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Why use a Celebrant? | Choices | Individuality

Winter is, hopefully, over and the wedding season is fast approaching.

At the moment, those of us involved in weddings are invited to attend showcase events - glitzy affairs where outfitters, cake makers, planners and venues vie for business.

The brides to be are schmoozed with bags of goodies, samples of this and that to whet their appetite and empty their pockets.

Celebrants too are invited to attend these fairs and I wonder why?  You seldom meet a vicar or a registrar at a wedding fair.

The vicar is safe in the knowledge that should a couple wish to be married in a specific church then he will get the gig.

The registrar hides behind the legalities of a civil wedding - rolling out humdrum ceremonies in ghastly offices or worse still, fleecing couples for the same prosaic ceremony in a fancy location for an extortionate fee.

Hand-fasting Ceremony
The Celebrant has to work very hard at getting to know the couple they are working for, researching music and poetry that fit with the character nuances of each party.

The Celebrant has to write an intensely personal and properly crafted piece that shows the couple off to their best advantage, that encompasses what they are about and what they want to share about their relationship with family and friends.

Why do I do it?  Because I love it.  I love meeting new people and hearing about what interests them; as we talk certain phrases and mannerisms will spark ideas in my head and I will go away with the germ of an idea that will grow into a ceremony.

Celebrants are really lucky to be allowed free rein - there is no dogma or constraint; we can adopt elements from a variety of traditions and tease them into a form that is both memorable and individual to the ceremony we are writing.

Sample hoop and wand
The latest ceremony that I have been introduced to is the Hoop and Wand Ceremony which encompasses the ancient invocations to air, fire, water and earth.  It is a ceremony best suited to an outdoor location and is conducted in the round.

I am lucky enough to be working with a couple who are having a small, intimate wedding this summer in the garden of a close friend.  They are working on the construction of a bandstand style pergola using willow and garlands to make their vows in.  There are many strands to this ceremony and the premise is that the couple will make most of the elements themselves.

 I feel that this type of wedding is so very special and it is an enormous honour to walk with a couple through their dream and to help them make it a reality.  That is why you should use a Celebrant.
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