A couple of mine asked a good question about why we would do their legal marriage paperwork in Australia before their destination elopement. So I thought I best share the answer with you as well. My authority to marry people is only valid on Australian soil, in...

Hi! I’m Josh 👋🏻 Josh Withers, wedding celebrant from the Gold Coast, and I make fun, intimate, and personal marriage ceremonies. I’m a husband to Britt, a dad to Luna, and a gadget nerd, when I’m not stalking the Foo Fighters. Where I live is super...

I get so many frequently asked questions and frequently confused points about the marriage paperwork, so, I thought I’d try and clear up some common misconceptions and ideas around getting legally married in Australia.

My goal for 2020 is to convince the world that your entire wedding will be better if you choose your team before you choose your date. Here's eight reasons why: The humans you invite to create your wedding, from the celebrant and the photographer through to the venue...

Qantas just emailed me with with an offer to refer people to the American Express deal I'm on, and it got me thinking ... there's a free honeymoon in this deal. So here's how it works: applying for this American Express (before October 9) and spending $3000 on it...

Hey, wedding guests, I’m talking to you today. There are two people getting married and you’re invited to celebrate with them. I know what you’re thinking, gosh, another bloody wedding but this is no ordinary wedding, this is their wedding, and it’s a miracle that...

There’s a thousand articles spread across this fine establishment we are lucky enough to publish on called the Internet that list in great number all the things you can save money on at your wedding. I’m going to try and turn the tide a little and encourage you to empty your wallet on a few select products or services if only because a wedding is a luxury.

WeddingWire have given me an idea to write about something that is right down my alley, and something I wish I could talk to everyone about: the pre-pre-wedding checklist. Having a wedding checklist like this one from my friends at WeddingWire is key to staying on...

Here's a simple truth: an Australian wedding costs what an Australian wedding costs. Your budget is going to be unique to you, and ours was unique to us, but let me lay down what I think some averages are. If you're an industry rep, email me if you think some of these...

In other posts I've written I've had a lot of fun with wedding predictions, just last week my 2017 wedding trends post went live on Yahoo7 Be, but this post is pure numbers. Numbers can mean everything/or nothing, so here's my explanation of the nothing that is three...

I'm a massive Apple fanboy. It's worth sharing this at the start of this blog post. I'm writing this on an iPad Pro and my phone is an iPhone 7 Plus. I've read all of the Steve Jobs books and seen all the movies. Confession complete! I'm also heavily invested in the...

Yahoo7 Be asked me to help their readers save their wedding by not making traditional mistakes, I list six things you can ditch, here's one: Ditch the rehearsal: The wedding rehearsal exists either because we needed something to name the "before the wedding dinner",...

September 24 2016 saw Newtown brewery, Young Henry's, filled with couples being married. For the full explanation, visit the original blog post. I could prattle on about the day for ever, but the photos tell the story better. Morgan Roberts and Elle Dawson-Scott...

Teegan asks: What does it actually mean to be legally married — in terms of finances, assets, what it means for both people if one does something wrong legally, etc — it seems a lot of people fall into these traps that they don't even know exist which leads to...

Simone stood on the banks of the Brisbane River outside of Northshore Harbour Cafe and made the commitment to "fill our home with good food, entertain you with endless impersonations, and to continue our adventures together" and to"be patient when you show me annoying...

If you spend a few moments in a  glossy wedding magazine, or reading some stupid article about weddings from the mainstream media within the first few moments you're often provided the timely reminder that a wedding is either: the most important day of your life, the...

At a recent wedding industry event someone was telling me about the “wedding tax” that she had encountered in planning her own wedding. Let me help you avoid it today.

After the big budget day, the stress and the drinks, all of the things that make up a wedding day, what have you got left over? That's the thought in my mind as I'm planning most things, like blog posts, or workshops, or events or date nights. How will it all end....

Not many people would advocate for people to cancel their services, and I'm probably not going to make a habit out of it, but when a couple contacted me this week letting me know that they were cancelling me, and it was my fault, it has been on my mind ever since I...

Josh takes a look at the current wedding audience and wonders what if anyone would even attend a wedding in the future?

Things almost everyone gets wrong on their NOIM When I'm marrying couples I need the paperwork to be spot-on. It just saves messaging back and forth between myself, the couple, and the births, deaths, and marriages department. To be married in Australia, you need to...

Full day workshop on Sunday, May 22, 2016 in Sydney I firmly believe that the only thing I really have to give to my clients, my customers, the people that invite me into their weddings, is my care. Sure I've been gifted an authority to marry people, and I might have...

Meet my wedding spirit animal One of those men, a...

Ahead of the Star Wars premiere this week an Australian couple are being married outside of the theatre, which lead Terri Begley and I into a discussion on ABC 612 Brisbane, and statewide on ABC Local Radio, about weird weddings - and all of my weddings are weird it...

“Nothing kills a buzz faster than having to be responsible for the welfare and safety of small children in a room filled with innumerable safety hazards”

Rob, Courtney, and I hung out this week to dream big about their wedding and Courtney said something that really resonated with Britt and I. She wants their wedding to feel like Christmas. Don't get confused now, she doesn't want tinsel over the arbour and all the...

Heidi Thompson, host of one of my favourite business podcasts, the Evolve Your Wedding Business podcast, invited me onto her show to talk about, well talk about a lot of things that I hope would be super beneficial and enjoyable for people in the wedding biz!

You might have noticed the same thing I’ve noticed lately while scrolling around Facebook. Or maybe you haven’t because you’re not friends with as many wedding photographers or videographers as I am. Everyone in the wedding industry is pushing for unplugged weddings.

A crazy and weird and amazing idea when it comes to changing your name through marriage

Brides, photoshopped, throwing cats.

I took Britt for a little getaway to Rainbow Beach, the Ocean Palms Resort, and I credit time away the secret to our succes

I was recently a guest on a new Wednesday night Queensland wedding talk show, hosted by Ellyse Sainty on Periscope. More info at wedvid.com.au. The good news for you is that you can watch some of the segments in this post!

You're so lucky to be in the middle of such a personal and professional industry, the wedding industry. Whether you're a bride or groom, an interested onlooker, or one of the hard working vendors I'm lucky to rub shoulders with each day, you know how personal,...

Britt's driving the car right now, I'm in the passenger seat, and we just tried to merge back onto the highway after a quick toilet stop. Normally a road trip wouldn't make its way onto the blog, but this merge resulted in a small dosage of road rage and now I'm...

Is there a link between celebrating marriages and re-inforcing male privilege that leads to domestic violence? Many in my community are terribly saddened by the loss of a young mum's life at the hands of domestic violence. Two lives in Australia are lost every week as...

A big long list of all the traditional things that marriage celebrants say but aren’t required to.

“The last wedding in which Josh Withers unquestioningly included a few old-fashioned marriage traditions was his own.”

Britt just shared this article on Facebook about Zoe Saldana’s husband taking her last name, as opposed to the traditional, wife taking her husband’s last name. Boy, internet commentors are lovely people aren’t they!

I’m sitting in a class full of Sydney wedding celebrants and just asked what the most common weird question they get asked was: will you do a nude wedding?

I met up with Alex and Lisa yesterday, and Alex asked me the best question

I'm on a flight to Bali writing this and have just gotten around to watching The Imitation Game, a movie about a Professor that stops a war. I'll let you research or watch the movie to learn more about Alan Turing's remarkable, extraordinarily influential, but...

Nerd weddings are my favourite. And it has nothing to do with Superman cufflinks or walking down the aisle to the Imperial March. It’s actually crazy simple and that means this will be a crazy simple blog post:

“Does a marriage have to be consummated to be legal?” I was asked recently. Do a bride & groom have to sleep with each other?

1997 was a good year in Australia, the year that Rebecca and Travis were married on Home and Away, and Sia performed at the beach wedding. What the?!?!

Every corner I turn in life there seems to be a plethora of people telling other people why things can’t be done. I’m really proud to have so many friends that question that ridiculous idea every morning before breakfast. James Day is one of those people.

Last night I watched some other celebrants on YouTube, because I realised I've never paid much attention to what others do. It turns out I do things quite a bit different. So I thought it would be worth a blog post to explain what I talk about in a wedding ceremony....

My friend Michelle makes jewellery and hair pieces. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about this world as I wear a gold band and the rest of my...

Normy from Divine Studios sat down with me recently and asked me about what I did. You'll see more of this video series coming soon, but here's a little drop on why I became a celebrant. Click play and enjoy 🙂 https://vimeo.com/126576652

Have you been struggling with your wedding budget? These money-saving tips are thanks to and by, The Onion … and in case you don’t realise straight away, they are a joke. Enjoy!

You might remember years ago I hosted the world's first Twitter wedding. Well Ikea have stepped up the game and have launched the extremely gimmicky, but a little bit cool and futuristic 'Wedding Online'. It's all in Swedish, as is the video below. I'm betting on this...

The purpose of this post was to point out that diamond engagement rings are a lie – they’re an invention of Madison Avenue and De Beers.

A friend joked recently that I need to work on "retaining clients", that I should go into the divorce business as well. As funny as that is, and despite my line that I don't really want "repeat business", I think there's room for more of something here: divorce...

I feel like every third Facebook post these days is a rant about the wedding industry and how we're snobby, rude, expensive, illegal, or dodgy. And more often than not the Facebook posts are not wrong, there's lots of losers out there. Losers is a pretty tough call,...

If you’ve got a spare hour, fire up your Googles and do a search for pop-up wedding. It’s quite an honour to have so many people loving the idea, but there’s always one question we get: what is a pop-up wedding. We honestly get an email every hour or two asking the same question. It’s a valid question, so don’t feel bad for asking.

A wedding fair I am hoping to go to in the near future asked on its application form who my target demographic is. Before you read on, stop for a second and think about how you would be described in a demographical sense.

A short and quick tip today on how you can broaden your horizons, your view, your idea, of what a wedding is and can be: see other weddings more. So here's how I can help you do that today. I know everyone already gets my current weekly email from my blog, and my blog...

I have a tendency to play 90s playlists on Spotify, I like wearing my PJ's past midday, and I'm a sucker for a good steak sandwich. And although those oddities (and not so oddities) make me quite the individual, there is one major redeeming feature of the 1981 Josh...

How much does a photographer cost, and other terrible questions!

It’s really exciting to make your own wedding plans in a destination like Bali. There’s the benefits of fewer guests, and the guests that do come are really into you guys and will no doubt make for a great party. But the biggest question that couples ask, or that some couples forget to ask is: how do I get legally married in Bali?

There have been a plethora of articles and TV news segments recently about deceiving wedding industry professionals and tell them that you’re having a party instead of a wedding.

Today’s blog post is almost word for a word a copy/paste from Seth Godin’s blog. But he blogs about business, and I’m blogging about weddings.

Australia Day is a great time to reflect on what makes this nation great, so I want to bring something unique and meaningful to the Australia Day conversation this year and tell you the story of how Australia has been one of the most progressive countries in the world in regards to marriage.

Instead of exchanging rings, why not do something different and put your own wedding ring on.

Valentine’s Day is the best day to get married on. Let me explain why. It’s not as cheesy and soppy as some would imagine.

I’ll be at the Sydney wedding fair, Love on the Lawn, making time for Sydney couples to meet me to be the celebrant for their wedding!

All the things you should tell your wedding celebrant before he or she marries you.

Gold Coast wedding celebrant, Josh Withers, debunks the myths behind wedding traditions and what you can, or should, do with them.

When I saw Ellie and Spike’s wedding on the wedding planning subreddit of reddit.com, a little bit of nostalgia and a little bit of nerd in me pushed me to contact them to see if I could talk about their wedding on this blog.

There’s a pretty big problem with perfect weddings, perfect wedding days, and all that rubbish. I should start by saying “sorry”.

The Colonel’s chicken has got nothing on a superb wedding! Put these 11 secret ingredients in and pan and fry until golden.

If there’s a phrase I would pay to never hear again, it would have to be “it’s the bride’s day”. The common myth is that the wedding is all about the bride and what she wants it’s got nothing to do with the groom.

Prevent awkward moments in your ceremony and use this handy guide to figure out how to stand in a wedding ceremony.

Sydney talk radio station 2GB chose this little blog as “Blog Of The Week” recently, so I spoke to Andrew Moore on air about what makes weddings simply amazing today!

When I see numbers like 15,021 I wonder, what would I say if everyone was seated in front of me, and I had their attention for two minutes. What would I say to 15,021 people that are thinking about getting married?

I've just read a great blog post by John Saddington on his journey creating Desk, a Mac app for bloggers, and the app I now use to write these blog posts. John’s thing was that he created something that he wanted, an awesome writing app, and then he wanted...

Every single wedding venue on the planet needs to click the two very important links in this blog post so they can be found on Google Maps and Apple Maps.

A common conversation I have with brides and grooms is “what side do I stand on?”. I really dislike this question, only because it implies there’s a correct side and an incorrect side for a bride and groom to stand on in a wedding ceremony, which there isn’t. They’re just sides, not battle stations.

Weddings are happy. They’re awesome little things. But sometimes expectation, tradition and weird shit gets in the way. Here’s a guide to avoid that.

If you are considering booking Josh as your wedding celebrant, you best consider this warning first. Very important info!

Breaking news! I found some people that have a similar passion for spaces to tie knots in as I do!

Britt and I brought the pop-up wedding to Australia but we never really thought it would take off. How wrong were we!

72% of Australian weddings have taken the church out of their wedding, but are you worried that you’re breaking any of the seven deadly sins on your wedding day? There’s one down the list I think you’ll be ok with hehe.

A wedding ceremony can be crazy, even complicated and complex. But it need not be. Today I’m writing about the beauty of a simple and authentic wedding ceremony.

I attend hundreds of ceremonies each year, and see thousands of guests behaving “badly”, so here’s my guide on how to be an awesome wedding guest