Why would I book a celebrant for my wedding ceremony?

 Back in the mists of time, when we got married, everything in Wedding Land was simple. (Not that we realised it at the time!). Most people chose to make a visit to their local church for the ceremony, regardless of whether they were regular worshippers there or even subscribed to a belief in the higher power that they were making their vows and promises in front of. The pictures looked great and elderly relatives were delighted to make a ceremonial visit to the church to witness a 'proper' wedding. 

A very small proportion of marrying couples announced that they would avoid a religious ceremony and organised a Registry Office wedding. These were in limited rooms, in Town Halls generally, and rather brief occasions. I was honoured to read a poem at one such marriage, which I did so slowly and deliberately to stretch the ceremony to a whole ...7 minutes...! At the reception, the Best Man commented that the Grand National which set off at the same time as the wedding ceremony, lasted longer!

In time, legislation changed to permit weddings to take place in other licensed venues which thankfully has extended the available option for couples today.

However...many couples blindly accept to offer of the venues to arrange a Council Registrar to complete formalities at the venue. They do not realise that the service offered by the Registrar is extremely limited and will consist of the same set of short restricted options. 

So here is where the Celebrant enters, stage left!

I will dedicate my next blog post to explaining the logistics of arranging the legal elements of a UK wedding (we live in hope of them eventually being simplified!)...

Suffice it to say that in booking a Celebrant to write and lead your ceremony, the world will indeed be your oyster! The personal nature of a bespoke ceremony written just for you, from scratch, will lead to a unique and highly memorable occasion to celebrate and treasure.

Again, it will need a whole new blog post to explain the options available...or to suggest ideas for you to create new rituals to personally mark your love and your special day!

It's a Celebrant Thing...

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