Celebrant Services
Weddings
Creating Unforgettable Moments
As a dedicated celebrant, I specialize in crafting personalized ceremonies that reflect your unique love story. Whether you envision a grand celebration or an intimate gathering, my goal is to make your special day truly unforgettable.
Tailored to You
Every couple is unique, and your ceremony should be no different. I work closely with you to design a ceremony that captures your personality, values, and traditions, ensuring a meaningful and memorable experience for you and your guests. Each ceremony is a reflection of your unique journey. Together, we will design a personalized experience that honors your story, values, and traditions, ensuring your day is as special as your love.
Would you like something small and intimate, or do you want your ceremony richly layered and full of colour?
Inclusive and Diverse - I am passionate about celebrating love in all its forms. I offer ceremonies for all couples, regardless of background or orientation, and I am committed to creating a welcoming environment for everyone.
Let’s work together to delight and surprise your guests, crafting a ceremony that is meaningful and unique for you.
Handfasting
Handfasting is a traditional Celtic ritual that symbolizes a couple's commitment to each other, akin to an engagement or wedding ceremony. It involves the joining of hands & the tying of cords or ribbons (woven by you or myself) around the couple's clasped hands, creating a knot that represents their union & commitment to one another.
The term "handfasting" originates from the Old Norse word "handfesta," which means to strike a bargain by joining hands.Historically, handfasting was a common practice in Celtic regions, including Scotland, Ireland, and parts of England, where it served as a formal betrothal or marriage ceremony before the Christian tradition of marriage became prevalent.
This symbolic ritual can be perfect for the couple wanting to mark their committment, in a non-church setting.
This can happen in a yard, garden, forest, park...and with the option of a labyrinth!
Vow Renewals
A renewal of vows ceremony is an opportunity for couples to reaffirm their love and commitment to one another. Vow renewals are often planned to celebrate a milestone in your relationship, such as a wedding anniversary. Couples who have faced a difficult period in their relationship sometimes wish to celebrate their renewed commitment to each other.
However, it isn’t necessary to have a particular reason for the renewal of vows. It may simply feel like the right time to celebrate your relationship. By taking the time to get to know you, listening to you and understanding what you want, I am able to create a meaningful, unique vow renewal ceremony. A renewal of vows should reflect who you are as individuals and as a couple, your values and your relationship.
Your vow renewal can be as formal, informal, traditional, simple or adventurous as you choose.
Children, grandchildren, friends and the original wedding party are often included in the ceremony.
Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage mark the various moments of life to be celebrated: milestone birthdays, transitions through phases of life, beginning of a journey, transition, or separation. Departures such as; travel or study abroad, retirement, divorce, leaving a house, loss of a pet, closing a business or ending a chapter in life.
This ceremony will also draw upon the personal needs of those involved to create a unique & individual experience.
This ceremony will be crafted through the information gathered in a meeting together.
Honouring these moments of life is a beautiful way to create memories & leave legacies.
A labyrinth can be an integral part of this ritual.
Self-Devotion
A deeply personal and empowering ceremony designed to honor and celebrate one's journey towards self-love and inner commitment. This sacred event, often held in a serene and reflective setting, includes symbolic acts such as lighting candles, affirming personal vows, and performing meaningful rituals that resonate with the individual's unique path.
As I guide the ceremony, you'll be inspired to embrace your strengths, acknowledge your growth, and reaffirm your dedication to nurturing your own well-being and aspirations. Sharing your own vows to yourself.
This ritual serves as a transformative experience, marking a profound moment of self-recognition and empowerment.
This can be just you and I or with a gathering of soul-friends as witness.
As with all ceremonies, this will be crafted along with your needs and desires.
Mama Blessing
A Mama Blessing (or blessingway) is a ceremony or ritual celebrated to honor & support a woman as she prepares for childbirth and motherhood. This special ceremony is centered around nurturing the mother-to-be and acknowledging the transformative journey she is about to embark on.
Cultural and personal traditions can be brought into this to create treasured memories. Guests may be relatives, friends, with the choice of just women, or the inclusion of the special men in the mama's life. It's a gathering to offer love, wisdom, and encouragement.
We'll share in nurturing mama, blessing her with special activities and treats and creating community around this momentous time of life. This can be done as a surprise or as a shared creation.
A labyrinth walk can also be included!
The connections created in this ceremony will hold strong through the time of birthing and into parenting!
House Blessing
As someone who has moved house many, many times, I have grown accustomed to ritualizing a new home... as well as leaving the old one with gratitude & intention.
A House Blessing is a ritual or ceremony performed to invoke blessings, protection, & positive energy upon a new home or an existing dwelling. House blessings are a beautiful way to imbue a new space with positive intentions & energy, & to invite harmony & prosperity to the household.
I offer House Blessings by connecting in with the cultural, personal or religious beliefs of those involved, so each one is personalized. Anyone can be invited to partake in the ceremony to help create a beautiful memory by welcoming occupants to a space filled with blessings & good fortune.
Baby Naming
Baby Dedications
I would love to help you welcome them into your life, express your love and share your hopes and dreams with them, your family and friends. Perhaps you’d like to include something symbolic into your ceremony – lighting candles, planting trees, reading poems or creating a keepsake book of good wishes for years to come.
Whether you would like something sweet and mellow, or upbeat and quirky, it would be my absolute joy to help you create a memorable ceremony and a day filled with love.
A baby naming ceremony is a beautiful way to celebrate the arrival of a new family member. Naming ceremonies are not only limited to celebrating the arrival of a baby. For instance, you may be welcoming an adopted child or stepchild/children into the family. Whatever the occasion, a naming ceremony is a wonderful opportunity to get all your family and friends together and take time to celebrate the arrival of this special person into your lives.
A baby dedication can be done if a couple doesn't wish to have their child christened or baptised in a church.
Sometimes, the parents will choose to ask other adults to play a supportive role in the child’s life, perhaps taking the title of guardian, mentor or supporter.
By taking the time to get to know you, listening to you and understanding what you want, I am able to create a naming ceremony or baby blessing that is meaningful and unique. A naming ceremony should reflect who you are as a family and convey the love you hold for your child.
Poems, readings and quotes of personal significance can be used throughout the ceremony. We often include a symbolic gesture, such as lighting a candle, planting a tree, or walking a labyrinth.
During the baby naming ceremony, a certificate is presented to the parents and other special people as a record of the occasion.
Crafting Your Ceremony
To craft the perfect ceremony for you, there's a few things we'll do:
At our first meeting:
Let's meet for a cuppa so you can share with me, more about you, your plans, thoughts and desires for your ceremony.
This will help you decide if I'm the right celebrant for your wedding, ceremony or special occasion.
This first meeting is free of charge, with no obligation.
I will provide you with resources that will help with the planning of your ceremony and explain the legal requirements involved in a marrying in NZ.
If you decide that you’d like me to be your celebrant:
I will send you a short list of questions, wonderful for you to answer individually. The answers will guide the creation of the ceremony, which I will write for you to tell your story in your own words.
The second meeting:
We will then work together to create the ceremony in your own vision, how you'd like to express your love, hopes and dreams in your unique ceremony.
After this...
For marriages... you will be ready to write your vows (with any help you need from me) and select any readings, poems, music or rituals that you would like to include in the ceremony.
I will write a draft of your ceremony and email this to you to review, I'm happy to make any edits until your ceremony is exactly how you would like it.
I will offer unlimited phone and email contact from start to finish, consulting with you until everything is perfect for your special day!
The Rehearsal
About a week before your ceremony, a rehearsal is a great time to cover any last-minute details, practice with your music and include anyone that as a role in your ceremony.
On the Day!
I will liaise with anyone else as needed; the photographer, venue staff, and the bridal party.
After your Wedding:
I will post a copy of your license to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages and send you a copy of the wedding ceremony as a keepsake.
Regardless of season, location, religious or non, I will work with you to craft a unique ceremony that is engaging, memorable, and filled with joy and love.
Ceremony Enquiry
Every ceremony begins with a conversation.
If you’re feeling called to honour a moment, a transition, or a turning point in your life, I invite you to reach out. My role as a celebrant is to listen deeply — to your story, your intentions, and what you wish to mark — and to explore whether we’re a good fit to create something meaningful together.
I offer ceremonies that are heartfelt, personal, and grounded in presence. Whether you’re enquiring about a wedding, handfasting, vow renewal, rite of passage, family ceremony, or another sacred moment, this first step is simply about connection.
There is no obligation in reaching out. This is a space to ask questions, share what’s on your heart, and begin a gentle dialogue about what you’re hoping to create.
Once you’ve submitted your enquiry, I’ll be in touch to arrange the next step — whether that’s a phone call, a video chat, or a written exchange — so we can explore your vision together.
I look forward to hearing from you.
— Sonya