The Country Celebrant and The Country Carer

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 tha...

The Country Wedding ~ Cindy Groves If you could have your wedding day as perfect as you can,  would you have roses and peonies or flowers from the hedgerows? I would be married to my love in a woodland glade,  with the dog to bear the rings and a knees up in the garden. If you could plan you day with no expenses spared would you have champagne and canapes or dandelion wine? I would be married to my love on a beach by the sea with sand between my toes and shells to mark the way. If you could be married in ceremony, with all the bells and whistles would you have high society in silk or your friends in cotton dresses? I would be married to my love every day for ever, I would cleave to him and laugh with him and make music together.

www.thecountrycelebrant.co.uk Symbolism White Clover - thinking of you I recently attended my first Death Cafe; not a particularly inviting name, but a meeting of minds and a wonderfully uplifting experience. We talked about why we were there, what experience we had of death and what we wanted from the evening ... cake was high on the list!  More than anything it was the chance to talk about our experiences and our worries about death and bereavement. Death is the certainty; but what about the taboos and the awkwardness of dealing with death?  An elderly gentleman spoke movingly about his experiences of death in the old days.  He came from a close knit community where the dead were part of the fabric of everyday life. The deceased would be laid out in the front parlour and when there was a meal to be had at the table, moved underneath it.  The ladies of the community would come to your house and help you to prepare the body for burial. There was ...

I have been asked now, by a number of people, what a civil celebrant does that is different to a registrar or religious leader I  do not want to offend anyone by leaving religious belief at the door; I was married in Church, I am confirmed and my children were christened. I am also a realist and I am aware that the family dynamic is altering; that fewer people hold religious beliefs and that many ceremonies these days are secular. Every element of a celebrant ceremony is designed to show the participants their role in the joining together of two people so that there is recall and a sense of collective responsibility for the happiness of the couple; the security and future of the child or the cherished memory of the person who has died. Weddings Handfasting ribbons My ceremonies are personal – no two are the same; they are hand written and my aim is to distil the spirit of the couple that I am marrying and present it to them and their guests as the finest expressi...

Beautiful Gift Reasons to be cheerful! It is a great privilege to be involved with people, helping them to steer their way through the joyous and the not so joyous events that pepper life. I am a civil celebrant, I am also a pre school teacher.  In my life I meet all sorts of people and the underlying common denominator is that we all need to be supported through life.  Whether you are confident, happy and full of enthusiasm or not ... a hand on your shoulder, a smile or a comforting voice at the other end of the phone is always welcome. Since becoming a celebrant I have formed friendships with people who I value and whose jobs and expertise are unfamiliar but who have been welcoming and informative.  People who have shared their knowledge and their experience openly and without agenda. One such friend is Julia Hill of Silverlode Celebrants.  We have never met but we do the same job and we share quotes and thoughts and support each other.  This morni...