Share The Love with Forever Yours Celebrancy

Tell us a bit about yourself. I am Fiona Talbot-Leigh, a woman in her mid 50's who is living her best life! I am fortunate to have created a wonderful celebrancy business that provides well for myself and my family. I conduct funeral services daily and wedding ceremonies on the weekends. Throw in a baby naming or two and it rounds out to being quite the family affair. It is one of the most rewarding careers I have ever had. In my spare time I am a jazz singer, so it's nice to have that work/life balance.

How long have you been in the wedding industry and what made you decide to become a celebrant? I have been a funeral/marriage celebrant for 15 years now after a back injury forced me to give up on my child care career. I love working with people and I am a natural carer so it was an easy pivot for me to stay working in a 'people' industry.

Do you have any tips for anyone wanting to become a marriage celebrant? If you are reading this and you have a desire to become a marriage celebrant, I highly recommend you do your research first. Don't be afraid to approach a reputable marriage association like AFCC (Australian Federation of Civil Celebrants) they can steer you in the right direction. Tell its about your favourite wedding memory. One of my most favourite marriage ceremonies I ever did was for friends of mine. They had two young children, didn't really want a big fuss so basically eloped. The thing was... they are such a gorgeous couple that they had so many close friends and didn't want to offend anyone when choosing witnesses. So....they bought two blow up dinosaur suits and the two witnesses wore them on the day to keep their identities secret. I stayed 'mum' and didn't divulge who they were and it was completely legal as a) they could see b) they could hear and c) there was a spot for their hands to pop out and sign the documents! Do you have any tips for engaged couples planning their big day? My tip for engaged couples is to keep things in perspective. There is often so much time and money is spent on over the top things and on your wedding day you don't even really notice. Remember why you have chosen to spend the rest of your lives together and focus on each other. Also, enjoy being an engaged couple. Trust me, time goes so fast and you will be married in no time!

Thank you for the chat Fiona!