Jeni Dickson. Marriage celebrant
Kia ora, ko Jeni tōku ingoa
I'm based in Tai Tapu currently, but grew up in north Canterbury, studied fashion design in Wellington and lived in Auckland for 18 years.
I'm an extrovert who loves getting to know people, public speaking and spinning a yarn or three, so being a marriage celebrant is a great combination of all those things.
My primary role as a celebrant is to make sure the legal aspect of your marriage is sorted and ensure your ceremony reflects you and your relationship. It normally goes a little something like this:
Assuming I'm available on the date of your wedding, I'll follow up your initial enquiry with a quick phone call or face-to-face catch up so you can see if I'm the right fit for you. There's no obligation for you to follow through - what's most important is that you're comfortable with your choice of celebrant.
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If you're keen to proceed, we'll sort out a non-refundable deposit to secure your date and we'll all have a longer catch up so I can get to know you a bit more. If you've got a clear idea of what you want, great! If not, no sweat, this is a good opportunity for us to talk about all the possibilities. I will guide you through applying for your marriage license and ensure all the legal requirements are met.
I will then draw up a personalised ceremony, run it past you to make sure it's exactly as you envisaged and make any tweaks necessary. I'm also happy to help with vow writing, suggest potential readings and poems, and offer any other nuggets of advice you might find helpful.
Booking in a rehearsal isn't imperative, but it's a great idea. Couples normally plan to have this at the venue the evening before the wedding, but I can totally fit in with whatever you decide to do.
And that brings us to your big day! I'll be there ahead of time to make sure everything is as you've specified and that your license is good to go. My priority is that things go as smoothly as possible so I'm happy to wrangle, schmooze and pitch in where necessary.