Surprise, surprise, surprise weddings
There are many reasons why couples choose to surprise their guests with a ‘surprise’ wedding ceremony. Here are some of them…
  • You love a bit of fun and excitement and, of course...a surprise!
  • You don’t want an extended engagement time
  • You want to combine it with another celebration such as a birthday
  • The combination of celebrations suits your budget and timing
  • You don’t want the guests to have the expense of giving you yet another set of steak knives or tea towels!
  • You don’t want the guests to have the expense of purchasing fancy clothes for a formal wedding and reception
  •  You want to limit the opportunities for family or friends to encourage you to have your ceremony and celebration their way.
  • You want to alleviate the need for your out of town or state guests to spend time and money on travel and accommodation costs for two ceremonies.
To ensure that your surprise wedding will be a great success, I offer…
  • A proven ability to carefully plan and organise the ceremony so that you will know what is going to happen when, how and why
  • Good time management and organisational skills to bring it all together and make it happen for you
  • The ability to include and work with ‘key’ people in a very short time to make them part of the ceremony (ie the photographer, music operator, witnesses, ring bearer etc) regardless of whether they know about the surprise beforehand or at the same time as everyone else
  • Extensive experience and knowledge of what works and what doesn’t in this and all wedding ceremonies!
  •  The skills to manage the ‘surprised’ guests who are usually fairly enthusiastic and noisy with their encouragement
  •  And a willingness to enter into the mood of the occasion and support your wish for this style of ceremony
If you decide that you would like to surprise your guests with your wedding ceremony, please get in touch with me to check my availability for your chosen date and for a quote of my fees.



Heather and Ewen surprised their guests with a romantic evening wedding ceremony conducted by Julie Dober, Ballarat Civil Celebrant
Dear Julie

 A note to say a big thank-you for all your help with organising our wedding and also for giving us a beautiful ceremony which our guests all commented on. So many people were oblivious to our surprise which was perfect – just what we wanted. We were so lucky with the weather and we had such a wonderful evening - you have it down to a fine art. Once again, thank you for helping to make a very important day for us, truly wonderful.

Heather and Ewen


Julie Dober Ballarat Civil Celebrant
Authorised Marriage Celebrant A6206
Ballarat's most experienced civil celebrant
for weddings, commitments, namings, renewal of vows, funerals in
Ballarat and surrounds including Buninyong, Daylesford, Beaufort, Dereel and Elaine
Phone: 03 5342 4113   |   Mobile: 0428 567 218  |  Email:  karajule {at } tpg.com.au

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Julie Dober Ballarat Civil Celebrant