I am a Life Celebrant
That someone who swoops in (hopefully gracefully) during life’s most memorable moments. An authorised marriage celebrant who’s all about moments that deserve attention, public declaration, and congratulatory celebrations. A life celebrant who understands the moments that are sobering, challenging, and real-life human experiences. Someone to share your story as you celebrate all rites of passage in your family’s life’s career.
Why Me? Why Now?
A History that gets us from… here… to… there…
My family. My life. My Personal Story.
The year was 2014. The month, November. The stick read two lines. The plane tickets were booked. The move was imminent. A new question: what was I going to do post children? After over ten years of working as a freelance storyteller, predominantly in the UK, my husband and I decided it was time to return to Australia.
Me, my home. Him, a new country. Upon landing in Melbourne, our desire to start a family was real, my stomach was growing rapidly daily. I had decided to sidestep careers pre-move. Australia lacks the population density to sustain a full-time storyteller. The arts landscape is worlds away from London.
I spent the next four and a bit years loving my beautiful children, researching, and reading. I wanted to find a creative industry that worked with people and told individual stories that celebrated life. Where my skills would be transferred and my brain challenged.
I LIKE TO THINK I’VE NAILED IT! THOUGHTS?
A bit About Me
Here’s a little biography I prepared earlier.
(I’ve written it in third person to be a little bit fancy!)
Katie is a celebrant. Before that, she was a storyteller. But really, the two go hand in hand — storytelling and celebrant. She studied at The Gordon in Geelong to learn all about the world of celebrancy. The rest will tell you about the journey to this course.
Katie spent seven years working in the UK as Co-Artistic Director of Paper Balloon Theatre Company, creating work with, for and by young audiences. Whilst in this position, the company were resident artists at Pegasus Theatre in Oxford and Half Moon Theatre in London. Katie has worked with companies in Europe, the USA and Australia, including Moscow Puppet Theatre, NYU Steinhardt University, Quicksilver Theatre, The New Diorama Theatre, Icon Theatre, Jacksons Lane Theatre, Theatre Exchange, Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG, West End), The Ministry of Stories, Australian Theatre for Young People, Phrankly Theatre, Trash Puppets, Bianca Fenn School of Music, Blackhole Theatre and RADA.
Direction and dramaturgy credits include the co-commission of The Grumpiest Boy in the World by Finnegan Kruckemeyer with the “New Plays for Young Audiences” program in NYC. For this work, Finnegan was the 2014 recipient of the AWGIE Award for Best Children’s Play, Currency Press.
From 2011 – 2014, she was the England Representative for Theatre for Young Audiences on the TYA UK board (UK Centre for ASSITEJ) and represented England at the 2013 German ASSITEJ Directors Seminar. Katie studied as an actor at the Arts Academy, Ballarat, before completing her Masters in Text and Performance Studies with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in association with Kings College London.
During her Master’s, she studied producing under Sue Dunderdale and writing for theatre and dramaturgy under Paul Sirett. Katie recently worked with Blackhole Theatre on The Last Lighthouse Keeper (writer). The piece has been through an extensive creative development period through Darebin Arts Speakeasy and a tour to non-traditional theatre spaces with Yarra City Principality around the libraries.
She has a love of creating stories with original music and is always looking for ways to enable this collaboration.
Snapshot Overview
Weddings, funerals, life ceremonies- this is what I love to do! Sharing in life’s most memorable moments and human experiences is just awesome.
ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT SHARING YOUR LOVE STORY
I’d love to hear your story. How you met, how you fell in love, what you love about one another, what you have been through together, what is important to you as a couple, and how you make it work. People’s stories fascinate me, and I love getting to know people. I’m a storyteller who can weave all the elements of your life into a story for sharing with your loved ones. Everyone has stories to share, both touching and funny anecdotes. I’m here to help you share your story and give it the reverence and grace it deserves.
PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
I am passionate about respecting our planet and making conscious choices to do what’s best for it. Simply reconnecting with nature allows us to consider our actions as consumers in everyday life.
Applying this to weddings goes hand-in-hand with getting wed in nature, harnessing naturally available resources and focussing more on meaningful connection and less on the material elements. In a practical sense, this means using your consumer power responsibly and supporting local businesses that care about their impact and use locally sourced products.
You can reuse or repurpose things or select pre-loved, handmade or compostable items. Focussing on moments and connection for your wedding will naturally impact our environment in positive ways.
NATURE AS THE STAGE FOR YOUR WEDDING
Couples spend a lot of time shopping for the perfect location and perhaps don’t consider that this location could be outdoors amongst nature. The beautiful thing about a wedding in the wild is that it’s already decorated in the most stunning way possible; nature sets the stage and a romantic atmosphere is a given.
More than this, nature will provide a setting that immediately engages all of your senses. You can have the aroma of gum trees, a cool breeze on your skin, the sound of a waterfall and a stunning view, all building up to the taste of your first kiss as a married couple.
The gift of being married in nature allows you space and time. There’s no rushing or panicking, no conveyer belt of couples waiting to use the space. This space and time are yours. Your chosen location in nature could be a special place you stumbled across and holds meaning for you or your relationship, or it could be somewhere you have always meant to visit. Pause, breathe it in, open up, be vulnerable and make an indelible imprint on your memory. Afterwards, you can reflect, and in the future, you can revisit this special place.
What others say about Katie
My Amazing Work
Just look at those happy faces! It was an honour and a privilege to be part of the 'big day' for these lovely couples
‘My Amazing Work’ is also on my Instagram page.
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