Funeral celebrant and officiant fees in NZ

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed quarterly, when the underlying data is restated.

Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.

A funeral celebrant or minister in New Zealand costs about $300 to $900 on the Funeral Directors Association's indicative range (July 2025). One Auckland funeral director's May 2026 list shows $590 to $705 to officiate at a service. We found no published church fee, and the sources do not give a separate range for independent celebrants. Always ask for the fee in writing.

A funeral celebrant is a person who leads a funeral or memorial service: meeting the family, planning the order of service, writing and delivering the words, and running the ceremony on the day. A minister or other member of the clergy does that within a religious tradition. Sources on fees group the two together as "celebrant / clergy". FDANZ's 2026 report found a celebrant or clergy member was used at 76% of 2025 funerals, down from 80% in 2023 (FDANZ 2026 Industry Trends Report). This page sets out the figures we could source and what to ask, and it does not quote a fee we could not trace.

What the published figures show

Source	Line	Fee
FDANZ, indicative, July 2025	Celebrant / clergy	$300 to $900
Dils (Auckland), May 2026	Celebrant / minister to officiate at service	$590 to $705
Dils	Organist, piper or bugler	$250
Simplicity Funerals Christchurch	Celebrant or clergy	Included in the Simply Respectful (from $10,000) and Simply Together (from $7,995) plans

Prices include GST. FDANZ's figures "vary per funeral director" (FDANZ: Funeral costs); Dils' prices "may alter at anytime without notice" (Dils price list); and Simplicity's plan page is undated (Simplicity Funerals Christchurch). Against FDANZ's average of $11,700 for a full funeral with cremation, a $300 to $900 fee is roughly 3% to 8% of the bill, by our arithmetic. Our Auckland funeral cost page shows the celebrant line within a full itemised example.

What the fee should cover

The sources do not define the fee, so the following is a checklist of what to ask a celebrant or director to confirm, not a standard:

A meeting or call with the family before the day, and how many.
Help planning the order of service, music, readings and who speaks.
Writing and delivering the tribute or eulogy.
Conducting the ceremony at the venue and at a graveside or crematorium.
Travel to the venue, and any charge for distance.
Anything extra for a weekend or public holiday. Dils charges its own after-hours fee of $760 to $1,530 for a Saturday, Sunday or public-holiday funeral, so ask whether a celebrant adds more.

How the fee reaches you

Community Law lists organising the minister or celebrant among the tasks an undertaker or funeral director can take on (Community Law: Funerals and tangihanga). Dils prices the celebrant on its own list, and FDANZ notes that some costs are external to the funeral director but usually paid by the director and passed on in the total bill. FDANZ's page does not say whether the celebrant is among them. Ask whether the fee will be on the funeral director's invoice or whether you pay the celebrant yourself, and whether the invoice shows it as a separate line.

Churches, clergy and donations

The only sourced figure for clergy is FDANZ's combined $300 to $900 range. We found no published church or parish fee, and no source that sets a standard koha or donation. Practice varies, so ask the church or the minister directly what they ask for, and say if cost is a concern. Where a funeral is held at a church or marae, other costs such as hall hire or catering may differ from the chapel prices on a director's list. For those, see our page on funeral venue and catering costs.

Running the service yourselves

Families are not required to hire a celebrant. Community Law lists the form of the service as a decision for the family, led by a minister, a non-religious funeral celebrant or a family member. FDANZ says it is worth asking a funeral director about affordable options if cost is the reason for doing more yourselves, and cautions that many costs still apply. The 76% figure above implies about a quarter of funerals did not use a celebrant or clergy member.

Questions to ask before you book

What is the full fee, and what does it include?
Is there a charge for travel, a second meeting or a weekend?
Who pays the celebrant, and how?
Can I see an example of an order of service?
How will you handle cultural or religious practices that matter to us?
What happens if the date changes, for instance because of a coroner's delay?

Help paying

Work and Income's Funeral Grant lists celebrant or clergy among the reasonable funeral expenses. The maximum is $2,697.43 as at 1 April 2026, and other help, including prepaid funeral cover, can affect the grant (Work and Income: Funeral Grant). See our Funeral Grant guide and our overview of what a funeral director does.

Funeral insurance is a separate way to plan. It pays a fixed benefit towards the costs, not the bill. Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance accepts New Zealanders aged 40 to 75 and pays only for accidental death in the first 24 months; over a long life, premiums can add up to more than the benefit. Momentum Life is rated B (Fair) by A.M. Best (financial strength). See what funeral insurance is; the buttons on this page open Momentum's online application. Back to funeral costs or to direct cremation costs if no service is planned.

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Adviser's view

The published figures put a celebrant or minister at roughly $300 to $900, and one Auckland director lists $590 to $705. That is a small share of a full funeral bill. We found no sourced church fee, so ask the church directly.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Funeral Celebrant Cost NZ: What Lists Show. www.quotehub.co.nz/funeral-costs/celebrant-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.