`every Wedding Is Special'
Illawarra Mercury
Tuesday February 3, 1998
DEIRDRE Gosling is a marriage celebrant who enjoys the individuality of each ceremony she performs.
"Every wedding is different, but every wedding is special," she said.
"When a couple comes to see me, I lend them a book with a variety of services in it so they can have exactly the words that are meaningful to them within their service. Every service is unique."
Deirdre sums up her involvement in each wedding: "My motto is friendly, professional personalised service and my aim is to make the day a happy and memorable one for the two most important people involved with the service - the bride and the groom".
Deirdre has been registered for about three years and loves the work, but she also likes to keep her commitments down so she can give special attention to each wedding.
"I don't do a lot of weddings because I would rather be involved with a fewer number of people and give a quality service," she said.
Her most outrageous wedding so far began as an engagement party.
"A couple organised an engagement party and invited all their friends. Then the master of ceremonies at the party said: `You know this couple does not believe in long engagements, so on the strength of that, please welcome Deirdre Gosling, the marriage celebrant'.
"We performed the wedding ceremony right then. The bride looked beautiful in a red dress," she said.
But Deirdre's work as a celebrant certainly doesn't apply only to weddings. There are baby namings, which she says are always beautiful occasions, re-affirmations and funerals.
"The civil-marriage celebrant service was instituted as a community service and that is their strength," Deirdre said. "It's an important function that we fulfil."
Part of her expertise that adds to her skill as a celebrant began with Toastmasters.
"Because I was a member of Toastmasters and have been for nine years, becoming a celebrant was the sort of thing I could do to use those talents.
"I do like people. I get a real buzz out of dealing with people generally and young people particularly," she said.
Deirdre also enjoys the Wollongong area, especially for weddings. "Wollongong and the couples who marry in Wollongong are very fortunate in the quality of surroundings they've got within their parks, beaches and headlands.
"I've done weddings at all of those locations and they are so beautiful.
"A lot of people from outside the area have no idea of the quality we have in the parklands within the district," she said.
"I've done weddings from the Rhododendron Park to the Botanic Garden, beaches too. I think we are very fortunate to have such facilities and scenery."
© 1998 Illawarra Mercury