Celebrant + MC · Tweed, Byron & Gold Coast
Celebrant + MC
Felicity Best, a registered marriage celebrant based in Murwillumbah, charges $1,850 Monday to Thursday and $2,350 Friday to Sunday to do the ceremony and MC the reception, taking you from the aisle to the first dance on one run sheet. MC only is $750 for four hours. Book five months ahead for a Saturday. The advantage of one person doing both is that nobody has to be introduced twice.
What's included
Ceremony and reception MC.
The first of the tiers below, and what is inside it.
- Your personalised ceremony
- Planning and preparation
- Help with vows
- A rehearsal
- PA with wireless microphone
- The legal paperwork
- Your commemorative certificate
- Plus MC duties throughout the reception through to the first dance
What it costs
| What you get | Mon–Thu | Fri–Sun |
|---|---|---|
| Ceremony and reception MC Your personalised ceremony, planning and preparation, help with vows, a rehearsal, PA with wireless microphone, the legal paperwork, your commemorative certificate, plus MC duties throughout the reception through to the first dance. | $1,850 | $2,350 |
| MC only Four hours on site, a run sheet prepared with you and your venue, the reception kept moving naturally, a PA. For couples whose ceremony is being conducted by someone else. | $750 | same |
Australian dollars, no GST. Travel within 80 km or an hour and a half of Murwillumbah is included, whichever gets you there; beyond both it is $1 per kilometre, round trip. Booking fee $250, which comes off the total. Witnesses supplied at $60 each. Council permits for beach and park ceremonies are booked and paid for directly with the council, and are not included.
Work out your total: the day, the place and witnesses, itemised.
How it works
Four steps, from start to “I do”.
Allow about five months for a weekend date in season. Midweek and winter dates are often free at much shorter notice.
- 1
Check the date
Send the date, or just the season, and where. I will tell you whether it is free and exactly what it costs, because every price is already on this site.
- 2
Meet, and lodge the notice
A first conversation, in person or on a call. You sign the Notice of Intended Marriage then or soon after, witnessed by me in person or by video link where the requirements for witnessing it that way are met. It has to reach me at least one calendar month before the day, and about five months is the sensible notice for a weekend date in season.
- 3
The words
I write the script from that conversation and send it to you in draft, to change as much as you like, with help on your vows and on any ritual you want in it, a ring warming or a handfasting, and a rehearsal so nobody hears it for the first time on the day.
- 4
The day
I'll arrive well before your guests and have a word beforehand with your photographer, your venue and anyone else working to the same run sheet. You'll leave with your commemorative certificate, signed on the day.
I'll lodge your marriage paperwork with the relevant registry within fourteen days of your wedding. If you would like an official marriage certificate, you can order and pay for one directly from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the state or territory where you were married. It is an additional cost and is not included in my ceremony fee.
Or
MC only.
Four hours on site, a run sheet prepared with you and your venue, the reception kept moving naturally, a PA. For couples whose ceremony is being conducted by someone else. $750, any day.
What a wedding MC, or master of ceremonies, actually does
Most of the work is finished before the reception starts. I agree the run sheet with you and your venue: when the doors open, when the meals land, how long the speeches get, when the cake and the first dance happen, and who announces each of them. Your venue's coordinator runs the room and I run the night, and those two jobs need one document between them rather than two.
On the night it is announcements, keeping speeches inside the time they were given, and noticing the things nobody plans for: a speaker who cannot start, a course that lands twenty minutes late, a grandparent who has to leave before the cake. Receptions do not usually fail, they drift, and an hour lost between the entree and the speeches is an hour off the dance floor.
One person or two
If I carry on as MC there is no handover. I already know the names, the pronunciations, the shape of the family and which uncle is speaking, and the run sheet the ceremony finished on is the one the reception begins from. The two are priced as one tier rather than two bookings, inside the regional range of $1,595 to $3,069 for a celebrant and an MC together.
It is not always the right answer. If you have a friend who is genuinely funny and knows everyone in the room, use them. An MC with history in the family beats a professional with a clipboard most nights. The MC only tier at $750 is for the other case: a couple whose ceremony is somebody else's job, or a venue that wants somebody holding the clock while a friend does the jokes.
Questions
Questions people ask
- Why have your celebrant MC the reception?
- Because I have already met your families, know how the names are pronounced and have heard the story the speeches will refer to. It also removes a handover: the run sheet the ceremony ends on is the run sheet the reception starts from, and no venue coordinator has to brief a stranger at 6pm.
- How much does a wedding MC cost?
- $750 for MC only, which covers four hours on site with a run sheet and a PA. Bundled with the ceremony it is $1,850 on a weekday and $2,350 Friday to Sunday. Most Gold Coast celebrants sell the two together, at figures in much the same range.
- How long does the MC stay?
- MC only is four hours on site, which normally covers guests arriving through to speeches and cake. The bundled package runs from the ceremony through to the first dance, however long that takes on the night. If you want longer, arrange it in advance rather than at the venue.
- Do you supply the PA?
- Yes, for both the ceremony and the MC work, including a wireless microphone. Most reception venues here have their own system and it is usually better than a portable one, so the run sheet names whichever system is in use on the night and there is a backup either way.
Get in touch
Check my date
Send the date, or the season, and where for celebrant + mc. I will tell you whether it is free and exactly what it costs. No obligation.
Most days, 9am to 7pm.