♥︎hello lovers. ♥︎
coming soon to a ceremony near you
✿
coming soon to a ceremony near you ✿
★Your professional third wheel★
Hi! 👋👋👋
My name is Izzy and I am a part-time Authorised Marriage Celebrant based in Newcastle.
I make it my business to get all up in your business to create a ceremony that will remain in your guests’ memories for years to come.
If you are in the process of planning your wedding and you’re wondering who might be able to take care of all the legal stuff, then you are in the right place!
If you want to get to know me more, grab a cup of tea (or glass of wine if that is more your jam) and take a scroll down south!
♡Packages♥︎
In the words of Dr. Seuss - there is noone you-er than you. Get in touch to discuss your wedding plans and we can find a package that works for you!
Or, check out my most frequently requested packages below ☺︎
All the best parts of your love story stitched together in to one ceremony that is guaranteed to start your wedding day off with a BANG!
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The ‘full shebang’ package (formerly titled the personalised ceremony package) is by far my most requested service. It is for all the lovers out there who are itching to celebrate everything that got them to where they are today, and set the intentions for the beautiful life they will continue living together.
Inclusive of all the bits and bobs you expect from a celebrant (robust yet compact PA, all the legal paperwork you need to call yourselves officially hitched etc) plus you’ll allow me to deep dive into your relationship so I can craft the directors’ cut edition of your love story.
Prices starting at $1,400
Sign here please ✍️
Did you know that it costs around $477 ($595 on weekends and Fridays!) for a legals only ceremony at a Registry in NSW and you will need to travel all the way to Sydney to do so? They also only let you bring 4 guests!! HOW WILL YOU EVER CHOOSE!
My legals only package allows you to get legally wed at your home (or fave café/ restaurant!) with whoever you like! As the name suggests, with a legals only ceremony, we fulfil just the legal requirements to get the two of you married. No scripts, no meetings, no fuss.
Prices starting at $450 (for weddings in Newcastle! I will charge a small travel fee if I am required to travel beyond the Newcastle LGA)
The Background Hitcher package is for those wanting a friend or family member to 'marry' them, but who need an authorised marriage celebrant to take care of the legal elements. I have had so many requests to help with this style of ceremony that I decided to turn it into its very own package! This is also a fantastic option for those who want to save money, but don’t want to skimp on the details and still want a ceremony that WOWs their guests!
There are a couple of ways this can be done and the packages are really dependent on how confident your friend/family member is with writing and performing the ceremony.
Under my basic background hitcher option, your friend/family member will be in the drivers' seat and will be responsible for preparing the ceremony script, with minimal input from me (though I will give them a typical order of proceedings to help them to structure the order of the ceremony). The legal elements will be taken care of by me!
My pro option includes the above, plus a LOT more handholding, access to my questionnaires, help with scriptwriting and on the day coordination.
Basic – prices starting at $600
Pro – prices starting at $850
Meet
★Izzy★
Here goes… my attempt at telling you all about myself without it sounding like a resume!! Annnd with minimal exclamation marks…. actually, why don’t I quickly get those out of the way…
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok now that’s out of my system… Hello! my name is Izzy and I am STOKED to be an Authorised Civil Marriage Celebrant (est. circa September 2021!)
I became a celebrant in a similar fashion to how I make many of my big life decisions… succumbing to peer pressure. My close friend Becky Married Me had been a celebrant for a couple of years – and after some gentle prodding and many times uttering, ‘you would be quite good at this’ I finally caved and enrolled in a Certificate IV in Celebrancy (gone are the days where you could register to become a celebrant in 15 minutes! Actually, did they ever exist?). Fast forward a few short and VERY busy years later, and here we are! This year (2024) I will marry my 50th couple (that’s 100 humans hitched by hazell!) which kind of blows my mind! 🤯
Now contrary to what the tabloids may have told you, hitching is not my full-time gig. In my ‘nine to five’ I am a lawyer working in the not-for-profit sector (don’t hold my being a lawyer against me! I promise I am one of the good ones!). I actually LOVE that I get to do this (this being the hitching) on the side and *aim* to keep my bookings to a minimum to make sure I can give each and every one of my couples the attention their day deserves (this can be a difficult task as a grade A people pleaser who finds it hard to say no!)
When I’m not marrying people or lawyering you’ll find me tap dancing @ Beats Dance Studio (shoutout because they are the BEST!), sipping a brew at Frothers or New Slang, attempting to learn to dance on roller skates, creating monthly mix tapes on spotify and being The Appointments’ number one fan please (#supportlivemusic!).
That’s enough about me though… I quite literally became a celebrant to hear all about YOU!!
FAQs
What you’re all dying to know!
+ What is required (legally speaking) to get married in Australia?
Quite a bit, actually! Which is why they make celebrants do a Cert IV – marrying people is not to be taken lightly, folks!
There is an entire piece of legislation that governs the marriage process in Australia called the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) (side note - this is what was amended in 2017 when Australia legalised same sex marriage.)
To be legally married in Australia, a person must:
1. Not be married to someone else (i.e., never married before, divorced or widowed)
2. Not be marrying a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling (yup, that means cousins are ok…)
3. Be at least 18 years old, unless a court has approved a marriage where one party is aged between sixteen and eighteen years old
4. Understand what marriage means and freely consent to marrying
5. Use specific words during the ceremony
6. Give written notice of their intention to marry to their celebrant within the required timeframe
+ What paperwork do I have to sign and when?
Before the ceremony:
Notice of Intended Marriage – must be lodged with a celebrant one month before the ceremony. We can fill this in together when we meet or you can get it done and send to me! I will need to see your ID at this stage also.
Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage – signed as close to the ceremony date as possible. Chances are we will sign this on the day of your wedding, a great chance for me to take a sneak peak at your wedding attire before the rest of the guests get to (a real perk of being a celebrant! 😜
At the ceremony:
Two Official Certificates of Marriage – I send one copy to the Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages and keep one for my records.
Certificate of Marriage - your souvenir to take with you post ceremony, take photos with and hang in the pool room! Note this is not your Official Certificate of Marriage. Biths Deaths & Marriages will need to create one of these once I have registered your marriage with them. Post ceremony - I will send you a link where you can request an Official Certificate of Marriage (it costs about $65). This is what you can use to change your name.
At the ceremony, all documents need to be signed by two witnesses who are both over the age of 18.
+ What are your personalised ceremonies like?
My ceremonies are relaxed, heartfelt and personal. I'm by no means a comedian… however, your ceremony will be dotted with humorous quips to keep your guests on their toes and balanced with the sincerity and sense of occasion that your big day deserves. Ultimately, I take the lead from my couples around the overall tone and vibe of the ceremony. From our very first meeting, and through all the information you provide me along the way, I will be paying attention to what your values are, and what kind of ceremony suits you and your partner's personalities best.
In my books, if your guests ask me how long we have been friends for after the ceremony and/or I get nan’s tick of approval, then I have done my job right!
+ Talk me through all the steps from go to woe. How much admin am I in for?
Once you have booked me (for The Whole Shebang), I will send through a list of all the things you need to do before the ceremony, which you can complete within any timeframe you like (I'll also send out some reminders along the way too to keep you on track!).
I aim to make the process as simple as possible and minimise any admin headaches - you’ve got enough on your plate!
Generally, the process is as follows:
You will complete an initial questionnaire (a Google form) - which helps me to gather all the information I need to prepare your initial paperwork and get an initial sense of your ceremony requirements. Your initial paperwork is a form called a Notice of Intention to be Married (NOIM) which must be lodged with your celebrant at least 1 month prior to your ceremony, and no more than 18 months before your ceremony.
You will book in a time for us to catch up to sign your NOIM and provide me with some ID (another legal requirement!). Usually this is over a wine or a meal and its an opportunity for me to get to know you better and chat about all your fun wedding plans!
You'll complete another Google form, called my 'ceremony questionnaire', which includes all the little logistical questions to help the ceremony to run smoothly and stress free! (like ceremony start time, who your vendors are, wet weather plans etc!)
My FAVOURITE part - you will complete my 'getting to know you questions' which get to the heart of who you and your partner are, your love story, what you love about each other most, what your hopes are for the future and how your family and friends have supported you both throughout your relationship.
If you plan on writing personalised vows to one another on top of the legal vows you are required to say, you can use my vow guidance (which have some STELLER examples of beautiful vows I've heard over the years and some questions/prompts to get you going!). You'll be able to send these to me for feedback or further guidance and I will usually print and bring them along for you on the day too :)
I'll send you a run sheet and (if requested!) a copy of your script!
We'll catch up either in person or for a phone call to run through the finer details a couple days out from your wedding.
On the day of your wedding, if the run sheet allows I'll usually stop by where the wedding party is getting ready to sign some pre ceremony paperwork and for a little pre ceremony pow wow (making sure everyone knows where to stand, when to hit play on the music etc!)
YOU'LL GET MARRIED!!!!! And I will be there with you every step of the way, working with your other vendors to ensure everything runs smoothly and making sure you guests feel relaxed, at ease, and ready to hear the Rom Com that is your love story.
I'll send you confirmation that your marriage has been registered with Births Deaths and Marriages, and some follow up information about how to change your name (if that's something you have decided to do!)
I'll stalk you and your photographer on Instagram, GUSH over your amazing photos and get a real kick out of re-living your day!!
+ Do you do elopements or micro weddings (and are they cheaper?)
Yes!!! I LOVE elopements! And yes SOMETIMES they will be cheaper than my ‘full shebang’ package.
My pricing is largely based on how many hours I will spend working on your wedding along the way (including all our meetings, drafting your legal paperwork, reading your questionnaires, crafting your ceremony and thats’s all BEFORE I travel to perform your ceremony!)
So - your elopement might be cheaper if you want a standard script with minimal personalisation OR just a shorter personal ceremony.
The best way to find out is to get in touch and tell me as much about your plans as you can!
+ Do you travel?
Yes! I am a Newcastle local (a Novocastrian if you will) but I regularly perform marriage ceremonies in the Hunter Valley, Port Stephens and the Mid North Coast.
For ceremonies further than 1 hour outside of Newcastle, I will charge a reasonable travel fee to account for petty and my time.
The furthest I have travelled for a ceremony (as at the date of writing this!) is Canberra, and the least I have travelled is to 48 Watt Street, Newcastle (I live in Merewether). I challenge you to beat these records!!
♡ love notes ♡
🌹
“Izzy was the most wonderful celebrant. She made the lead up to the day a breeze and most importantly captured exactly who we are as a couple, in the ceremony itself.
Everyone we have spoken to since our big day has commented on how perfect the ceremony was and that was 100% down to Izzy’s guidance, patience and ability to turn our quick stories into genuinely funny and heartfelt anecdotes.
We couldn’t have wanted anything more, Izzy is the best celebrant around.”
⏤ Meejung & Mark
💃
“Our ceremony was my absolute favourite part of our wedding thanks to the incredible work of Izzy! We found an absolute gem in Hitched by Hazell. On the day, Izzy put myself and my bridesmaids at ease, engaged our guests from the get go with her exuberant energy, and told our story in a way that I could have only ever dreamed. So many of our guests commented on how wonderful she was... the heart and soul to making our day so special. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending this absolute star celebrant!”
⏤ Talysa & Jonathan
💍
“From the moment we sat down with Izzy we knew she was perfect for us. She delivered our ceremony with warmth, good humour and a great energy. We could not be happier with Izzy we just adore her. So many people commented on how amazing she was and how personal our ceremony was delivered. Not only did she get us through the ceremony with ease she made all the paperwork and organisation a breeze. She was perfect and we could not recommend her highly enough!”
⏤ Stacey & Jordan
Let’s get in touch
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Stalk me on the gram 👀
