Rachel Clarke – Wairarapa Marriage & Funeral celebrant

Your story is the heart of your ceremony.

I am passionate about creating personalised and meaningful ceremonies. Warm and friendly, I enjoy meeting people from all walks of life and look forward to hearing your story. A relaxed yet professional approach helps you to enjoy the process as I work with you to capture your thoughts and wishes.

Get in touch to create your special ceremony.

Nga mihi,
Rachel Clarke

Certificate in Celebrant studies | MN (Masters in Nursing) | VCANZ accredited

Validation demonstrates a commitment to ongoing professional development.

We are so happy we found you. You've been an absolute dream!

A wedding couple

From the first time we messaged Rachel, we always received prompt and helpful communication. Rachel was always very cordial and flexible in her approach.

- Rani & Elfa

About Me

I love being a celebrant and enjoy working closely with people, helping them to create a ceremony that feels right for them, whether it be celebrating special occasions in life; or in the case of losing a loved one – saying goodbye.

I chose to train as a celebrant after supporting family and friends through end-of-life experiences. Being involved was a huge privilege and I found my life skills - as nurse, educator and mother - enabled me to support people with empathy and care.

My husband, Mike, and I are enjoying all that the Wairarapa has to offer, having moved to Featherston in 2019. Regulars at the Woodside-Greytown Parkrun, we also enjoy exploring the local walking trails, along with the occasional tramp in the Tararua range. We have three daughters and enjoy catching up with them whenever possible.

I am an active member of the Celebrants Association of New Zealand (CANZ), currently holding the position of Vice-President on the Executive committee along with the Professional Development portfolio. As a member, I adhere to the Code of Ethics and Professional Standards and am covered by indemnity insurance. In the unlikely event that you require it, a complaints process is available through CANZ.

Thank you for making our ceremony so special! We both appreciated your professionalism, patience and warmth. Your fun, relaxed approach was perfect for us.

- Luke & Anna

Weddings & Civil Unions

Weddings & Civil Unions

I am an inclusive celebrant who enjoys working with all couples in love. Your wedding or civil union is a time to affirm your commitment to each other; sharing this moment with your family and friends. Let’s work together to create a ceremony that reflects your one-of-a-kind partnership. Large or small, formal or informal, traditional or non-traditional, simple or quirky – let’s have fun creating the style of ceremony you are after.

Let’s chat about whether there is something unique or different you want to include in your ceremony. Are there cultural traditions you would like to incorporate? Is a bilingual ceremony important to you? I love hearing about what you want and weaving this into the magic of your day.

Delivering a fully personalised, bespoke service to you is my specialty; but if you are interested in exploring alternatives, please read on to see what Brac and Bow and I are offering you.

Working with Brac and Bow bar and eatery, I am offering a range of options for your wedding ceremony.

I am excited to be working with 'Brac & Bow' cafe and eatery in Featherston. With me as your celebrant, you can choose from three ceremony styles for your wedding, civil union or special occasion ceremony. This offers you choice in terms of the number of guests and the degree of personalisation. Click here to download the information sheet. For full details, please email me on rachel@lifecelebrancy.co.nz *Please note, that the prices noted on the information sheet apply to the provision of the ceremony only and may vary from those noted. Catering costs are over and above the fees for the ceremony. Please discuss this with Theo at Brac and Bow.

We both feel so lucky that we chose you for our service. Your help and suggestions made our day so special and stress free. The memories of our day we will treasure forever. Our guests have all told us that our service was beautiful and that your input had captured our love and who we are.

- Sue & Brian

Working Together

In most instances, the first step is to catch-up for an informal no-obligation chat. This is a great chance for me to get to know you. We can explore some ideas together and I will let you know more about how I work. The following outline gives you some idea of the process from beginning to end:

• A 50% deposit of the fee will secure your date

• We will meet to develop your ceremony

• You will be sent a ceremony draft to review

• A rehearsal will be held prior to the ceremony

• I will officiate your ceremony

• For weddings and civil unions, I will submit the legal papers to the office of Births, Deaths and Marriages, who will register your marriage/civil union

• Feedback and photos will be requested 3 - 4 weeks after the ceremony

Note: This process may change depending upon the style of your ceremony

Find out more about getting married in NZ here.

Your privacy is important to me

I take your privacy seriously and maintaining the confidentiality of your information is important to me. Please download my privacy policy here to ensure you understand what I am collecting from you and why; and how I store and use your information.

Funerals - Saying Goodbye

Remembering a loved one’s life together with family, friends and members of the community is an important part of saying goodbye.

If you would like me to be your funeral celebrant, please give me a call and I can confirm my availability. Please let your funeral director know that you have asked me to be your funeral celebrant.

As your funeral celebrant, I will come and meet you and your family/whanau to learn about the life of your loved one and to plan the funeral service with you in a way that remembers and honour’s your loved one in a way personal to your family.

If you would like to discuss a living funeral, plan your own funeral, or arrange a memorial or unveiling, please get in touch with me.

For more information about when someone dies, you can visit Births, Deaths and Marriages.
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You can also contact a Funeral Director through the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand.

Rachel worked with me to craft my late husband's funeral. Her empathy enables her to grasp the heart of the matter and she is able to aptly convey this in the ceremony.

- Ruth

What people have to say

Rachel married us in an intimate ceremony which was crafted to reflect our story and style, including some beautiful extra touches. We are so grateful that we had the privilege to be married by someone who cares so much about creating an unforgettable experience.

Georgia & Tom

Thank you so much for officiating our ceremony in January, Rachel. Nick and I really appreciated the time you spent with us on more than one occasion to really get to know us, which definitely showed in the unique and personal ceremony you put together for us.

Samme & Nick

Thank you so much for everything you did for the ceremony, we both loved the day & really appreciate all the work you did on it. We had lots of compliments from family & guests who all really enjoyed the ceremony and all the ideas you helped put in place especially including the kids. We will recommend you to others.

Catherine & Konyo

I was impressed with Rachel when I saw her in action at a recent wedding. She carried out her duties beautifully with specially chosen words for the bride and groom, delightful banter and touches of humour that made it a fun as well as a joyous occasion. I would definitely recommend Rachel as an awesome celebrant for anyone's wedding.

Judy

Thank you so much for being a part of our special day. You were absolutely amazing and very patient with our big family. You were very supportive, patient and passionate in making sure our day went well. We wouldn't change a thing. We absolutely loved your idea of the monarch butterflies, they were the topic of conversation with our guests over the weeks. Thank you from our family to you and yours.

Renee' & Aaron

In short, we are very happy and would highly recommend Rachel based on our experience having her as our celebrant - despite circumstances which were sometimes difficult, due to distance and scheduling changes caused by visa processing delays. After the marriage ceremony, Rachel continued to help us in bridging with the Indonesian embassy, which is particularly important for us, because we needed to convert the NZ marriage certificate to a local Indonesian certificate. Thank you, Rachel!!

Rani and Elfa

From the first time we met Rachel she put us at ease and was so warm and friendly we knew she would be a great fit for us with our wedding. We wanted a low-key wedding during these challenging times and Rachel listened to what we wanted and created a unique ceremony that really captured that essence. She also made it possible to involve those who could not be with us on the day which was perfect. Communication was easy and stress free. We couldn't recommend Rachel enough and are really pleased we chose her for our ceremony.

Chris & Anita

I would like to thank you for all the support and guidance you gave to our son and his fiancée during the lead up to and on the day of their wedding in February this year. Your attention to detail was a great help for them in the planning of the event, you raised issues that needed thinking about that they had not considered. The day was wonderful, your calm and composed presence rubbed off on all of us on the day. Thank-you so much for helping create a beautiful memory for all of our family.

Anney

Rachel Clarke

Rachel Clarke – Wairarapa Marriage & Funeral celebrant

About Me

Weddings & Civil Unions

Working with Brac and Bow bar and eatery, I am offering a range of options for your wedding ceremony.

Working Together

Your privacy is important to me

Funerals - Saying Goodbye

What people have to say

Get in touch to begin creating your special ceremony.

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