WA Albany Tracey Smith

Tracey Smith Great Southern WA Authorised Civil Celebrant - Appointed September  2008

I was born in England in 1970 and moved to Perth, Western Australia with my parents in 1974. In 1995 I married the love of my life and we are fortunate enough to own a farm in Cranbrook approx. 320km south of Perth.

In early 2007 I was looking for a part-time job that would still enable me to spend time with my husband and our two children.  After attending a wedding I realized that the nearest Civil Marriage Celebrants to Cranbrook were based in Albany (100km away)  and that locals either had to pay a considerable amount in travel or get married down there. 

The only other person in town who could legally perform weddings was and still is the Baptist Minister.  Due to distance I decided to complete my studies via correspondence and spent many a night sitting at the computer completing assignments whilst the rest of my family slept.  Unfortunately at this time there was still a cap on the number of people appointed as Celebrants each year so it wasn’t until September 2008 that I finally became authorized.

I certainly had a laugh when we sat the children down to explain to them that mum was about to do some studying to become a Marriage Celebrant so that she could then go and marry people. Our daughter who was 8 at the time promptly burst into tears upon hearing this declaring “but you can’t marry other people because you’re married to our daddy”.  After some explaining and reassurance she was satisfied that mum wasn’t about to leave home, in fact mum & dad have now been married 16 years!

The most precious wedding memory I have is that of my daughter’s God-Mother.  At the time both she and her fiancée were living in Victoria so all of the ceremony arranging was done via the telephone and the internet.  Thank goodness for modern technology!  I am still not sure which part of the actual day was harder for me, seeing my friend getting married and having the honour of being her celebrant  or seeing my tom boy daughter dressed beautifully as the Flower Girl.  This was only my second ever wedding and also included a Sand Ceremony with a bridesmaid singing whilst the sand was poured.

It is my hope that in five years time I will have even more ceremonies under my belt and be continuing to expand my business. Being a part of someone’s wedding is something I always consider to be a privilege and many of the couples whom I have married have become treasured friends.  A comment which I often get from people is that they love the fact I am open, honest, approachable and that I am not afraid to use my sense of humour to turn a tricky situation around.

As my business name “Great Southern Celebrations” suggests I am based in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia and will happily travel to conduct a ceremony.

Tracey Smith

Marriage and Civil Celebrant

Great Southern Region WA

More about Tracey:  www.greatsoutherncelebrations.com.au