The International College of Celebrancy

Our College

Inform, Inspire, Transform

At the College of Celebrancy, our purpose is simple: to help you become a truly accomplished, professional celebrant. We want your experience with us to be so rewarding that when you complete your diploma or module course, you’ll honestly say to yourself, “This is the best course I have ever studied.” 

You are supported throughout your studies by highly experienced tutor-examiners who care about your progress. 

Operating from Melbourne, Australia, our college encourages face-to-face tutoring when the tutor and student live close to each other. We aim to deliver equally personal, real-time tuition to students nationwide and internationally via Zoom, FaceTime, or comparable platforms. This learning pathway can take you as far as you wish to go. Using our eight knowledge-rich modules, you can progress through to a diploma, an advanced diploma, a graduate diploma, and ultimately a master of celebrancy.

Above all, we want your education to be transformative. Our goal is not simply for you to finish a course but to emerge with a new confidence, feeling capable and ready to succeed as a celebrant in the real world.

Our Principal

Dally Messenger III established the International College of Celebrancy in 1995 at the invitation of the Australian government. For the past thirty years, he has led the team responsible for developing and refining the college’s eight-module curriculum. The educational framework and methodology were designed by Professor Michael Parer, head of the curriculum development team at Monash University, under Messenger’s guidance.

Messenger has lectured on celebrancy, inter alia, at Monash and Victoria universities in Australia. He has lectured by invitation in the USA, the UK, and New Zealand. He is widely regarded as a leading authority on civil celebrancy across much of the Western world.

He has authored two highly acclaimed books on celebrancy. His guide to constructing ceremonies has gone through five editions, while his memoir—chronicling the history of the civil celebrant movement—has also received widespread recognition.

A firm believer in the power of ceremony, Messenger is passionate about fostering high-quality, meaningful, and emotionally impactful ceremonies that leave lasting psychological,  social and cultural benefits.

Our Personal Tutors

Every student for every course is assigned a friendly personal tutor, guide, and examiner who stays with you the whole course, encouraging you, giving advice, answering questions, and examining and correcting your assignments. In fieldwork, the celebrant-tutor helps you find the ceremonies and the interviews required.

Tutors of the college
Tutors of the College

Our Courses

M1. Ceremony: Nature and Purpose

Ceremonies should inspire people to achieve change and understanding in life. ($1600 AUD)

M2. Delivering a Ceremony: Practical Skills

Explore the practicalities of delivering a ceremony. ($1600 AUD)

M3. Marriage Celebrancy

Discover the significance of wedding ceremonies, considered the flagship of every culture. ($1800 AUD)

M4. Funeral Celebrancy

Homo sapiens were first classified as such when they memorialised their own deaths. ($1800 AUD)

M5. General Celebrancy

Ceremonies and rituals have consistently marked the entire spectrum of experiences in human life. ($1600 AUD)

M6. The Celebrant Profession

Being reliable and setting high standards. Being caring, industrious, and organised. Holding yourself accountable for your thoughts, words, and actions. ($1600 AUD)

M7. The History of the Celebrant Movement

As Aristotle said, to comprehend any movement or institution, study its beginnings. ($1600 AUD)

M8. Celebrant Spirituality

Explore the virtues, ideals, principles, and skills that make an individual a better person and a better celebrant. ($1600 AUD)

Sign on

Courses suitable for civil celebrants, officiants, and clergy. For further information, see the website table of contents above. Or email the principal, Dally Messenger III, dallymessenger@mac.com, +61 411 717 303 or any of our tutors above.

Our Enrolment Form

Recent Posts

The Power of an Authentic Marriage Ceremony

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by Dally Messenger |||
(Principal of the International College of Celebrancy)

The COVID-19 pandemic was a global disruptor, shaking the very foundations of how we live and connect. In many parts of the Western world, gatherings were abruptly outlawed. Here in Australia, for example, only five people—the bride, groom, and two witnesses—were allowed at weddings. Funerals were reduced to just ten attendees, all masked and distant, stripping these milestones of their usual intimacy.

In the wake of such unprecedented restrictions, many celebrants have grown used to conducting shorter, bare-bones ceremonies. And yet, this trend poses a deeper question:

Why bother with a full ceremony when a minimalist version will do? Does it really make a difference? Once you’re married, aren’t you simply married? After all, how can you be more married than that?

The value of a marriage ceremony is not in its legal formality but in its symbolic and emotional power. Marriage as an institution has thrived for millennia. Only recently has the law stepped in to record unions, merely for societal management—custody disputes, property rights, that sort of thing. But to reduce marriage to a cold legal contract misses the point entirely. The phrase “legal marriage” diminishes the depth of the commitment. In truth, these quick and superficial ceremonies are little more than paperwork formalities.

When Lionel Murphy crafted Australia’s civil marriage program, he envisioned something far greater. He believed that civil marriages could be the most profound and meaningful in the world. With the guidance of a skilled celebrant, couples could create a ceremony that reflects their deepest values and beliefs—a ceremony that feels real in every sense. Every detail can be personally tailored: the vows, the location, the tone, the mood. Authenticity at its peak. And in that moment, a couple becomes more than just married—they become united on a psychological and emotional level that transcends mere legal documentation.

You can absolutely be more married than just “married.” The act of co-creating a heartfelt ceremony with a thoughtful celebrant reshapes how couples see themselves. Something shifts within them. In preparing the vows, choosing the music, reflecting on their love through stories and poetry, couples gain an entirely new understanding of what it means to commit to one another. A true wedding ceremony isn’t just an event; it’s a rite of passage, an inner transformation that engraves the meaning of marriage onto the hearts of those involved.

This profound shift is what inspires dedicated celebrants to craft the best possible ceremonies for each couple. The ceremony becomes an anchor, a memory so rich that it serves as a psychological wellspring, something couples can draw upon during tough times. As Dr. John Gottman, a leading expert on relationships, explains: the memory of a powerful ceremony strengthens marriages long after the vows have been said.

You can also be more married socially. A well-thought-out wedding ceremony doesn’t just unite the couple—it transforms how others see them. Family and friends gather not simply to celebrate but to witness the couple’s commitment. By organising their wedding and inviting loved ones, couples are, consciously or not, seeking recognition and support from their community. Once the vows are exchanged, something changes. The couple is no longer seen as two individuals—they are recognised as a unit, and everyone around them treats them accordingly.

Social perception matters. We are deeply influenced by how others see us. Couples want their peers to view them as people of integrity, who are deeply invested in making their marriage work. They want the world to know that they are serious about their vows, that they aspire to build a lasting and happy family. And the ceremony, with all its symbolism and tradition, broadcasts that message to everyone present.

Think about it. If you’re getting married and inviting close friends and family to the ceremony, that invitation strengthens your relationship with them. Including someone in your wedding party shows them they hold a special place in your life. It’s an unspoken message: “You are part of our journey. You matter.” Strengthening bonds is not just a metaphor; it’s a reality you can craft.

You can also be more married culturally. A wedding is the ultimate expression of a culture’s values and creativity. It draws upon the best of the visual and performing arts, from the breathtaking venue to the heartfelt music, the moving poetry, and the timeless stories. The wedding ceremony is the pinnacle celebration in every culture across the globe. Through it, couples and communities alike absorb the beauty of language, art, and tradition. And it is through marriage that families, the very foundation of culture, are created.

This is precisely why Lionel Murphy, the visionary behind Australia’s civil celebrant movement, insisted on crafting ceremonies that were not only legally binding but emotionally and culturally transformative. By doing so, we don’t just strengthen individual relationships; we elevate the collective happiness and resilience of society itself.

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