Best Marriage Celebrants in Wellington

We assessed 19 marriage celebrants in Wellington and ranked the top 5 on public rating quality, review volume and how recent the reviews are. The businesses listed below hold 472 Google reviews between them. No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Last updated 6 November 2026. How we rank

Top 5 Marriage Celebrants in Wellington

The top 5 marriage celebrants in Wellington are #1 Celebrate with Jill, #2 Fi Becker Celebrant, #3 Ingrid Saxton Celebrant, #4 Patricia Robbie, and #5 Jude Best, ranked by Top5 Score.

  • 1

    Celebrate with Jill

    ★ 5.0 141 reviews Score 165
    Highest
    5★ 141

    Celebrate with Jill weaves each couple's love story into a tailored ceremony script, covering everything from vow-writing guides to marriage licence paperwork so couples can focus on the day itself.

    Hutt Central, Lower Hutt

    Call 027 416 4827 Map Is this your business?
  • 2

    Fi Becker Celebrant

    ★ 5.0 116 reviews Score 162
    2.5 behind
    5★ 116

    Fi Becker Celebrant builds each ceremony around a detailed couples questionnaire, drawing out stories, personalities, and shared humour to write vows and scripts that feel genuinely personal rather than templated.

    7 Liffey Crescent, Island Bay, Wellington

    Call 021 771 746 Map Is this your business?
  • 3

    Ingrid Saxton Celebrant

    ★ 5.0 41 reviews Score 149
    15.9 behind
    5★ 40 4★ 1

    Ingrid opens her Wellington-area home as a ceremony venue, giving couples a ready-made, scenic backdrop without the cost of a hired venue, and she has accommodated elopements, registry-style ceremonies, and multicultural weddings alike.

    78 Takarau Gorge Rd, Ohariu Valley, Ohariu Valley Road, Wellington

    Call 027 283 2273 Map Is this your business?
  • 4

    Patricia Robbie - Celebrant and MC

    ★ 5.0 41 reviews Score 149
    15.9 behind
    5★ 41

    Patricia Robbie steps well beyond the script on the day, retrieving forgotten veils, supplying emergency cold remedies, chasing down tissues and champagne, and managing family photos so couples never have to think about logistics.

    48 Percival Road, Paraparaumu Beach

    Call 021 802 355 Map Is this your business?
  • 5

    Jude Best Celebrant

    ★ 5.0 35 reviews Score 147
    17.9 behind
    5★ 34 4★ 1

    Jude Best runs her own ceremony venue at the Gazebo in Ohariu Valley, giving couples a ready-made scenic backdrop complete with photo spots she personally guides guests through on the day.

    184A Takarau Gorge Road, Ohariu, Wellington

    Call 027 477 3064 Map Is this your business?

More rankings

More services in Wellington 4 links
Marriage Celebrants elsewhere in New Zealand 3 links

Before you book a marriage celebrant in Wellington

A celebrant can only marry you if their name is on the list the Registrar-General keeps under the Marriage Act 1955, so ask yours to confirm they are on the current list. You give notice and get the marriage licence yourself: it is issued no sooner than the third day after notice, it lasts three months, and the government fee is $158, separate from the celebrant's fee. The ceremony can take any form you like, but it needs two witnesses and each of you saying words to the effect of "I take you to be my legal wife or husband", so agree early who writes the ceremony and who lodges the paperwork afterwards.

The questions below are drawn from 407 customer reviews collected for this page.

What does a marriage celebrant cost in NZ?

Celebrants in New Zealand set their own fees, so prices vary widely. Published examples from individual celebrants show a short legal ceremony starting around $250 on weekdays or $300 at weekends.

A ceremony written around the couple runs from roughly $400 for a smaller setting to $650 for larger guest numbers. Travel, a rehearsal, and MC duties are often charged separately on top of that base fee.

The marriage licence is a separate government fee of $158 that the couple pays directly, and it is not included in any celebrant's quote. These figures come from individual celebrants' own published prices, not a market-wide survey, and many celebrants publish no price at all online. Reviewers across Wellington note that pricing felt fair or even underpriced for the level of service received, which suggests room to find good value at most budget levels.

How do I check a celebrant can legally marry us?

Under the Marriage Act 1955, only a registrar or a person on the list of marriage celebrants kept by the Registrar-General of New Zealand can lawfully solemnise a marriage. Ask any celebrant you are considering to confirm they are currently on that list before you pay a deposit.

The couple gives notice of the intended marriage to a registrar, and the registrar then issues the marriage licence no earlier than the third day after notice is received. That licence must be physically delivered to your celebrant before the ceremony takes place, and it cannot be used more than three months after it was issued. Several Wellington reviewers noted that their celebrant handled all the paperwork steps and explained the process clearly from the first meeting, which is a reasonable standard to expect.

How do I choose a celebrant who suits our ceremony?

The strongest signal from Wellington reviews is how much effort a celebrant puts into learning your story before writing a single word of the ceremony. Couples who felt the ceremony was unmistakably theirs had celebrants who asked detailed questions, used questionnaires, and built the script from that material rather than a template.

Pay attention to how a celebrant handles nerves and unexpected problems on the day, as reviews repeatedly describe celebrants managing weather, missing props, unwell guests, and large family photo logistics without telling the couple anything was wrong. If you want one person across the whole day, check whether the celebrant also offers MC services, since several Wellington couples found combining both roles reduced handover friction and kept the day feeling cohesive. For elopements or small ceremonies, ask whether the celebrant has a venue or can come to yours, as some Wellington celebrants offer their own property as a setting.

What are the warning signs of a celebrant you shouldn't book?
  • –A celebrant who cannot or will not confirm they are on the current Registrar-General list when asked directly is a legal risk, not just an administrative one.
  • –Be cautious if the first contact is entirely remote and no meeting, even a video call, is offered before you sign anything, as ceremony personalisation depends on the celebrant actually getting to know you.
  • –A script that is not shared with you before the wedding is a red flag; reviewers who had the best experiences saw drafts in advance and had clear chances to give feedback.
  • –Watch for vague answers about travel costs, rehearsal fees, or what is included in the base price, since these extras can add up and are worth clarifying in writing.
  • –If a celebrant is unclear about who files the marriage return paperwork after the ceremony, that is a gap worth pushing on before the wedding, not after.
  • –A celebrant who pushes a fixed ceremony structure with little room for your input is worth questioning early, particularly if you have cultural elements, children, or non-traditional requests to include.
What should you ask before booking a marriage celebrant?
  • –Ask how many meetings or calls are included in the fee, and whether those are in person or remote, so you know how much access you have during the planning phase.
  • –Ask to see a sample ceremony or confirm that you will receive a draft of your ceremony with enough time to request changes before the wedding day.
  • –Clarify who is responsible for submitting the marriage return and paperwork to the registrar after the ceremony, as this is a legal requirement that must not fall through the cracks.
  • –Get a clear breakdown of travel costs, rehearsal fees, and MC charges upfront, since the base fee often does not include any of these.
  • –Ask what happens if the celebrant is ill or has an emergency on the day, and whether they have a confirmed backup arrangement or professional network to call on.
  • –If you want music amplified, vows read back to guests, or a sound system for outdoor ceremonies, ask whether the celebrant brings their own equipment or whether that is your responsibility to arrange.
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About this ranking

What the 10 marriage celebrants listed above hold, at the 6 November 2026 check.

141
reviews held by the #1 ranked business
35
reviews held by the #5 ranked business
4.8
lowest rating among the 10 listed
0.2%
of their 472 reviews are one-star
How are the top marriage celebrants in Wellington chosen?

We build this page from Google Maps results for marriage celebrants in Wellington. Each one is scored on its public rating and review record, using the same published method on every page. Businesses outside the area, or whose reviews describe a different line of work, are left out. Every category and city is rechecked on a rolling cycle, about every two to three months. See how we rank for how rankings are made and who is left out. On specialist pages like this one, a business's reviews count in proportion to how many of them are about marriage celebrants, so a business mostly reviewed for other work cannot win on review volume alone. See the words we look for.

Are you a marriage celebrant in Wellington?

No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Claiming and verifying your listing is free: it adds a small trust bonus (+3 points) to your score, for confirming a real operator stands behind the listing, and gives you a dashboard showing how your score is made up. A paid subscription adds a website link, a profile page and your ranking history. Claim your listing or see what a subscription includes.

Not listed? The usual reasons are a Google Business category that does not match, too few reviews to score near the top, or an address outside the area we cover. Check where you rank first, and if you think we missed you, get in touch.

How far is each one from you?

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