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Being a civil celebrant has taught Lyn Knorr a lot about people and love over the years.

“People are much the same the world over, and they have the same responses to things,” said Knorr, who was Victoria’s first civil celebrant.

“Weddings are joyous. Funerals are very sad. We all feel those emotions of immense loss and joy, no matter who we are.”

Victoria’s first civic celebrant, Lyn Knorr, estimates she as officiated “thousands” of weddings over the years.Credit: Simon Schluter

July 19 marks the 50th anniversary of civil celebrants in Australia, a radical move that transformed the landscape of weddings, funerals and milestone ceremonies across the country, particularly for those who are not religious.

In the 1970s, celebrants performed only about 3 per cent of weddings – now they officiate more than 80 per cent, and an increasing number of funerals.

The number of Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants has soared from about 1400 in 2016 to almost 10,000.

Knorr, was a local councillor when was appointed in 1973, and estimates she has officiated at thousands of weddings. One of her first was broadcast live on radio.

But she said the best weddings were always the small, intimate ones held inside a family home or backyard.

“It is a fantastic job because you get to say the best sorts of things about the human condition in front of a whole lot of people,” Knorr said. “You don’t usually have those sorts of conversations in everyday life.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of ceremonies performed by celebrants increased from 60,000 in 2000 to 90,000 in 2019, although ceremonies fell by 30 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Knorr, who is now retired, has observed many changes to the industry over the years, including a shift towards less-formal weddings and funerals and an explosion in naming ceremonies for babies.

She remembers being overcome by emotion when same-sex marriage was finally legalised in Australia in 2017, something she and her celebrant colleagues had been lobbying for for years.

But nothing quite compared to being a celebrant for a funeral. It was an honour she likened to being present in a birthing suite when a new life enters the world.

“You get to have this incredible closeness with people in that moment,” she said.

“They share all their emotions and their secrets. It is such a privilege. You feel as though you are doing something really useful for people. You’re helping them celebrate the life of their special person.”

Civil celebrant Dally Messenger has married people on boats, on mountain tops and even while floating in the sky.

Dally Messenger has married people on boats, mountain tops, and even while floating in the sky inside a hot air balloon.Credit: Simon Schluter

“The hot air balloon was a very memorable one,” the 85-year-old said. “We had about 20 guests floating nearby in another big balloon. I had to shout out to them. The couple have just taken their vows and everyone was cheering.”

At another wedding, held on a houseboat, all the guests along with the bride and groom, jumped into the water as soon as he declared them married.

“It spoilt the whole wedding dress, the whole kit and caboodle,” Messenger, who was the 17th celebrant appointed in Australia in 1974, said with amusement.

These weddings are a world away from the earlier ceremonies Messenger performed as a Catholic priest, before he left the church after just 18 months, disillusioned by its views on abortion, birth control and human rights.

“Churches had very fixed rituals, and weddings always felt very impersonal to me,” he said. “Becoming a civil celebrant was revolutionary. It felt like a radical improvement in society. People could write their own vows with words that meant they were equal partners in the marriage.”

Messenger, the grandson of the rugby league great, also named Dally Messenger, said that in the early days of his civil celebrant career, getting a divorce was a “horror show” – granted on the grounds of adultery or five years of separation.

He recalled couples hiring photographers and going to motels to set up photos depicting elaborate fake affairs just so they could fast-track the divorce process in court and marry their new partner.

“I remember one wedding it got to the vows and the bride just burst into tears. She said to her partner, ‘I’ve been waiting and waiting for years to be married to you’,” Messenger said.

“So much has changed since then. But it is still the best job in the world.”

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