WEDDINGS are traditionally a time when families come together, but one Birkdale woman will be taking on duties that go beyond those required of the mother of the groom.
As well as hosting the wedding in her backyard, Shirley Kearney will perform her son's wedding ceremony, having been certified as a celebrant last December.
Mrs Kearney said she had already been qualified to conduct funerals and baby naming ceremonies and felt performing marriages was the next logical step.
"I can hatch them, match them and dispatch them," she said.
Mrs Kearney started working towards her certification in April 2018, the same month that son Matthew and his fiance Ashleigh Frost got engaged.
Mrs Kearney was the one to suggest that she be the celebrant for the wedding.
"We were a little bit hesitant at first," Mr Kearney said.
"I asked if it was even going to be legal or not. Now we're really excited."
"It makes it more special, very intimate," Ms Frost said.
Mrs Kearney said it would be a privilege and an honour to perform the ceremony and she would be conducting a unique ritual she had written with the couple.
"We're blessing the rings with the four elements," she said.
Each element would symbolise something the couple wanted to bring to the marriage.
"Fire is to bring passion and heat to the relationship, earth for stability and growth, water for reflection, noticing each other's dreams, and air is to be playful and to not be too serious, to be free-flowing," Ms Frost said.
Mr Kearney said the pair's love of the land and strong family values had shaped their wedding ceremony.
"It's one of those more intimate weddings," he said.
"We're trying to make it for the people, not all for us.
"We know how much we love each other so the wedding's like a thank you to the friends and family surrounding us."
The wedding will be held in Mrs Kearney's Birkdale backyard, which backs onto Tarradarrapin Creek.
Mrs Kearney said she bought the house more than ten years ago and had always wanted to host a wedding there.
She also helped to plant 150 sunflowers in the front garden in preparation for the special day.
A letterbox has also been placed in the yard, and guests will put adventure ideas in for when the couple heads off on a honeymoon around Australia in July.
"The wedding will be very special, very unique," Mrs Kearney said.
