Weddings and Partnerships
Conducting a handfasting
Currently, I am not taking bookings for wedding ceremonies, but I hope that the information below is useful. Another celebrant who may be able to help you is Croianna Bradshaw (http://croianna.com/).
Independent wedding and partnership ceremonies are very flexible. They can contain familiar words and traditional elements, or they can be as unconventional as you would like. Because independent celebrant-led weddings do not confer the legal status of marriage or partnership onto the couple, the choice of location and wording is completely free. Many couples chose to have a low-key registration of their wedding separately and then view the independent ceremony as the time when they make their heartfelt commitments to each other.
Ceremonies can contain music, readings and rituals. Some couples like to include combining ceremonies, symbolising two families joining together, others chose to have communal activities, such as all guests contributing to a book or other memento of the day. Some couples also like to have a handfasting ceremony, where hands are bound by ribbon (believed to be the origin of the phrase “tying the knot”) and, of course, some chose to have all of the above!
Location choice is also flexible and can range from traditional wedding venues, to cliff-tops, beaches and gardens. The time of day is your choice, too, from sunrise to the middle of the night.
Tying the knot!
Whether you want your wedding to be fabulously over the top, simply elegant, or somewhere in between, my job is to make sure that you have the ceremony of your choosing. This is achieved by working with you, to make sure that you are happy with the words at every stage of preparation, ensuring that you have an enjoyable, stress-free and memorable wedding.
If you would like ask me any questions about Partnerships or Weddings, please get in contact.
Renewal of Vows
Lesley conducting a ceremony
There are many reasons why you might want to have a ceremony in which you renew your promises to each other:
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Perhaps you are celebrating a significant anniversary
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Maybe you have had a difficult time, and you want to mark the beginning of a new phase.
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You may want to include people, such as your children, who were not at your wedding, but who are an important part of your marriage.
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Your wedding was low-key and you want a bigger celebration.
- Life has changed since your wedding day and you want to make commitments to your partner and to your future which better reflect the people that you have become.
Whatever the reason, this is an opportunity to publicly affirm your commitments to each other, in front of the friends and family members who mean the most to you.
The ceremony can be held anywhere, from a grand function room, to a small private garden; from the beach to your favourite park, the choice is yours.
The Renewal of Vows ceremony can contain whatever words are meaningful to you; this can include promises to each other, commitments to your children, thanks to those who have helped you along the way and other elements such as music, poetry and readings.
As your celebrant, I create each ceremony from scratch, which means that the choices are completely free. You can have a big, public “do”, or it can be just the two of you; a private affirmation of the promises that mean something to you. I will work closely with you, putting together the ceremony and having it approved by you at every stage. I can offer suggestions of music, readings and vows, if you are looking for ideas.
If you would like ask me any questions about Renewal of Vow Ceremonies, please get in contact.