A-Z of Wedding Planning - I Do

I have supervised many weddings and ceremonies and each one is special. For me, to share in the happiness and joy of a couple joining together is always a privilege and a pleasure.

I am passionate about giving great customer service and working together with a couple to create a truly memorable occasion, so I will work closely with you throughout the process in order to gain a real understanding of your hopes and wishes for a truly unique and personal ceremony, which will not be created using a template – your ceremony is totally exclusive to you!

After our initial contact, I will arrange to meet with you – it could be at your chosen venue – so that we can get to know each other and begin to discuss your ideas for your ceremony. I will learn more about your story by asking you to tell me about your love story, what makes you a perfect couple, about your dreams for the future together, and other interesting personal details which help to form the basis of your bespoke ceremony. I will then be available to you by email, phone call/video call or extra meetings to offer guidance and support, and to answer any questions or incorporate any suggestions you may have for your ceremony.

I would recommend that you book your ceremony with me as soon as you have decided on the date, however far ahead it is. However, for those couples whose decision to get married is more ‘spur of the moment’, please contact me to check availability, as I am also able to create a unique ceremony for you at short notice!

No, not at the moment. In England and Wales, celebrants cannot currently perform legally-binding ceremonies, but celebrants are campaigning to have this right and a report is being submitted to Parliament in July 2022 as part of the Law Commission’s ‘Weddings Review’.

However, the legal formalities can be completed very simply and cost-effectively at a Register Office in a simple midweek ceremony, which is called a ‘2 + 2’ ceremony, and just includes the couple, the registrar, plus two witnesses. Only the legal wording and paperwork is required, which is similar to the continental marriage process.

If you have already completed the legal formalities, then you don’t need a Registrar to be present at your ‘Wedding Celebration Ceremony’. Some couples worry that without the legal part, their ceremony won’t feel as special, but rest assured, a celebrant-led ceremony is everything you might expect from a wedding – and much more! In fact, the ‘legal’ part of a ceremony simply involves the process of identifying yourself and reading out a few declaratory and contractual words, everything else is purely ‘ceremonial’ – and it’s the ceremony that makes your wedding so special!

Planning your ceremony can sometimes leave you feeling out of control with add-ons and extra costs that you did not expect! Therefore, in order to help with this, the price I quote for your ceremony package is usually ‘all-inclusive’. (For example, this includes face to face meetings, telephone calls, video calls, emails, certificate for signing, souvenir script, and a rehearsal, if requested).

The only exceptions to an ‘all-inclusive’ charge would be for:

Any ceremony taking place outside East Anglia (Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambs), for which additional mileage will be charged.

Any items to be used for ‘symbolic actions’ that have to be purchased especially for your ceremony will be charged for. For example, named candles, personalised ring cushions, engraved items, etc.

I will always be clear about anything that may be an additional cost.

A Humanist Celebrant is a celebrant who works within the framework of Humanism as a non-religious belief system. Humanists believe that “this life is the only life we have, that the universe is a natural phenomenon with no supernatural side, and that we can live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity.”

An Independent Celebrant conducts ‘Wedding Celebration Ceremonies’ bespoke to each couple. A celebrant meets a couple before their wedding day to get to know them and listen to their wishes and requirements for their ceremony. The celebrant then crafts a bespoke, personalised ceremony which can weave in all beliefs, cultures and sentiments, thus creating a ceremony that truly reflects the couple.

In choosing a Civil Ceremony with a Registrar, you are restricted in a number of ways. Firstly, the ceremony can only take place on premises that have been licensed by the Local Authority. A registrar ceremony includes the legal wording, vows, rings and limited readings and music. However, Registrars are required to place some restrictions on ceremony content. For example, no religious or spiritual content is permitted (including in vows, readings and music), and the ceremony usually needs to be fairly short (around 30 minutes max). It is also unlikely that a couple would meet their registrar before their wedding day.

The benefits of choosing a celebrant-led wedding are that it offers a couple a restriction-free, personalised ceremony, led by someone they have met and built a significant relationship with, so that they feel completely comfortable on their special day. A couple can include any content they choose in their ceremony, including personalised vows, rings, readings, music and symbolic elements, such as handfasting or drinking from a ‘loving cup’ – the choice is theirs. A celebrant can also include elements of a couple’s story, or journey as a couple, in the wording of their ceremony, thus creating a ceremony that is unique to the couple and the memory of which will be treasured forever. The couple sign a specially-created ‘wedding celebration’ certificate at the end of the ceremony, and shortly afterwards, they also receive a beautiful souvenir script to keep,

A celebrant can marry you anywhere you wish – from romantic secluded woodlands, a barn, a garden, a country estate, a favourite hotel, your local pub, on a boat or on a beach – the choice is yours! There are no restrictions on location, time or content.

I have received many commendations from couples I have worked with, who told me that because of the special relationship we had formed, and the care and attention they had received, they would remember their special day forever. My friendly, caring and professional approach will give you confidence in knowing that, in choosing me to create your wedding celebration ceremony, you are ‘in safe hands’.