OVERVIEW
Whatever wedding theme or style you're looking to host, Jill will design your ceremony to perfectly suit you!
Jill Player Cotton is an engaging and experienced celebrant who has conducted weddings throughout Sydney, NSW, the Sutherland Shire, the Blue Mountains, the South Coast, the Southern Highlands, Perth, and the Gold Coast.
Whatever the size or style of wedding you are planning, Jill will be there to support you every step of the way and design your ceremony to perfectly suit you!
Inclusions:
- Designing and writing the ceremony
- Unlimited access to Jill by phone and email - or in person - leading up to your wedding
- A rehearsal
- Officiating and conducting the ceremony on your wedding day
- Supplying a PA system for the ceremony
- Providing and overseeing all of the legal documentation and registering your marriage with the Department of Births, Deaths, and Marriages
- Happy to travel!
Please get in touch so that we can begin planning your special day.
About
Why do I love my job? Because of all the wonderful people I meet. The brides and grooms and all of their families and friends. People of all ages and stages and with so many stories to learn. I love my job because it's joyous and full of warmth. I love it because of the countless moments of light, love, laughter, and even tears that I am privileged to share. I want your ceremony to be word perfect. And I want you to feel confident, happy, and secure, and able to relax and enjoy every moment.
Jill Player Cotton
Business Owner
Easy Weddings Special Offer
June Special!
Welcome!
Secure your booking with me as the Celebrant for your wedding through Easy Weddings by June 30th and receive $150.00 off the usual price.
$800.00 - $150.00 = $650.00 :-)
(This offer excludes travel charges outside of Sydney)
Location
Service Area Sutherland Shire, Sydney North, South, East&West, South Coast, Southern Highlands, Blue Mountains -
FAQ
Step one is to drop me a line via the Easy Weddings enquiry template on my storefront or give me a call.
Please ask me any questions at all that you may have, and as we chat you’ll be able to tell me some of your thoughts and plans for your wedding.
This is one of my favourite parts of being a Celebrant – learning about you, your story, and what you have in mind for your wedding day.
Nothing is set in stone at this stage. It’s simply a good chance to get to know each other a little.
I'll also outline the various legal requirements regarding marriage in Australia to you.
And we’ll check the date, to make sure I’m available – before we go too much further along. J
The first step is lodging a form called the Notice of Intended Marriage with a licenced and qualified Celebrant.
I will supply this form and all of the legal forms that will be required moving forward. In order for the marriage to take place, the Notice of Intended Marriage must be lodged with your Celebrant no later than one calendar month prior to the wedding date, and no sooner than eighteen months prior to the wedding date.
Once the Notice of Intended Marriage has been signed, dated, and witnessed by your Celebrant, you are “on the clock.”
It all begins to feel pretty exciting and real!
It’s a vital part of your Celebrant’s job to oversee the legal requirements for your marriage, to ensure that everything is completed accurately and in the correct order, and to register your marriage with the Department of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in whichever state or territory it takes place. Here’s an interesting tidbit that isn’t widely known: Your Celebrant carries the responsibility for the legal validity of your marriage.
Both people who are to be married need to show the Celebrant photographic ID and evidence of place and date of birth.
If a current passport is available, it ticks both boxes at the same time.
Otherwise, a driver’s licence, a proof of age card, an RSL membership card, anything current with a photograph, plus an original birth certificate, will fill the bill.
No problem. A new one can be easily obtained by applying to the relevant state of territory in which you were born.
As long as your Celebrant can see your birth certificate and record its details on the Notice of Intended Marriage before the wedding date, everything will be fine.
There are four more legal documents that I will provide and explain to you.
One is a statutory declaration of no known legal impediment to the marriage, which you both sign and I witness just before the ceremony.
If there is to be a rehearsal we can do it then, or I can catch up with each of you prior to the ceremony on the day.
(Regardless, I always like to check in with both my brides and grooms before the ceremony starts. J )
During the ceremony and while at the signing table, you will each need a witness of 18 years or older.
Five of us sign three documents, yourselves, your witnesses, and me.
I will provide the documents and have them all ready to go – two certificates of marriage – one of which is a presentation copy that you keep – and the marriage register – what’s known as “the big red book.”
During the “signing” there are often lovely moments for some wonderful photos to be taken.
Easy.
Contact the Department of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in the State or Territory in which you were married, and apply for a certified copy of your marriage certificate. This is the document you will need for any name changes on passports or licences, etc.
In New South Wales, if you wish, I can do this on your behalf when I register your marriage for only the cost of the government fees and postage.
Every Department of Births, Deaths, and Marriages charges a small fee for a certified copy of a marriage certificate. (Or a birth or death certificate, for that matter!)
That fee does not go to your Celebrant.
If either party has been divorced, the Celebrant needs to see and record details from the original divorce certificate on the Notice of Intended Marriage.
Just a few.
There are a couple of specific words and phrases that must be spoken by the Celebrant, along with a very few from yourselves during the exchange of your legal vows. These words and phrases need to be included in your wedding ceremony in order for your marriage to be legal and valid.
But there aren’t many of them at all, and they are easily incorporated into whatever style and type of ceremony that you would like me to design and write for you.
From that point on I am available to you by phone, email, text, and/or getting together with you to discuss any and all ideas or suggestions that might cross your mind.
I’ll be available to you every step of the way to assist with any questions or concerns throughout the entire process,
Very shortly after meeting and chatting with you, I will write a first draft of your wedding ceremony and email it to you.
That will give you a template from which to add and subtract any inclusions, ideas, thoughts, words, readings, or anything else that you might want to consider.
Every wedding ceremony that I write and develop is different. And nothing about your ceremony needs to be absolutely decided upon until you are happy with the final draft.
This is what is so wonderful about weddings in Australia today. They can be designed to reflect and celebrate – include or not include – whatever the couple feels suits them.
And it’s another part of my job that I absolutely love.
Yes. A MIPRO. One of the best PA systems out there. And it’s wireless. No cords or cables to trip over.
And my “Better Half” is a great roadie and sound guy! J
Depending on how much both of you feel comfortable about sharing, we might chat together about some of the following:
How did you meet? When did you decide to get married? How did the proposal come about?
Have you set a date yet? Do you have a venue booked or a place or spot in mind where you would like to have your wedding?
How many guests do you think you might have?
What are your initial thoughts about the style of wedding you would like to have? Formal or informal? Something in between?
Will you be exchanging a ring or rings? Would the bride like to be presented by her father or parents to be married? How about the groom? Might there be any favourite poems or readings you would like to have included in the ceremony? Or perhaps music playing or being performed while the bridal party is busy at the signing table? Will there be bridesmaids, groomsmen, flowers girls, or ring bearers? Maybe you are considering a theme? Would you like to include vows in your own words for each other as well as the legal vows?
There are lots of ideas and things to think about, and your wedding ceremony may have as many or as few features as you would both like it to have.
If you decide to book with me, I have a collection of sample ceremonies, readings, and poems that you are welcome to look through if you feel that would help you get started.
Yes, I am, and so is Easy Weddings.
No stress at all. I have married couples from overseas here in Australia.
Via email, phone calls – including via Skype or Facebook Messenger, etc., we ’ll be able to get to know each other just fine.
And I can easily guide you through how to get all of the legal components in order and achieved in time from wherever it is you live.
Then, when you arrive in Australia, we’ll get together and finish dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s before your wedding.
It’s all part of my job. Your job is to enjoy a stress-free wonderful wedding day and your visit Down Under!
Please get in touch. You are always welcome to ask me any and everything that might come to mind.
I love my job, and I’m here to help.
June 2021
June 2019
March 2019
Jill Player Cotton
Thank you for having me as your Celebrant, Bianca! It was a wonderful day, and I enjoyed every minute of helping you both with all of your thoughts and plans. And the quick sleight of hand at the moment of the ring exchange was no trouble at all - you truly were married with something old, something borrowed, and something blue! Thank you again. Best wishes to you both today and always. Jill
Expert Advice
As a wedding professional, Jill Player Cotton offers expert advice to help couples plan their perfect day. Ask a question or read their expert advice.
Get Expert AdviceHow do you get a marriage licence?
Jill Player Cotton
Hi, There -
I think there might be two parts to this question.
Firstly, in Australia, a "marriage licence" is more frequently known as a "Notice of Intended Marriage."
Obtaining a Notice of Intended Marriage is easy.
Your Celebrant will be able to provide it, fill it out for you, and witness it.
In order to complete a Notice of Intended Marriage, both parties planning to be married will be required to provide a few pieces of original documentation: Evidence of place and date of birth; photographic ID (a current passport will fulfill both of those requirements, or, if not a passport, a drivers licence and an original birth certificate); along with original divorce papers if that is also applicable.
A Notice of Intended Marriage must be lodged with an Authorised Celebrant no sooner than 18 months before the wedding date, and no later than one calendar month before the wedding day.
The second part of this question might relate to obtaining a certified copy of your marriage cerificate. This may be done by applying to the relevant Department of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in whichever state or territory in which the marriage took place.
In New South Wales, your Celebrant may apply for a certified copy of your marriage certificate when he or she registers your marriage.
I hope this helps to answer your question, and please always feel free to get in touch with me if I may answer any other questions or concerns - there's no obligation and I'm always happy to help :-) .
Every best wish,
Jill
Who's responsible for lifting the bride's veil?
Jill Player Cotton
Hi, There -
Usually, the father of the bride, or the person who escorts the bride, lifts the bridal veil just after the bride arrives beside the groom.
Alternatively, the groom may lift the veil at the moment before the marriage kiss is exchanged.
What is so lovely about weddings these days, however, is that there are no "rules," but only what feels right for you. So if you are wearing a veil that also covers your face, you are more than welcome to decide about who you would like to have lift it, whether it be your grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle - the choice is yours. And the decision about whether or not to wear one, and of what style and kind is also entirely up to you!
And here's a little wedding trivia:
The tradition of wearing a bridal veil dates as far back to ancient Greek and Roman times, when it was believed that the veil protected the bride from evil spirits, and helped to frighten the evil spirits away.
By the 17th and 18th centuries many brides no longer wore a veil, but in 1840, when the young Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert she wore a veil and back they came into fashion.
Queen Victoria also brought the white wedding dress into fashion.
Please always feel welcome to contact me about any other questions or concerns you may have - there is no obligation, and I am here to help.
Every best wish,
Jill
Who can be our witnesses if we don't know anyone in Australia?
Jill Player Cotton
Your celebrant will be able to organise witnesses for you. By law in Australia, two witnesses are required, one for each party being married. The witnesses need to be at least 18 years old, and available for being present at the wedding ceremony.
For couples from overseas being married in Australia, I have frequently organised friendly faces to come to the ceremony and be witnesses. And everyone that I have ever asked has always been honoured and delighted to do so.
If I may be of any further help, please let me know. Best wishes!
- Jill
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Jill Player Cotton
Jill Player Cotton
Thank you, Allie, for your very kind words. It was all my pleasure! And what a stunning setting it was in the Royal National Park and Audley Dance Hall. Best wishes! Jill