part would be fine.

    Though of course it would be good to be able to get someone who has experience in conducting wedding ceremonies to do this, so we can be sure he/she knows what they are doing and what to say at the ceremony. I hope this makes sense!

    PDLM - thanks for your help and advice on this.

    Shobha, just for reference, how much will you charge? It'll probably be just for 30mins to 1 hour of your time.

    Thanks.


  7. #7

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    Just checking you understand the process: you register at the Marriage Registry to get a Licence to Marry. You need to give 14 clear days notice to get this licence. You then have 3 months within which actually to get married. You can do this at the Marriage Registry officiated by a registrar (a separate process from applying for the licence) or you can do it anywhere else with the Civil Celebrant acting as the official.


  8. #8

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    hi,
    Actually I have no experience in this as you will appreciate the cultural differences but if told what to do I will be able to do. The charge will be extremely reasonable, much much less than what a professional would charge.
    cheers
    shobha


  9. #9

    Hi PDLM, thanks so much for checking. The entire process has actually been completed (i.e. the formal marriage at the Marriage Registry has already taken place within the 3 months of obtaining the Licence to Marry). So, in actual fact, the couple is already married. They basically want to put together a celebration with a dinner with a wedding ceremony for invited guests, where they are able to say their own vows to each other etc, etc... (only family members were present at the actual Marriage at the Registry).

    It was the same case for me - I was legally married at the Marriage Registry at the end of last year, but went abroad for a destination wedding the month after, where we had someone acting as a celebrant and all the things that go with a wedding (i.e. walking down the aisle, saying our vows, being pronounced husband and wife, confetti throwing etc, etc...).

    Therefore, as the couple is already husband and wife, I guess I'm looking for someone who is willing to act as the celebrant and go through the entire wedding ceremony process for them - in this case he/she does not necessarily have to be a licenced Wedding Celebrant.

    I'm guessing that this type of scenario does not often happen in Hong Kong?

    Shobha, thanks so much for offering to take on this role. Let me discuss with the couple and will get back to you.

    Thanks.


  10. #10

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    OK - just checking - I guess it was the use of the term "Celebrant" which has an official meaning here which was confusing me. Essentially what you want is a Master of Ceremonies it seems. In HK these days it's more common to do the two together because you can just get married anywhere and that's the official wedding as well as the banquet and so on. Some split the day between two venues, but it tends to be done all on the same day I think. But there are all sorts of other variations too.


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