About Liz

L.O.V.E. I am surrounded by it and all things weddings!  I'm a Gold Coast marriage celebrant who travels extensively as I can legally marry anyone, anywhere, at any time within Australia. I was up in a hot air balloon marrying another gorgeous couple in December last year as well as another on happy couple on Christmas morning.  I happily spend my days dressing up, sharing in very special, intimate moments and getting to travel.  

Having worked in education, high end fashion and a former model, I've compered special events and appeared in TV commercials & films as well as voice over for radio, so you can be assured my presentation, grooming and delivery are always a priority for your day.  I have an extensive wardrobe and if not, a girl can always shop!  I get it's not just how I look but how I deliver those special words for you. My voice, the tone and delivery of my ceremonies is something I'm often complimented on as I take the time to know you and what you want for your day.      

I've put my life experiences into practise completing my Certificate IV in Training and Assessment training colleagues in their compulsory Ongoing Professional Development in Australia since 2016.  I joined 5,499 wedding professionals for a huge wedding industry convention in Las Vegas in November 2018, bringing back a wealth of information, knowledge and contacts in the industry.  If a destination wedding is more your thing and you'd prefer to marry in Vegas, New York, Italy, Bordeaux, France or Canada, I can hook you up.  Many couples are choosing a small intimate legal elopement style wedding here with a celebration overseas, so contact me if this is you.

I've been privileged to have officiated at weddings streamed live to Japan from Palazzo Versace and others to Russia, England, Saudi Arabia, Canada & Iran - literally world wide.  

A wedding to me is truly magic and sacred but a marriage requires constant attention and nurturing as the years go by as it's not always buzz and butterflies! Love should always be showcased and yet, is so infinitely fragile & immeasurable.  My husband and I married on my birthday in '86 (yes, 33+ years!!). I had my very own surprise renewal of vows in Vegas 2017, so the tables were turned entirely as I was completely clueless until I sat in the gondola floating along in The Venetian wondering who this woman was who rudely came and sat opposite handing me a huge bouquet of white roses! Cue the tears...

On another trip to Vegas we were both surprised as while we were attending the MBA, a large convention of wedding professionals on a chapel tour organised by Las Vegas Wedding Connection, where we were chosen to renew our vows at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel by none other than Beetlejuice, so from the romantic to the quirky yet both, so very me! (see photo below) 

Both sons had baby namings which was very unusual 30 years ago and I officiated our eldest son's wedding (see photo below) held at the beautiful Braeside Chapel, Merrimac and our youngest son's wedding was in May this year during COVID-19 at Pethers Rainforest Retreat with limited guests.  They've decided to recreate the love in November with all their guests so we get to celebrate again.  Exciting times ahead!  My parents celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary so I have big shoes to fill.  My aunt, Betty Debnam, was a celebrated cake decorator and another darling aunt was a bridal dressmaker, so you could say, weddings are part of my DNA and I'm simply carrying on the family tradition.

I am as comfortable conducting a small intimate ceremony in your home or backyard as I am in front of 200 people in a formal setting.  I've enjoyed celebrations in so many diverse locations around Australia and overseas, way too extensive to list here. 

I attended the Senate hearing in Melbourne on Marriage Equality and I am quoted in Hansard as saying '...for couples, marriage is a rite of passage.  It is a pivotal and an emotional milestone in a couple's lives.  In getting married, they do want authenticity and a ceremony in their life that reflects them as a couple and their beliefs'.  

I was a panel member of the Subject Matters Expert Group updating training units with the Skills Council for aspiring celebrants in the new Certificate IV in Celebrancy and I trialled the new online registrations for marriages in Queensland with the Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages.  I'm a former Vice President / committee member with the Alliance of Celebrants Queensland Inc. (ACQ), their Master of Ceremonies and/or presenter/organiser of their annual conference for many years with keynote speakers such as humanitarian Kay Danes OAM and Pip Courtney, ABC presenter.

I have been so lucky to have met or worked with many fabulous and famous people.  How many celebrants can say they've sung with Paul Kelly & Julie Anthony or sat alongside Kate Miller-Heidke and Pete Murray for dinner and lunch respectively? No, I'm NOT a singer - just in the right place at the right time.  

Celebrated Australian musicians such as John Farnham, Ricki-Lee, James Reyne, Kate Miller-Heidke, Pete Murray & Kirk Pengilly from INXS

Sports stars Yvonne Goolagong Cawley, Pat Rafter, Chris Judd, Layne Beachley (who gives me my daily mantra of positivity!), Steph Gilmore, Mick Fanning, John Eales, Drew Ginn, James Tomkins, Lisa Curry, Geoff Huegill, Jessica Schiffer, Loretta Harrop, Nikki Hudson, Mal Meninga, Rob de Castella & the late, great Ron Clarke AO MBE and many more;

Actor/Comedians Paul Hogan (my family & I were extra's in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles), the late Dick Emery, Col Elliott, Shane Jacobson & Cameron Daddo;

WWE/RAW Wrestlers John Cena & Kane;

V8 Supercar Drivers the late Peter Brock, Jim Richards, Russell Ingall, Shane Van Gisbergen, Rick & Todd Kelly, Tony Longhurst, Steven & Dick Johnson & David Besnard;

Indy/Champ Car Drivers Paul Tracy, Alex Tagliani, Will Power, Marcus Marshall & former NASCAR Driver & now V8 Supercar driver Marcus Ambrose; Formula 1, 2, 3 and Open Wheel driver, Gary Johns;

President of Gran Canaria Spain, Jose Manuel Soria Lopez; 

Prime Minister's Malcolm Turnball, John Howard OM AC, SSI, the late Malcolm Fraser & his wife Tammy; Queensland Premiers Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Peter Beattie, Anna Bligh & Campbell Newman;

Fashion Designers George Gross, Harry Who, Trent Nathan (a former employer), Collette Dinnigan, Gail Elliot, Carla Zampatti & Alannah Hill;

Authors Tara Moss, late Australian poet Les Murray, Jim Schekdhar, Kay Danes OAM, Debi Marshall & Frances Whiting;

TV Personalities Luke & Cody from House Rules/Queensland Weekender, Kochie, Eddie McGuire, Lavinia Nixon, Jamie Durie, Shelley Craft, Pip Courtney & Rhonda Burchmore;

Other notables such as the trail blazer June Dally Watkins, Deborah Hutton, the late great Bart Cummins (trainer), the late George Moore (jockey), Sir David Longland,  John-Michael Howson & Lady Sonia McMahon.  It was a thrill to receive a letter from Buckingham Palace for the Queen & Prince Philip's wedding anniversary. 

Things that I love: chocolate, hugs, the word 'cherish', ladybirds, fresh sheets, fresh flowers, sunshine, cooking, celebrations, silk, tea, an eclectic reader & music fan, live music, avid movie buff, bubbles, travel, antiques, weddings, watching the footy (all codes), art, Christmas, the smell of gardenia's and an ever growing shoe collection!  I am a proud supporter of ACT for Kids (formerly known as the Abused Child's Trust).  

Rest assured though, my couples are my MIP's (Most Important People) I could ever hope to meet and I'm privileged in sharing such a special time with you. So now you know about me...I'd love to know more about you and hear your unique story so click onto my 'Ceremonies' page to see how I can help with other life celebrations and milestone events or my 'Contact' page to see if I'm available for you.  

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,

but people will never forget how you made them feel." 

maya angelou