3 celebrants for a personal, touching ceremony in the Southern Highlands
Highlights. The Southern Highlands is made for outdoor ceremonies: gardens, old homesteads and long afternoon light. If you want the person leading yours to make it feel like you, here are three authorised marriage celebrants who work in or travel to the Highlands. We list them in no particular order, and you can message any of them before you decide.
What we mean by "personal and touching"
A personal ceremony is built around your story: how you met, what you promise each other, the people in the room. A touching one leaves room for a laugh, a pause or a happy tear. It is a style, not a score, and it suits couples who would rather hear their own words than a script.
The four
Rebecca Ramsay, Rebecca : Celebrant, Wollongong
Rebecca Ramsay, who goes by Bec, is a civil marriage celebrant based in Wollongong, and says she has been celebrating ceremonies since 2009. She has been a full-time celebrant for over a decade and calls it her life's work rather than a side job. She works across the Illawarra, the Southern Highlands, the Shoalhaven, Sydney and the South Coast.
Her approach is to listen to your story and values, then turn them into a ceremony that feels like you. She plays storyteller, calmer, cheerleader and paperwork handler, and couples describe her as someone who makes you feel like you have known her all your life.
Her ceremonies range from sweet and simple legals-only ceremonies to elaborate, fully personalised ones, with ceremony packages and a clear process laid out so you can see how it works before you get in touch.
She also offers reception MC services, so the person who already knows your story and the feel you want can carry on into the evening, coordinating with your other vendors and keeping the timings flowing. She is a professional voice-over artist as well.
A good fit if you want a warm, experienced celebrant who handles the details, can MC your reception too, and has plenty of ceremony styles to choose from.
"She is charismatic, fun, professional and took the time to personally get to know us and our story. Rebecca made the whole process stress free, and offered help and advice along the way. No request was too hard!"
rebeccacelebrant.com.au · Instagram · Facebook
Sophie Evans, The Eloquent Celebrant, Robertson
Sophie founded Evans Events and The Eloquent Celebrant in 2020, after a career in project and event management. She says she has always loved organising and planning, and believes every special event deserves to be stunning. She is based in the Southern Highlands and celebrates weddings, intimate ceremonies and naming ceremonies.
Her ceremonies are personalised, and couples describe her as vibrant, highly organised and very genuine. Several say she worked their personalities and style into the ceremony. One couple who married in New Zealand met her over Zoom and say she made them feel comfortable and let them customise everything.
She also offers all-inclusive elopement packages that combine venue hire, a planner and co-ordinator, a personalised ceremony, ceremony furniture and set-up, and a photographer. Her event management background means she can look after the practical details around a small wedding as well as the ceremony itself.
A good fit if you want a bubbly, well-organised celebrant based right in the Highlands.
"She made us feel so comfortable and we were able to customise everything, we ended up with a beautiful, intimate and personal ceremony that we will remember forever."
theeloquentcelebrant.com.au · Instagram · Facebook
Shoshanna Vernham, Curator of Love Stories, South Coast
Shoshanna, or Shosh, is a celebrant based in Gerringong on the NSW South Coast who also works across the Illawarra and the Southern Highlands. She says she has married over 200 couples and that no two ceremonies have felt the same. Her style is relaxed and personal, with room for a little cheek.
Her ceremonies range from small, simple legal ceremonies to full ones built around your stories, with humour and tender moments. She also offers extras such as acting as MC. She offers three ceremony experiences, which she treats as starting points rather than fixed packages.
Booking starts with a check of her availability and a relaxed chat of about 20 minutes by phone or video, to see if you connect. She then puts together a quote based on the ceremony style, the support you need and the location, and helps with the practical details and ideas along the way.
A good fit if you are a little nervous about standing up in front of everyone and want someone who makes it easy.
"Shoshanna was truly one of the absolute highlights of our day. Her ceremony was, without a doubt, my favorite part, it still makes me emotional thinking about the incredible job she did telling our love story and bringing our beautiful family together."
curatoroflovestories.com.au · Instagram
Before you book
Questions worth asking any celebrant:
- How do you gather our story, and how many meetings are there before the day?
- Can we see an example ceremony script?
- What is included in the fee, and what happens if our date changes?
- Have you worked at our venue, or will you visit it?
Your Notice of Intended Marriage must be given at least 1 month and no more than 18 months before the wedding, according to the Attorney-General's Department (read 26 September 2026).
We chose these celebrants from public information: each is on the Attorney-General's register, works in or travels to the Southern Highlands, and has positive reviews. Nobody pays to be included, and we have not tested anyone's services.