Rebels' Guide

A wedding fair I am hoping to go to in the near future asked on its application form who my target demographic is. Before you read on, stop for a second and think about how you would be described in a demographical sense. Also, is demographical a word? What demographic are you? Here’s what I wrote: My target demographic is the 24-34 aged couple that are planning for a marriage, not a wedding. Planning for a marriage I’m publishing this blog post on the rare case that a few other people might be in the same boat. The boat that set sail for a wedding and the destination was an awesome life together with their favourite human, and the wedding was just the first point of call on an awesome journey called life. Planning for a wedding The people planning for a wedding are also setting sail. Although the destination is Wedding Town, population 150 or so, depending on the cousin situation. There’s no doubt that this couple are also going to be in a marriage after the event but...

A short and quick tip today on how you can broaden your horizons, your view, your idea, of what a wedding is and can be: see other weddings more. So here’s how I can help you do that today. I know everyone already gets my current weekly email from my blog, and my blog is fine, but there are tonnes of other wedding blogs out there sharing some great ideas. So every week I promise to email you five links to other wedding blogs with some cool and different ideas. Subscribe for free here thanks to RefreshBox: http://www.refreshbox.co/newsletterInfo/8UjsNzPJHIT . See you in your inbox! (side note: I also curate a free weekly email of nerdy business links, and if you’re in business you might like it !) The feature image for this post is from Shaun and Courtney’s wedding at the Boomerang Farm – by LM Images !

I see soooo many – like 95% – of my couples planning their own weddings. Most couples “want to do it themselves”, which is cool, but I see the majority of them tired when it comes to the big day. So where does a wedding planner come into the equation? I asked my friends at White+White Weddings and Events to share their insider tips with you. These girls are in the business of orchestrating stunningly beautiful weddings so they know a thing or two about wedding planning . Master planner and company director Danielle White laid down the facts. I asked Danielle a bunch of questions so you didn’t have to: Are wedding planners only for the rich and famous? Absolutely not. Our couples come to us for varying reasons. They may be time poor and simply don’t’ have enough hours in the day to plan their wedding due to work, family and study commitments. They may live interstate or overseas. Are overwhelmed with all the different components of planning a wedding, and don’t k...

I have a tendency to play 90s playlists on Spotify, I like wearing my PJ’s past midday, and I’m a sucker for a good steak sandwich. And although those oddities (and not so oddities) make me quite the individual, there is one major redeeming feature of the 1981 Josh Withers model that makes me a pretty cool celebrant: I perform wedding ceremonies without a script Gasp! I’ve mentioned this to a few celebrants and they go into crisis mode like I just hit the big red button that you’re not supposed to hit. They’ll often bring up a few important things like, what if you forget their name, how do you know what to say, how do couples check your ceremony? And I see videos of celebrants looking down, trying to find their place on the page, sounding like they are reading a book, because, well, they’re reading a book. You see that card in the photo. On that card (designed by the lovely Senna at Senna Jean Designs ) are all the notes I need. What if I forget a na...

Aleisha McCormack, host of the awesome wedding radio show/podcast, Save The Date , recently invited me on to just ramble on about creating weddings that just scream “freakin’ weekend”. In English that means “really cool”. The episode goes live later today , to get it in your podcast thingies follow the links below or once the episode is live the player below will let you listen through the black magic powers that are the “Internet”. Listen direct at  http://www.acast.com/ savethedate Subscribe on iTunes at  http://bit.ly/ SaveTheDateiTunes Or if you use an Android phone or Stitcher  http://bit.ly/ SaveTheDateStitcher If you enjoyed the chat, or if you’d like to see me on the show again answering some of your questions about creating meaningful, powerful, enjoyable, non-crappy, wedding ceremonies, tell Aleisha on social media , or of course you can always email me or chat on Facebook or Twitter !

The problem with photographers is simple. Everyone thinks all photographers  take photos. But, most  make photos. A couple asked me recently how much I thought an expensive photographer would be, how much a cheap one was, and how much I thought was a good price was to pay. Asking me “h ow much does a photographer cost ” should be in the same basket as politics and religion! But, I can tell you that I believe there is a difference between professionals taking photos and making photos. Here’s the difference. Taking a photo Taking a photo involves acquiring a camera looking at a thing and thinking “better take a photo of that” pressing the button/s on said camera having photo Taking a photo is an action. Especially when any iPhone or Android can be snapping a pic in seconds. You take a photo to acquire a visual record of a single moment in time. Making a photo Making a photo is a totally different ball game. It’s art. Art is a hard thing to play with...

I’m always on the look out for new and different wedding readings and I love this one! It’s called “I Like You” and it’s an awesome children’s book that fits right in at a wedding. It’s by Sandol Stoddard Warburg and you can get it now on Amazon . At Nicole and Lee’s elopement at O’Reilly’s they asked me to read from the book and it left us in fits of laughter. The feature image of this blog post is from their super intimate wedding and the photo is by Jess Marks Wedding Photography . I Like You, by Sandol Stoddard Warburg I like you and I know why. I like you because you are a good person to like. I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s special, and you remember it a long, long time. You say, remember when you told me something special, and both of us remember. When I think something is important you think it’s important too. We have good ideas. When I say something funny, you...

Last year Britt and I desperately wanted to get to New York for a few weeks, and we did ! However on the way home, Britt’s husband (a real idiot!) misunderstood a few things and the Kayak travel app also misunderstood a few things and we got home 24 hours late and home with hours to spare to get to the Boomerang Farm at Mudgeeraba for Courtney and Shaun’s wedding. We communicated right through the situation and everything turned out ok. At the time I was super thankful for some really supportive celebrants that were ready to fill in for me if needed. I always say: always have a plan B! So it all worked out perfectly and the wedding rocked! Mr and Mrs Payne had these sweet words to say about my wedding ceremony: JOSH! I wanted to let you know how happy we are that we choose you to do our wedding!  You have no idea the difference you made to our wedding!  No one else will have the same wedding as us as you made it an original!  I will suggest you to anyone who is ...

It’s really exciting to make your own wedding plans in a destination like Bali. There’s the benefits of fewer guests, and the guests that do come are really into you guys and will no doubt make for a great party. But the biggest question that couples ask, or that some couples forget to ask is: how do I get legally married in Bali? Further down in this blog post I’ll also try and convince you to take me , or one of my friends , with you to Bali 🙂 How to get legally married in Bali An Indonesian marriage ceremony of course has to take place in Indonesia, so you need to abide by their laws and customs. Along with your bikini and sunglasses you’ll need to pack your: Passports Copy of Decree Absolute if divorced Copy of Death Certificate of former spouse if applicable Copy of Documentary evidence of any change of name (eg, former marriage certificate/deed poll) Birth certificates are normally required by the Indonesian authorities and it is recommended that you bring these with you A$...

There have been a plethora of articles and TV news segments recently about deceiving wedding industry professionals and tell them that you’re having a party instead of a wedding. Everyone from news.com.au to the Huffington Post , Australia’s Choice Magazine , ABC America , Globe & Mail and even Mamamia  are telling you that you’re being ripped off. Don’t forget the great satirical pieces by places like  Petapixel  as well. So should you lie about having a wedding to save money? No! But are you being ripped off? I’m not going to answer that question, because that’s for you to decide. You probably aren’t though. Instead, in this article I wanted to pull back the curtain just a little and let you see in to the big (not that bad) world of the wedding industry. The top 80% of wedding industry professionals in any country are pretty crazy about this little thing called love. We love seeing people in love and each one of us has found a place for...

In the Sydney Morning Herald this weekend there’s an article about unplugged weddings and the family I’m visiting with asked me to explain what an unplugged wedding was: An unplugged wedding is a wedding where the bride and groom have imposed some restrictions on camera, smartphone, and social media use If you’re wondering how to have an unplugged wedding or what the different options are, here’s the spiel: It’s not about everyone’s iPhones, it’s about what you would like to happen on the day. There’s three main things to think about, so here’s some questions to ask yourselves: Attention during the ceremony Would you like everyone’s attention during the ceremony? Or would you be ok if everyone was more focused on getting the right photo or checking Facebook? Your wedding photographer Do you want the photographer to get photos of everyone getting photos? Or, would you like your photographer to be unin...