About

stories of love and life

My life is centred around family, community and creativity. I love to grow things, make things and cook. Family for me is not only defined by blood but by who sits at our table.

I love to hear other people’s stories – to hear where they find humour and to discover the events that shape their lives.  It is a great honour to be invited into people's lives at their most precious and intimate moments. I don't take this for granted.

Storytelling has been part of my life forever. As a child I would spend hours at my Nan’s feet listening to tales of the bush and Sydney in the 1930s. My mum was a poet and she wove her colourful life and adventures with warmth and laughter. I listened and learned how important the telling of the memories of our family was for creating our identity and celebrating our lives. I am now proud to be the trusted storyteller of our family.

Being a Celebrant is challenging, inspiring and most of all remarkably enjoyable work. It encompasses the happiest and also the saddest moments in life. It is a delight to celebrate a wedding but it is also a privilege to tell the story of someone’s life at their funeral. My life experience – both joy and grief – helps me to guide others through these important moments.

I chose to be a Celebrant after years of searching for the perfect profession that would bring joy to my day, deep satisfaction and allow me to use skills developed over many years. I love a celebration and a festival. Any excuse to fill the house with flowers, cook up a feast and throw on a good frock! Being able to bring a little glamour, style and flair to occasions is great fun. But the best bit about my job as a Celebrant is that I get to go to bed feeling that I had made a little difference to the world.

When I’m not being a Celebrant I’m dragging my beautiful German Shepherd Olive for 4km walks, adding sparkle to drag queen outfits, baking Christmas cakes to send around the world, teaching people to cook, catering for private events and cheering our various cabaret and burlesque friends’ performances. I love a colourful life and the more people and places in it the better.

Experience

The past 5 years working as a Celebrant being part of weddings, commitment ceremonies, funerals and life celebrations has been a great gig. It’s a role I feel I have been in training to do for most of my life.

When I chose to be a Marriage Celebrant I did my training at The Gordon. Having worked in universities I knew where to look and how to judge quality – their reputation was the best in Australia.

Before becoming a Celebrant I worked for more than 30 years in leadership roles in public relations, marketing, stakeholder engagement, partnership building, events management and protocol. After studying communications I began my career behind the scenes in television and then moved on to work on teen magazines in production, beauty and fashion. With a young family I moved to the security of working for a number of universities.

I’ve been very lucky to travel extensively as part of my working life. I have run graduation ceremonies and major events here and throughout Asia. I have a deep love of Asian culture that began in my childhood and has expanded through all the connections I have made in my travels.

Growing up in a family that celebrated art and moved in bohemian circles means that I have always thrived on creativity, colour and movement. As a young woman I dabbled in jewellery making and millinery. In recent years I have been able to give back through my membership of a number of community boards in and around the arts and innovation in the west of Melbourne.

I love my community and its people and take great pride in my qualification as a Marriage Celebrant. Officiating at people's life-changing and intimate moments is joyful and deeply rewarding. It’s wonderful to guide couples through choices around how they might celebrate their marriage and make the ceremony special and unique to them – I strive to make their day more beautiful than they imagined.

Working with families in times of grief to capture their loved one and bring comfort is hard but when you hear back that you have done justice to their person it feels amazing.

I’ve always had a reputation for creating beautiful events and getting things done, even under impossible deadlines. All my roles have involved taking care of people so they can be in the moment and not be bothered by what’s going on behind the scenes. Let me bring some of that magic to your ceremony.  

Certificate IV, Celebrancy, The Gordon, 2017

Graduate Certificate in Leadership, Education & Training, 2009

Bachelor of Arts, Communications, Charles Sturt University, 1984