http://www.liamkellycivilcelebrant.com/

Liam Kelly - Civil Celebrant, Melbourne (2026)

09/12/2025

SILVER SCREENS AND LIVING DREAMS

For 130 years, the cinema has been the medium of dreams. As a lifelong hopeless romantic, it has long been my dream to find someone who shared both my passion for love and for the cinema - someone with whom I could weave the dream matter of the screen into a shared life which realized its promise. Almost 11 years ago, that dream came true when I met Chadai, the love of my life.

Fittingly enough, our mutual love for the movies has defined the trajectory of our life together. We saw 'Birdman' on our first date, and many of our fondest memories have involved film in some way - visiting the Scorsese exhibition at ACMI, attending the Astor's 24-hour Halloween Spooktaculars, among many others.

When it came time to ask Chadai to marry me, then, I thought that it made sense to do so via the moving image. As such, I made an hour-long, zero-budget mini-film about our love, cutting together interviews with family and friends about our relationship with some poems I wrote set to representative B-roll.

The biggest challenge I faced was finding somewhere to screen it, and doing so in a manner which wouldn't give the game away. I could scarcely imagine the good fortune which befell me when I presented my proposal to the owners of the Metro Boronia, Tom and Ellie. Not only did they agree to screen my proposal film, they went above and beyond by printing fake tickets, putting on trailers, and even getting plainclothes staff members to sit in the back so as to not arouse suspicion. Their efforts worked, and the whole experience, happy tears and all, was as perfectly 'us' as we could have hoped for. Last night, they invited us back to share that experience with our family and friends, many of whom were in the film itself. As they laughed and cried throughout, Chadai and I had to pinch ourselves because fate - and the kindness both of strangers and those who love us dearly - had provided a moment so beautiful as to be indistinguishable from a dream.

We cannot thank Tom, Ellie, and the rest of the legends at the Metro Cinemas Boronia enough. Your warmth and generosity have given us nothing less than the engagement of our dreams.

23/04/2025

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF STARTING AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON

I first met Aimee and Samuel as they emerged from a cloud of sweet, but unnecessary apologies: their babysitter wasn't available at the last minute, so their adorable little girl was going to be joining us for wedding chat. As she got to work on her babycino, I got to know her parents a little better: they were down-to-earth, very much in love with each other, and totally sincere in their manner of speaking, with a solid idea for what they wanted from a ceremony to boot. In short, they were my kind of people. I agreed to be their celebrant straightaway.

As these photos attest, this encounter turned to be prophetic of their ceremony, but it also spoke to a deeper truth their marriage aimed to reflect. Namely, that Aimee and Samuel had already achieved in fact what their ceremony promised in name: the transformation of their love into the foundation of the family within which it is at home.

On a scorcher of a February afternoon, their family stood together just as they did that first day, carrying each other figuratively (and literally!) as the law caught up to the reality they had brought into being - just as Samuel brought the arbor which framed them into being the night before!

As vows gave way to nostalgic 2000s party jams with the setting sun, it occurred to me that THIS was what weddings are all about. At their best, weddings demonstrate why it is that ritual is not a relic from an 'enchanted' world left behind by technical civilisation. At their best, as with Aimee and Samuel's, weddings are a form of stylised communication which bring people together, literally and figuratively: the couple tell us that they want to live a life informed by the love they hold dear, and we tell them that, by making us a part of it, they have made the world a better place.

In that spirit, I wish Aimee and Samuel the very best of married life - for at its best, it's the best that life can get.

13/01/2025

I'd like to wish two absolute legends a very happy first wedding anniversary today. Chris and Chelsea, yours is the wedding which first springs to mind when I think of bringing a spirit of fun to bear upon the ceremony. From opening with a 'Princess Bride' reference to playing 'Liam Says' mid-wedding in order to pick your witnesses, it'll be hard to top the bar you set for the laughter which filled the room in which you made the ultimate commitment to each other. May this be the first of many years in which you enjoy the fruits of MAWWIED WOVE TOGEVAH

08/01/2025

I'd like to wish a very happy 3rd wedding anniversary to Zane and Katrina, the very first couple I ever married as a working celebrant. It's been a joy to see how well their relationship has bloomed throughout those years, difficult and exciting as they have been.

Looking between these photos, and the smiles on the faces of the children raised under the aegis of their love, it's difficult to deny that getting married on this day 3 years ago - in the theatre we played in as kids, no less - was the best choice they could have made.

Happy anniversary, you two. May the fruits of your bond grow even sweeter in time.

03/12/2024

BLACK AS NIGHT, LOVE'S TRUEST LIGHT

Traditions are funny things, when you think about them. On the one hand, they can serve as inherited guideposts by which previous generations help their bewildered children along, lending a sense of stability or moral clarity where confusion might otherwise reign. On the other hand, they can also serve as millstones around the necks of freer spirits - those who want only the space, and the liberty, in which to carve their own paths through the world.

I'm proud to say that my practice as a celebrant is leaning more and more towards serving these free spirits, largely by clearing the space in which their own creativity can thrive.

When I first met Tam and Jay, it was immediately apparent to me that they were my kind of people - free spirits in precisely the sense outlined above. They weren't interested in overblown pomp and ceremony, didn't care for inherited customs befitting times and places as distant from their love as could be: all they wanted was a little space, and a little time, in which to make manifest their commitment to each other, in a way which spoke to how irreplaceable each was in the eyes of the other.

We found that place next to a small hut, on Coranderrk lands near Healesville Sanctuary. As the sun warmed the ground on which we stood, our presence welcomed through a beautiful smoking ceremony courtesy of Murrundindi, a Wurundjeri elder, it was clear that there couldn't have been a better day to honour the love which binds Tam and Jay together.

This was born out by the end of the ceremony: anxiety melted into contentment, words of commitment gave way to the low tones and distorted guitars of Sleep Token, and adorable mini chocolate muffins vanished into thin air (said I, wiping crumbs from my mouth).

Most importantly, however, Tam and Jay tied the knot in their way: dressed in black, as they will be at all the metal shows they'll attend as husband and wife, and confident that the beauty of that day reflects the future they embrace together. Keep it metal, you two

04/06/2024

LOVE BY THE LAKE

I can recall the precise moment at which I knew that marrying Ray and Simone was going to be a delight above and beyond the standard for my line of work. It was during our first meeting: after mentioning that they joked about entering a 'ten-year relationship contract' upon getting together, they had hoped to time their wedding with their ten year anniversary as a way of 'renewing their expired contract', with a little upgrade to boot!

When I left that meeting, I was buzzing with more than just the coffee we shared. My hunch was that this wedding was going to be something special, and I'm delighted to write that, as the crowd applauded their first dance and the ceremony came to a close, this hunch turned out to be on the money.

One of the beautiful things about being a celebrant is that you get to see first-hand just how unique every couple in love ultimately is. Simone and Ray blended a distinctively cheeky sense of humour with an earnestness and romantic conviction which touched on the profound - an amazing combination which delighted everyone lucky enough to experience their long-overdue union first hand. From the way that Simone's bubbly personality was literalised in the tiny, multi-coloured bubble machine adding a touch of whimsy to their first dance, to the way that the ceremony went out to the blast of trumpets with which John Williams' 'Star Wars' theme opens, it's fair to say that their big day went down on their terms, and it was all the better for it.

May the next decade together be as rewarding as the last, and May the Force be with you both

13/03/2024

When I underwent training to become a civil celebrant, I was presented with a piece of advice often given to entertainers and event organisers: "if you can help it, never work with children or animals". The longer that I've been doing this work, however, the more reasons I have to doubt the width of its applicability.

It is true that including children in weddings throws up unique challenges, but this is also true for every other type of person - consequently, it can be difficult to take stock of that because those other types of people are so much more readily represented at weddings that we take their presence for granted.

In the spirit of wanting to highlight the good that kids at weddings can do, then, I humbly present to you this short list of ways that, in my opinion, the presence of kids can enhance your wedding, not detract from it.

(speaking anecdotally, the time I responded to a baby's interjection with 'everyone's a critic!' is probably the best laugh-reaction I've ever gotten out of an audience, hence my inclusion of #3).

Photo credits:

02/02/2024

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
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I'm generally quite lucky as a celebrant, in that almost all of my clients have been a delight to work with - I've yet to encounter a 'bridezilla', for instance, nor have I had to deal with the sorts of wedding disasters that Tik Tok has made increasingly visible of late. Given this charmed professional life, it means something when I say that having the opportunity to meet Chris and Chelsea was particularly special to me. It was only when, towards the end of our first meeting, they floated the idea of playing a game of 'Simon Says' with the audience in order to figure out who their witnesses should be that I began to realise just how lucky I was.

While many busy themselves in projecting an image of uniqueness as part of their 'personal brand identity', Chris and Chelsea simply are utterly unique individuals in the least ostentatious way imaginable - theirs is the individuality of nature, not of careful, market-facing nurture. This relaxed individualism resulted in the best of all possible situations for a celebrant to be in: they shared a definite idea concerning how they wished their ceremony to go and a free-spirited flexibility regarding how that idea might be adapted to fit changing circumstances. This combination of factors meant that, though we did have to move the ceremony indoors at the last minute due to Melbourne weather doing its thing, nothing could rain on their parade.

That happiness - the pure happiness of two hearts whose beats have synchronised - was infectious, and you can see it in all of the images I've posted today. Chris and Chelsea graciously invited me to stay for the reception, and I can confirm that that happiness kept on rolling right through the night, the first of their married lives.

I am lucky to have had the chance to work with such lovely people. I am luckier still in that our relationship has survived the work which brought it into being.

Chris and Chelsea: may the decades to come be as rewarding and fulfilling as the one you've so ceremoniously closed out. I look forward to hanging out with you again soon

07/01/2024

NEW YEAR, NEW 'WE'

Now that we're all on the other side of that bizarre liminal week between Christmas and New Years, I've noticed that a lot of people have swapped 'New Years Resolutions' for 'Ins' and 'Outs' lists: those things that they want to introduce in their lives through the coming year, and those they'd rather leave in the dustbin of history.

I think that this is a good thing, provided that you cultivate your lists in the spirit of kindness, both for yourself and others - there's no sense in junking the harmful cycle of moving between excessive standards and excessive guilt if you're just going to use your Ins/Outs lists as an excuse to be cruel to yourself.

In the spirit of approaching 2024 with a will to be kind, here's my humble suggestion for something to put on your 'Ins' list: make this year the one in which you commit yourself wholeheartedly to the love of your life. In a climate of uncertainty, the best time to place the pursuit of your happiness at the forefront of your life is right now - though none can say what tomorrow may bring, it is within your power to make today one worth remembering.

If anyone reading this feels ready to make such a step, you know that you've got a mate in your corner, eager to help you along the way. So why don't you place 'worrying about tying the knot' on your Outs list and get in touch? I'm always only a text message or a DM away. :)

Photo credit:

#2024

16/11/2023

EVERY FRAME A PAINTING

~

It's often said, and rightly so, that 'a picture is worth 1,000 words'. It might seem ill-advised for someone who works with words to admit it, but it's true. The magic of images lies in their unique 'density' - their capacity to communicate, in an instant, a wealth of meaning that words, which demand time to write, read, and hear, have to build up, brick by brick.

As such, if I were ever asked why I remain a celebrant, I'd spare my poor inquisitor a short essay and reply instead with this image.

Why?

When I meet couples for the first time, I often find them several sips into an emotional cocktail unique to wedding preparation: 7 parts passion to 3 parts nervousness. The depth and sincerity of their love for each other is beyond doubt, but a troubling note of anxiety makes itself felt - inspired perhaps by the thought of engaging with marriage law, the delicacies of family politics, or the ache of old wounds, as they find themselves called to rebuild bridges that have been burned before.

My job is to sit with them, talk about their hopes (and listen for the ways in which their fears approach the surface of conversation), and work with them on swapping out those 3 parts of nervousness for a shot of confidence. With my words, I do my best to make them feel good and excited about what is to come. I take the words they've entrusted to me, little fragments of a path only they have walked, and do my best to weave them into a ceremony which leaves them feeling exactly as they should: like they're about to take the first steps of the rest of their lives.

If I've done my job right, those steps will meet the dance floor with a sense of lightness and fun tempered by the deep warmth of a love freshly-pressed into the fabric of the world, as Jarrod and Yvette did here.

If I've done my job right, that is, the words these pictures are worth are those of the lovebirds they frame - of their jokes, their anecdotes, and of the way I've mirrored their lives in solemnizing their commitment to each other.

Every frame is a painting, yes - but behind every frame, and every life, is a story.

Photo credit:

19/06/2023

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED

Many couples, when planning a ceremony to celebrate the bond of love between them, find themselves struck with a certain anxious thought: that the scope and size of said ceremony is a measure of the love it exists to honour. Worried that it won't be 'real' unless they go all out, these couples find themselves blowing out their nerves and their budgets in the hope that making a spectacle of their love is one way of guaranteeing its security.

This week past, I had the good fortune to perform a commitment ceremony for a couple which served as definitive proof that this idea is mistaken.

L and S didn't need a guestlist of thousands, catering and entertainment fit for royalty, or the security of tradition to celebrate their love in the manner best suited for them. For, standing among the bamboo at the Tim Neville Arboretum, they had everything they needed in their two hands: one to hold the pen with which they declared their commitment to each other for all time, and one to hold the sword the steel of which will back up that commitment. When you consider the support of their family in attendance and the uncontrollable laughter captured beautifully in the first image here, you can understand what I mean when I say that the air among the trees on that midweek afternoon hung thick with the happiness that their union both expresses and promises.

May your love gleam like your swords beneath an unclouded sky, and may your relationship retain the warmth of the hugs we shared that day. I was proud to be a part of helping you ascend to this next stage of your relationship, champions, and I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.

25/05/2023

I'm so excited to have the opportunity to share some photos from the recent wedding of these beautiful people, Jarrod and Yvette, held at Warburton's gorgeous .

After months of planning, writing, revising, rehearsing, meetings over pizza, and one last-minute scramble to find the ringbearer just before the ceremony was set to start, it was gratifying beyond measure to see that hard work pay off through the way that everything fell into place in the last few seconds.

Our couple stood ready, nervous and set to burst with the excitement you can see in the first photo. The guests fell quiet as I took my place at the front of the space. Jarrod and Yvette's son, Reuben, accompanied Mum and Dad down the aisle in his stylish white vest, unaware all the while that he was playing a very important role in helping his folks to realize the promise he represented.

The moment bridging the onset of this quiet and the first word of the ceremony was a perfect one. My initial nerves (every celebrant worth their salt gets a bit nervous before a wedding) gave way to a wave of clarity - a sense that I was going to help these two wonderful people, who I had grown to adore over the time I worked with them, celebrate their love for each other in exactly the way that they wanted.

So it was that this perfect moment kept on rolling, kept building upon itself to create an incomparable wedding day. I was honoured and delighted to be invited to be a part of it, and I wish Jarrod and Yvette the very best for their lives together.

Photo credit:

Liam Kelly - Civil Celebrant

09/12/2025

23/04/2025

13/01/2025

08/01/2025

03/12/2024

04/06/2024

13/03/2024

02/02/2024

07/01/2024

16/11/2023

19/06/2023

25/05/2023

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