Hi, I’m Roxy, a Brisbane celebrant, registered and delivering authentic, non-cliched weddings in SEQ and beyond.
If you have any questions you’d like to ask me, please do by emailing me at roxy@roxyrocks.com or on 0478041227. Below are just a handful of questions that I’ve been asked in the past.
Q: How can you make my wedding CEREMONY unique?
A: I’m not just a marriage celebrant. I’ve been described as a story-teller, an orator, a stage-manager, a party starter, a performer, a conductor. I definitely do more than just the legal stuff, that’s for sure (though if you want the legal stuff only, I can do that too).
If you want a personalised ceremony, I take the time to get to know you. I listen and ask the right questions.
I’m genuinely interested in your story, and I use my intuition to gain insight into your personality. I want to learn about you and your vision for your ceremony. I’ll then write and deliver a genuinely individualised ceremony that will hopefully blow you and your guests away.
I truly love storytelling and writing, and you can read some of my musings on my blog.
Q: I like the look of your profile. What happens next?
Send me an email at roxy@roxyrocks.com, call me on 0478041227, or fill in the contact form. I get back to you super quickly. I’m good like that.
I offer no-obligation consultations. Usually I meet prospective clients via Zoom, or if it’s safe to do so, in a coffee shop or a bar, and at this meeting I’ll go through the whole legal process of marriage and explain what a marriage celebrant does.
We’ll discuss your ideas for your ceremony, and hopefully I’ll give you some ideas which you may not have thought about. If you’re going for the full works package (where your ceremony is written specifically for you), I’ll ask you questions about the two of you to get to know you a bit better. A consultation can take up to an hour.
Afterwards I hold your wedding date for you until I hear from you. If I haven’t heard anything after a couple of weeks, I’ll check in with you. If I still haven’t heard anything, I’ll assume you don’t want to book me and will release the date. However, if you’d like to book me, then I’ll send through an invoice asking for an initial payment (approximately 50% of the fee)
Q: Will you travel for my wedding?
A: I’m based in Brisbane, and will travel for weddings. In fact, I travel a lot – it’s a big part of my job. And one of the (many) great things about this job is the opportunity to see more of this world. I’m happy to travel, and travel expenses can be negotiated on an individual basis.
Most weekends I’m in places such as Byron Bay, Tweed Valley, Noosa, Maleny, Montville, Tamborine Mountain, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast… you name it, I’ll travel!
Q: What happens if you’re sick on the day of my wedding?
A: I am the Queensland Local Leader of a fantastic group called the Celebrant Society whom I can call upon if need be and I’m also a member of The Marrying Kind. My many fabulous Celebrant friends all help each other out if there’s every any emergencies or issues which prevent one of us from performing a ceremony. A proxy Roxy, if you please.
If this does happen, I would support you to find a replacement celebrant, and would transfer my fee to the celebrant directly.
Q: You’re registered as ‘Simone Hotten’ but you call yourself ‘Roxy Hotten’. Why?
A: Simone is my birth name but everyone, aside from my immediate family, call me Roxy. My nickname was coined in about 2000 with a bunch a friends, and it grew from there. If you want the full story of how it came about, you’ll have to buy me a wine first…
Q: Do you book more than one wedding a day?
A: Generally speaking, I only book one ceremony a day. The exception to this is if there’s plenty of time between ceremonies, eg: 10am and 3pm, and both ceremonies are in locations within easy reach.
I will always inform all parties that there is more than one ceremony booked, so they are aware of time constraints.
Q: You were a celebrant in London. What’s the difference between being a celebrant there and in Australia?
A: There’s a few differences, but fundamentally the ceremony is the same. In England, a celebrant does all but the legal part of the ceremony (that is done by a registrar). Oh, and having an outdoor wedding in England is dicey…
Q: If you lived in England, do you have an English accent?
A: I was born in Tasmania (insert joke here…) but lived in England for 26 years. Consequently I have an accent that people in Australia think sounds English and people in England think sounds Australian.
Q: Do you have a PA system that you use?
Yes, I do. I have a wireless PA system and a super fantastic mic. You can also bluetooth music through my PA during the ceremony and I’m happy to control this for you so you don’t have to place this responsibility on one of your guests.
Q: What happens if I meet you for a no-obligation chat, and I don’t want to go ahead?
A: That’s no problem. It’s important to me that you have the right celebrant for you. There’s lots of us out there, so there’s bound to be the right person for you.
Q: There are celebrants who charge less than you. Why?
A: I’ve delivered over 700 weddings, having been a marriage celebrant since 2011, and my years of experience enable me to offer a quality service. There are celebrants who charge more, and there are celebrants who charge less. For me, each wedding takes me a lot of preparation time; writing a ceremony can be a lengthy process and I want to get it right. This can involve liaising with not only the couple but their readers or family members and I offer that as part of my services. There is a more basic ceremony package for those who want a less personalised ceremony, and these are set out on my fees page.
Q: CAN I BOOK YOU JUST FOR MC-ING?
A: Please feel free to check in with me to see if I have availability to do this. About 10% of my couples who book me as their celebrant also book me as their MC, therefore I do have some availability.
Q: Do you do elopements?
A: I sure do! It’s becoming a more common request in recent years, and I totally understand why you might want to marry in this way. In fact, I love elopements so much that I can help tie you in with one of my photographer friends to create something super cute and intimate, just for you.
Q: Tell me a bit about you.
A: You can find me on days off in my garden, fiddling around with plants (weeds?), despite having no idea what I’m doing 95% of the time. My bicycle makes me very happy although I avoid Brisbane roads as I’m scared of the drivers, and my bike safely stays in the garage during Magpie swooping season.
I used to be a journalist for music and lifestyle magazines in England and still love writing and music. Walking past a dog without saying hello is practically impossible for me, even if I’m in a hurry. I’m terrified of cane toads.
I love art, craft, writing: basically anything which allows me to be creative.
For 15 years I was a Project Manager working for not-for-profits and Government agencies as well as a celebrant since 2011. I moved to Brisbane in June 2015 and live with my two rescue dogs, Queenie and Lucy.
I’m a qualified Trainer and Assessor, and also work as celebrant mentor/trainer for the Academy of Modern Celebrancy. I’m also the Queensland Local Leader for The Celebrant Society, supporting my colleagues in any way I can in this industry that I love.
Oh, and I love, love, love socialising and have gained a fantastic group of friends since moving to Brisbane who make me laugh. My life is good.
Email roxy@roxyrocks.com or fill in my contact form
Photos: Wildflower Weddings
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