My Wedding – July 2019

RAISING THE BAR

170 PLANNING 6 http://www.myweddingmag.co.nz 6 JULY 2019

by Lianne Fraser, VCANZ - Registered Wedding Celebrant

Celebrants from around New Zealand gathered under the gaze of Mt Taranaki recently for

the annual Celebrant Association of NZ (CANZ) conference, this year held in New Plymouth.

‘Raising the Bar’, the conference tag line, set the scene for a wonderful weekend of learning,

developing and honing skills as well as sharing knowledge and the opportunity to catch up

with celebrant colleagues and meet new ones.

The families of Parikaha Marae, nestled between the mountain and Tasman Sea and

synonymous with pacifist resistance, welcomed and hosted delegates on their first night

in Taranaki. It was the perfect scene setter for a rich cultural component to the conference

programme, and opened delegates’ eyes and minds to a part of New Zealand history that’s

often skipped in school.

NZ celebrants discovered that it’s quite a bit tougher to become registered as an independent

celebrant in Australia. Applicants there must be first trained by an approved provider, then

pay a significant fee to apply for registration with no guarantee of success. Anthony Burke,

National President of that country’s largest celebrant association, whose motto: ‘be yourself

because everyone else is taken (borrowed from Oscar Wilde), highlighted the value of

authenticity and individuality which CANZ celebrants bring to their craft.

Jeff Montgomery, NZ’s Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Citizenship gave

insight into his department’s work and explained the advent of celebrant-led registry-style

weddings. This comes into effect on 1 July this year, when registry office weddings will

be available only in Auckland, Manukau, Wellington and Christchurch. Elsewhere, only

validated members of CANZ can officiate this type of marriage ceremony.

Delegates left the conference with a new understanding around mental well-being, business,

marketing and social media as well as the art and craft of ritual and ceremony – having raised

their personal bar, in other words.

This means that by engaging a CANZ celebrant you have significant assurance that you’re

employing someone from a professional body; a celebrant who has passed the association’s

Code of Ethics and Professional Standards test and a person who is encouraged to engage

in ongoing professional development with a strong network of fellow celebrants to call on if

needed.

In recognition of this commitment to professional development, CANZ has introduced a

celebrant validation process known as VCANZ, which is a structured recognition of celebrant

training, experience and professional development based on the CANZ body of knowledge.

This gives couples looking for a celebrant, additional certainty and greater comfort that

a CANZ celebrant meets the professional standards of competency required for celebrant

work.

http://www.taupocelebrant.co.nz | http://www.celebrantsassociation.co.nz

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