20 Years of Celebrancy Population Stats

The story of marriage celebrancy in Australia over the past two decades is not just a tale of registration numbers — it’s a window into what happens when a regulated profession opens the doors too wide, too quickly, and then spends the next 15 years trying to manage the aftermath.

This is the story of how we went from around 3,600 celebrants in 2001, to over 10,500 in 2025 — and why that number might now be a problem.

The Boom: 2003–2010

In 2003, changes to the Marriage Act effectively removed the previous quota system and allowed any fit, qualified person to register as a celebrant.

Suddenly, the gate was wide open — and people flooded in.

Celebrant Registrations by Year (Selected)

Year	New Celebrants Registered
2005–06	₄₀₀
2006–07	₈₀₀
2007–08	₉₄₀
2008–09	₃,000
2009	3,180

By 2010, Australia had about 10,500 celebrants. For comparison, there were just over 3,600 in 2001. The profession had almost tripled — not through organic demand, but through deregulation.

Celebrancy became “the thing to do” for retirees, hobbyists, aspiring creatives, and wedding enthusiasts. There was no bar to entry beyond completing a certificate. And thousands took advantage.

The Correction: 2010–2018

With the flood came the inevitable drain.

Many celebrants quickly discovered that:

Weddings in their locale are seasonal
Booking clients requires real business skills
The annual registration fee bites when you only do one wedding a year

Between 2010 and 2018, the celebrant population declined to roughly 8,800 — a net reduction of over 1,600 celebrants from the 2010 peak.

Key Trends in This Period:

High churn rate: Hundreds deregistered each year due to resignation or non-payment
Applications dropped to 700–900 annually
OPD compliance remained strong, indicating that committed celebrants stayed the course

The “side hustle celebrant” cohort largely walked away. What remained was a slowly stabilising industry made up of part-timers and a small core of serious professionals.

The COVID Era and Its Aftermath: 2019–2023

COVID disrupted everything — especially weddings. But instead of shrinking, the celebrant pool grew during this period:

Year	Registered Celebrants
2018	₈,800
2019	₉,110
2020	₉,269
2021	₉,982
2022	₁₀,127
2023	₁₀,390

Some of this growth may have come from people pursuing celebrancy during lockdowns — seeking meaning, community contribution, or simply an alternative income stream. But cracks started to show:

OPD compliance began to slip
Applications were steady, but not growing
De-registrations due to non-payment remained high

The Present Plateau: 2023–2025

Today, there are an estimated 10,576 Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants in Australia (as at June 2025). That’s essentially flat growth from the year before. The churn rate has steadied, and fewer new celebrants are entering the profession.

Recent Highlights:

2024–25 (YTD): Over 800 applications received, the lowest since 2005
De-registrations (YTD): just under 500 celebrants left, mostly due to resignation or non-payment
OPD compliance (as at June 2025): Approximately 19.6% — not officially published, but aligns with historical trends of low mid-year completion

Interpretation: We’ve reached peak celebrant. From here, numbers may decline or hold steady. But growth? That era is over.

The Real Story: Quantity ≠ Quality

Let’s be blunt: 10,576 is a bloated number.

There are nowhere near 10,000 active celebrants doing regular ceremonies. The real number of engaged, professional, full-time celebrants is likely closer to 1,000–1,500. The rest are:

Hobby celebrants doing one wedding a year
Friends who became celebrants for one couple
Burnt-out operators who haven’t resigned yet

This isn’t just a numbers problem — it’s a messaging and market perception problem. Couples don’t know how to tell a good celebrant from a not-so-good one. And with so many names on the register, the truly great celebrants are harder to find.

What Comes Next?

Here’s what I expect over the next 5 years:

Total celebrant numbers will decline slightly — due to natural attrition and fewer applications
The professional celebrant will stand out more — if they brand and position themselves wisely
The department will be forced to rethink OPD and admin systems, which are clearly under strain
Couples will need better tools to find, compare, and trust celebrants — and that might need to come from us, not the government

This isn’t a doomsday piece. It’s a call to clarity. The celebrant program isn’t broken — but it’s clogged. And those of us who’ve built sustainable, meaningful celebrancy businesses need to lead by example.