You have a choice and can have a say in the design and content of your actual ceremony. Yes, there is a third option to your wedding ceremony that gives you control and design. The church and the council have set scripts for weddings. Up and down the land, couples will be saying the same thing. For some, that sense of unity is reassuring, for others, that lack of individuality and freedom that comes with a ‘set’ of words is simply not enough.
You may have been dreaming of your wedding for months or years – so own it! You may be on or your second or third attempt at a wedding – either because Covid-19 took over or because things didn’t work out the first time. It may be that this is your first time. Your partner has asked you ‘Will you marry me?’ and you have blubbed through hysterically happy or shocked tears… ‘Yes, Yes YES!’
Congratulations, here we go! What now?
What?
So, you now know you have 3 choices.
- Council – Registrar.
- Church – Priest
- Celebrant – your choice of the individual.
These 3 options are one of the first things you need to consider as it will then affect the timeline, the venue, the legalities, the style, the feel, the flowers, even the dress, so it will inform every decision you make with regards to the ceremony.
The freedom you have with a Celebrant is here because we are 100% ceremonial. Not legally binding. Your ‘Wedding’ is your ‘Event’, so it doesn’t need to be ‘officially’ witnessed, much like a birth or a death. The ‘EVENT’ is
private to you, and not privy to the council or church, so it’s your choice who you have there.
The ‘registration of marriage’, is, however, privy to the council or the church. Couples need to do their notices with the council, or their bands with the church and register it themselves and a witness each. It does not have to be ceremonial. It’s a legal registration and needs to be treated as such.
Who?
Once you have decided on HOW you are going to get married, you then need to think about WHO is going to take your wedding or marry you.
In the church, it’s up to the Vicar who they rota on that day, but you would have met them, I hope, and you can always ‘request’ a particular priest as long as they are from that specific church building.
For the council, it’s rota dependent. Who you get on the day, is likely to be a total stranger.
For the Celebrant – YOU DECIDE. What kind of character and personality do you want up there with you? Who is going to hold the room, or be your words should you be too emotional to get them out, or be part of the wedding suppliers team you are going to create?
There is a Celebrant out there to suit everyone. Quirky or quiet, loud or loving, studious, or silly. This is your choice so enjoy finding a celebrant that will tell your story in a way you haven’t even thought possible.
Why?
Why wouldn’t you?!
You have gone, or are going to go to all this effort in creating your perfect wedding day so why leave the biggest part of it – and the reason everyone is there for you – to chance?! Celebrants are usually booked fairly early on in the process so we are with you for the whole journey. You will have had conversations with me about your marriage, not just your wedding. We are sensitive to family issues that may have been going on thorough out that year, and above all we will feel part of the day. We aren’t a stranger, in a suit. You have ownership of it all.
You could plan a wedding within an inch of life, but once that music starts, and you walk up the aisle, SURELY you would want to know who is up there, and what is going to happen, and how the wedding ceremony itself is going to go???
I will give you a rehearsal. The script is written for you, and with you, and you see it ahead of the day. Perhaps most importantly, I am not going to tell you what spouse you are going to promise to be. I’m not going to make you promise things you haven’t got ownership of. That’s between you and your partner. YOU write your promises, you have ownership of your vows, and I shall weave it in and give you the space to say them.
We are at the end of the phone, we have an incredible address book of suppliers you can have access to and we all have a background in something that will lend itself to this incredible profession.
I, for example, was a Theatre Manager in London, so staging a production and being part of a creative team is second nature to me, so you will be in very safe hands!
Where?
This is the bonus beauty of a celebrant led wedding ceremony. Not only can you choose WHO takes your wedding, and be empowered as to WHY you chose this way, you can do it ANYWHERE you like! As long as you have the landowner, or Venues permission, the world is your oyster!
You could have a tipi garden wedding, a marquee lakeside wedding, a top-end exclusive venue wedding – but choosing ANY room as you don’t have to have the licensed room as you would have completed your legal registration of marriage already – so you could go for the Orangery, or the pool house, or the rose garden, or the woodland dell… this is seriously exciting!
How?
So, now, having read all of this, get thinking. Think what sort of wedding do you want, then find a Celebrant that fits that feel.
Celebrants tend to have a set price for wedding ceremonies, between £450 – £1000 ish depending on experience, skill, location, and experience. You might have ceremonies within the ceremony, have more than once rehearsal if you want… we are flexible and accommodating and will do whatever we can to ensure the day is rockin ‘ to the beat of YOUR drum!
Don’t wait! Get in touch now!
