Rachel Clarke Celebrant

I bring a warm, friendly and relaxed approach to creating a personalised ceremony that is right for you.

I love being a celebrant and enjoy working closely with people, helping them to create a ceremony that feels right for them.

I am passionate about making sure that your ceremony has the vibe and feel you want and is a reflection of you and who you are.

I chose to train as a celebrant after supporting family and friends through end-of-life experiences. Being involved was a huge privilege and I found my life skills - as nurse, educator and mother - enabled me to support people with empathy and care.

My husband, Mike, and I are enjoying all that the Wairarapa has to offer, having moved to Featherston in 2019. Regulars at the Woodside-Greytown Parkrun, we also enjoy exploring the local walking trails, along with the occasional tramp in the Tararua range. We have three daughters and enjoy catching up with them whenever possible.

I am an active member of the Celebrants Association of New Zealand (CANZ), currently holding the position of Vice-President on the Executive committee.

Working Together

In most instances, the first step is to catch-up for an informal no-obligation chat. This is a great chance for me to get to know you. We can explore some ideas together and I will let you know more about how I work. The following outline gives you some idea of the process from beginning to end:

• A 50% deposit of the fee will secure your date
• We will meet to develop your ceremony
• You will be sent a ceremony draft to review
• A rehearsal will be held prior to the ceremony
• I will officiate your ceremony
• For weddings and civil unions, I will submit the legal papers to the office of Births, Deaths and Marriages, who will register your marriage/civil union

Weddings & Civil Unions

I am an inclusive celebrant who enjoys working with all couples in love. Your wedding or civil union is a time to affirm your commitment to each other; sharing this moment with your family and friends. Let’s work together to create a ceremony that reflects your one-of-a-kind partnership. Large or small, formal or informal, traditional or non-traditional, simple or quirky – let’s have fun creating the style of ceremony you are after.

Let’s chat about whether there is something unique or different you want to include in your ceremony. Are there cultural traditions you would like to incorporate? Is a bilingual ceremony important to you? I love hearing about what you want and weaving this into the magic of your day.

Delivering a fully personalised, bespoke service to you is my speciality; but if you are interested in exploring alternatives, please read on to see what Brac and Bow and I are offering you.

Testimonials

Thank you so much for officiating our ceremony in January, Rachel. Nick and I really appreciated the time you spent with us on more than one occasion to really get to know us, which definitely showed in the unique and personal ceremony you put together for us. - Samme & Nick

Rachel married us in an intimate ceremony which was crafted to reflect our story and style, including some beautiful extra touches. We are so grateful that we had the privilege to be married by someone who cares so much about creating an unforgettable experience. - Georgia & Tom

I was impressed with Rachel when I saw her in action at a recent wedding. She carried out her duties beautifully with specially chosen words for the bride and groom, delightful banter and touches of humour that made it a fun as well as a joyous occasion. I would definitely recommend Rachel as an awesome celebrant for anyone’s wedding. - Judy

Thank you so much for everything you did for the ceremony, we both loved the day & really appreciate all the work you did on it. We had lots of compliments from family & guests who all really enjoyed the ceremony and all the ideas you helped put in place especially including the kids. We will recommend you to others. - Catherine & Konyo

We are so happy we found you. You've been an absolute dream! From the first time we messaged Rachel, we always received prompt and helpful communication. Rachel was always very cordial and flexible in her approach. - Rani & Elfa