It feels like forever ago that I wrote my last blog, and since March the whole world has changed thanks to that bitch 'Rona! Hopefully you've managed to come out the other side with your sanity still in tact and only an extra stone or two added to your waistline.
With wedding restrictions now slowly being lifted my inbox is bursting with couples looking to make their wedding day more personal and fun by using a celebrant to officiate their wedding.
Times are changing and there's a whole host of reasons why you might consider a Celebrant.
1 - The registrar is booked.
Let's be realistic here! Last year most couples who approached me wanted a Celebrant wedding as their first choice, and that's FANTASTIC. I know I'm biased but I can sing and dance all day about how a Celebrant led ceremony is a thousand times better than a traditional civil service, but not everyone chooses a Celebrant as their first choice and that's totally OK.
These past few weeks I've been inundated with couples who have reschuled their wedding date only to find the local registrar is booked / unavailable / or not currently taking any bookings. Their venue have suggested looking into a Celebrant and they want something that resembles a traditional service, but with a few added benefits.
If you are that couple, welcome! Welcome to the house of fun. You're going to fall in love with a Celebrant led wedding ceremony and become one of those annoying couples who tells everyone else about this great new secret you discovered!
2 - Freedom
One of the best things about a Celebrant is that we are free to create beautiful weddings in any location and anytime.
If you want to get married at midnight under the stars in the middle of a field, you need a Celebrant.
Always wanted to get married on the beach as the sun rises ? You need a Celebrant.
I work with some totally awesome local venues who are not licensed to perform legal ceremonies. For a venue to gain a wedding license they have to jump through lots of hoops and meet very specific criteria. Often venues choose to remain unlicensed and offer Celebrant ceremonies as a great alternative.
Local Unlicensed venues I love to work at are ;
Simply Fields
https://simplyfieldsweddingsandevents.co.uk
The Tipis at Riley Green
https://www.thetipis.co.uk
It's easy to see why couples would choose these venues for their dream wedding celebration and they come with the added benefit of a completely bespoke ceremony.
3 - You want something PERSONAL.
Getting married is a legal process. A wedding is a day of fun, love, and celebration and should be all about you as a couple.
No two couples are the same so why should any two weddings be the same?
Most couples who approach me choose a Celebrant for this very reason. They want a ceremony that is One of a Kind, filled with laughter and stories of them as a couple. They want the wedding ceremony to be a part of the celebration not just the boring legal bit before the party really gets started.
4 - You want to break tradition.
The wedding industry is seeing huge shifts in how couples choose to tie the knot and many couples want to break tradition and get married in a way that feels more reflective of their personality.
5. You want a ceremony that reflects your beliefs
Many people wrongly believe there are only two options to consider when choosing a Wedding Ceremony, a religious service or a Civil Service. But what about couples who wish to blend the two or create something in the middle?
It's the job of a Celebrant to learn what a perfect wedding means to you as a couple and to help you create something which is a reflection of that.
Here's a few examples of couples who may choose a Celebrant led service.
( These couples are all fictional examples and feature stock photos )
Claire and Tom are athiest. They don't want a service that talks about religion but they also didn't want a simple civil service. They want something unique to them.
Russ and John wanted to get married at their local church, but were turned away. They both feel strongly that despite the church denying them a wedding ceremony within their grounds they still would like some religious elements within their wedding. They want to say the traditional catholic vows and they wish to include a blessing after they say I do.
Michelle and Martin come from totally different backgrounds with very different belief systems.
They can't agree on where to hold their wedding currently, but they want both religions reflected in their ceremony somehow.
Hayley and Rick are an average couple. They have been together ten years and are now finally planning their big day. Someone mentioned a Celebrant led ceremony and they thought it sounded interesting.
They plan to hold a festival style wedding at a local licensed venue but they want their ceremony to be fun and filled with laughter.
There is no perfect couple for a Celebrant.
There is no ideal wedding that a Celebrant wants to officiate.
There is no mould you must fit into to want a Celebrant wedding.
There are no rules you must follow.
A celebrant wedding is designed to perfectly fit you as a couple and any Celebrant you work with should ensure that they remain impartial and allow you to create a ceremony that enables you to plan the wedding of your dreams.
If you're still on the fence then drop me a message and we can discuss all the options available to you when it comes to planning a wedding celebration ceremony.
Hazel
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