Stan by Me Ceremonies
OVERVIEW
If you're on the hunt for a warm, engaging marriage celebrant and MC who's up for anything, you'll adore working with Jess Stanley of Stan By Me Ceremonies. Known for her calming presence, beautiful writing and clear communication skills, Jess will ensure everyone has a memorable and personable wedding experience. She has a natural way with words and will happily guide you with vow writing if required. Her ultimate goal is to authentically highlight the uniqueness and depth of your love story, ensuring that your ceremony reflects who you two are as a couple. The most common feedback she gets from her couples? That their guests thought Jess was an old friend because she spoke about the couple as if she had known them forever.
Since solemnising her first marriage in February of 2022, Jess has married over 250 couples—so you know you're in experienced, capable hands. From writing personalised love stories, facilitating sharing ceremonies, elopments, surprise weddings, commitment ceremonies, murder mystery weddings, beach weddings in the rain, incorporating children into ceremonies, working with accessibility or medical needs...she's done it all, and she loves a challenge!
"Jessica was super friendly and professional… We felt super comfortable with her. She went the extra mile to check on my grammar too! We're so lucky to have her as our celebrant. She made us and our guests feel at home during the ceremony." — Jasmine + Ivan.
What you'll love about working with Stan By Me Ceremonies for your Melbourne wedding:
Highlights of working with Stan By Me Ceremonies Melbourne:
"I can't recommend Jess enough. If you want a ceremony tailored to both you and your partner, then Stan by Me Ceremonies will deliver. Jess made our ceremony enjoyable, meaningful, and so much fun – the perfect start to our wedding. Jess was delightful the entire time and helped to make sure that our wedding day was tonnes of fun and as easy as possible." — Heidi + Tim.
About
Hi! I’m Jess Stanley: celebrant, writer, performer & MC. I became a celebrant because I love hearing peoples' stories, and crafting a beautiful, sincere, relaxed but upbeat ceremony that perfectly suits their personalities. I'm laidback, warm, a great listener, and love helping couples write their personal vows, too! FIVE FAST LIKES: Coffee, the colour green, trivia nights, trashy 90s thrillers, cats. FIVE FAST DISLIKES: Bad listeners, shepherd’s pie, beer, humidity & the smell of sunscreen.
Jess Stanley
Business Owner
Wedding Brochure
Stan by Me Ceremonies Brochure
View all of our features and complete package inclusions in our PDF wedding brochure.
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Get 10% off any of my Full Package to celebrate the new financial year!
To celebrate the new financial year, I'm giving a 10% discount through Easy Weddings!
Usually priced at $1,350, you'll get it for $1,215. Get in touch now to book in a meeting and get chatting!
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Exclusive Offer
This is my standard wedding package that includes everything you need:
Whether you're looking for a fun and detailed love story, lots of laughs or something more tear-jerking, I'll ensure that your ceremony captures exactly what you want it to.
Exclusive Offer
This package is for you if:
OR
For a Shared Ceremony, this package includes:
For a Commitment Ceremony, this package includes:
Exclusive Offer
A legals only ceremony can still be delightful and special. This package is for you if you just want the legals only stuff, no bells and whistles, with a very small number of guests.
My elopement package includes:
If you want the registry office experience without actually going to the registry office, and would rather meet your celebrant before the day of your wedding, look no further.
Exclusive Offer
This package is for you if you don't just want my Full Package—you want MORE! More flair, more drama, more characters, more costumes! If you want me dressed up as a witch, speaking in an accent, learning some Elvish...you name it, I'm down for it! This is where having a trained performer as your celebrant really comes in handy.
For this price you’ll get everything in my Full Package, plus whatever extras you want to add to your day. Wanna be married by “Julia Guillard” or “Harry Potter”? Wanna stage a fake death and cry out, ‘Is there a celebrant in the house?!’ as I emerge from the crowd? Wanna have a fully medieval-themed wedding and be married in Ye Olde talk? Let’s work together to make your amazing vision come true.
Exclusive Offer
Kill two birds with one stone and book me as your MC for your wedding too! For $250 an hour, I'll stick around after the ceremony for as long as you need me—to attend to any official duties, liaise between you and venue staff, and make any announcements as needed.
The benefits of having a professional MC:
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Location
Service Area Melbourne
FAQ
I’m warm, open and friendly, and I’m an excellent listener. I’m creative and grounded, with just a touch of quirkiness. I’m organised and tidy, but also a little bit of a prankster. I’m not the loudest person in the room or the quietest, and I’m always described as having a calming presence.
As a celebrant, I get that the day isn’t about me. It’s about the two of you and the commitment you’re making. When I solemnise a marriage, I ensure that the ceremony is focussed on you and your relationship, and try to let the humour come out through the stories about the two of you, rather than me trying to be a stand-up comedian and get laughs for the sake of laughs. In other words, I’ll be there to spotlight the two of you, not myself. I’d say that my ceremonies are a chilled out mix of cheeky, romantic and sincere. I won’t bore your guests with endless droning and I won’t nervously rush through the moment, either.
I also force ask my couples to fill in a post-ceremony questionnaire, and here are the most commonly used words that come back to describe me:
A few different ways! Generally, we’ll start with a FaceTime or Zoom to say a quick hello and have an initial chat, and from there, if you think we’ll be a good fit, we can meet up in person for a coffee/wine and get to know each other a little more. I get to know my couples through a mix of chatting to you and asking you questions in person (I’m happy to listen to as much as you want to tell me about yourselves), and also sending through a couple of questionnaires for you both to fill out in your own time at home - one of these is full of questions about your ceremony (eg. where do you want me to stand, do you intend to include a reading, are you exchanging rings, etc.) and the second is for you to answer questions about each other and your relationship, what marriage means to you, and all that jazz. Some couples are much more private than others, so I’ll take your lead on all of this to make sure that you’re only sharing with me what you’re comfortable with, and only what you want included in your ceremony. We’ll generally meet up at least one more time before your big day, to go over the ceremony details more thoroughly and have a general check in, plus, if you plan to have a rehearsal, I’ll do my best to make it to that as well.
I’m an actor and writer, and I have a background in psychology. I believe my skills as a performer will help make your ceremony engaging and entertaining, while my skills as a writer will ensure a solid ceremony script, as well as help in writing your vows if you need. As a psychology enthusiast (I also have mental health first aid training), I believe that I’m a pretty good judge of character, and aside from bringing my great listening skills, I’ll be able to get a good grasp on who you both are as individuals and a couple, which I can incorporate into the creation of your ceremony. I’ve also been told that I’m a very calm and composed person, and that seems like the right kind of energy that you want near you on your wedding day.
My registration came through in 2021, and I haven’t looked back. By the end of 2022, my first year working as a celebrant, I had solemnised more than 50 marriages and quit my day job to solely pursue the jobs that I love full-time.
Absolutely! I strongly recommend that you write your own vows (this is the best part of the ceremony!), but I’m more than happy to give you suggestions of things to include in them in you’re unsure, or to read over them when you’re done and offer any thoughts. You can even practise them out loud on me if you like! If you’re really hesitant in writing them yourself, I can give you some prompts or loose structures that you can personalise.
Nope! You don’t have to feed me, and I promise I won’t pester your guests either. Generally, I’ll pack up my gear after the ceremony, and if people want to chat to me I’ll stay for about the time of one glass of sparkling, then head off—ideally, not without grabbing a photo of the three of us first!
(That said, occasionally a couple has very kindly invited me to stay for the entire wedding, and if the vibe is right, I'll do my best to!).
HELL to the YES.
Bit of yes, bit of no. All of the legal components of the ceremony must be performed by the celebrant, and it must be clear to everyone present that the celebrant is the prescribed authority who is legally authorised to solemnise your marriage. However, if you want a loved one to read out your introduction and talk about the two of you, perform a reading, or play a large role in the ceremony, there are certainly ways of incorporating them into it and I’ve done it before! This is a good option for couples who feel that it’s a bit weird for a celebrant who barely knows them or their history to talk about them as if they’ve been around for the whole relationship and is really just a matter of personal preference.
Absolutely not (I’m also a Leo, but I promise that won’t affect the ceremony either)! This is YOUR day and I can’t wait to shower you both with attention.
Where my skills as an actor will come in handy, however, is that you’re guaranteed a celebrant with an appealing, powerful voice, plenty of empathy, a complete lack of stage fright, and someone who is used to commanding a roomful of people, so your guests won’t want to start snoozing. Not to mention, I love dress ups so I’ll jump on board any theme you throw at me.
Reviews
Review Summary
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Expert Advice
As a wedding professional, Stan by Me Ceremonies offers expert advice to help couples plan their perfect day. Ask a question or read their expert advice.
Get Expert AdviceAdvice for having your dog in your ceremony
Would love some advice! We def want to include our dog in our wedding ceremony! We want him as the ring bearer. Are they are any things to avoid or prepare for in advance? Thanks!
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Stan by Me Ceremonies
Ok, I will recommend the following business to anyone who will listen: check out Silly Wagz Bridal if you're based in Victoria or Tassie. I recently met the gorgeous Rachel at a wedding and have nothing but great things to say. Silly Wagz will pick your pup up prior to your wedding, give them a walk, a groom, dress them cute, and chaperone them through your wedding! They'll pose them for photos, ensure they don't jump on guests or disrupt the ceremony, and pass them over to you or your bridal party for an adorable walk down the aisle.
I think this is a great idea because most couples love the idea of having their pet at the ceremony, but don't want to burden a friend or family member with duty of care. That said, if your pup is pretty low maintenance and you've got a guest who is happy to do it, have them hold onto your pup down the back or off to the side of the ceremony space with a few treats up their sleeve. I've had couples completely pull off the dogs as ringbearer at their ceremony! Tie those rings securely around a separate ribbon to their collar, and when the time is right, call to them and have them run down the aisle! If they're a bit more shy, they can be escorted down the aisle by a guest. So cute, and your guests will love it.