Civil ceremonies with a registrar are legally recognised however they are bound by restrictions in regards to the wording that can be used. You are also often restricted by timings as their time slots do fill up quickly and so celebrants can be a much more flexible option to allow you to have you ideal ceremony time.
Celebrants are able to create bespoke ceremonies with every aspect personalised; from the music and readings to the vows themselves, making them incredibly unique to each individual couple.
In all three of our beautiful ceremony options, you are able to choose to have a celebrant led ceremony should you wish to opt for a more personal style ceremony.
Celebrant-led ceremonies often use one of three styles of vows; the traditional “I do”, the ‘repeat after me’ vows or you can even write your own vows should you choose to do so. The choice of which option to go for is entirely personal to each individual couple depending on the style of ceremony they wish to have.
Your chosen celebrant will have discussions with you so they can find out more about yourself and your partner and learn about how you fell in love and special memories/anecdotes that you share in under to understand you both and make sure your ceremony has a really personal touch. You will work with them to ensure that you are happy with your ‘ceremony script’ so that the morning of your wedding you feel nice and relaxed knowing what is to come – this can often be the most nervous you feel as you wait in anticipation for your ceremony but having a more personal and relaxed style ceremony can eliminate any nerves.
You can also include a meaningful/ symbolic act such as handfasting or lighting a candle…
Handfasting is when a cord or sash is used to tie the hands of a couple together. Then, they recite words expressing their commitment to one another. It’s where the phrase ‘tying the knot’ comes from.
A candle ceremony is when each of you lights a candle representing your separate lives. Then, together you use two tapers to light a third, different coloured candle to symbolise joining your life together in marriage.
There are lots of other lovely ideas that you can include which is something to chat about to you chosen celebrant in more detail as they will have lots of knowledge/ recommendations to suit your personalities.
The length of time for a celebrant led ceremony depends on the content of your ceremony. On average, most celebrant-led ceremonies are around half an hour, very similar to any other wedding ceremony. Of course, it depends on the length of your readings and any rituals you wish to include.
Whilst Humanist ceremonies are always non-religious and are based on an atheist belief system, an Independent celebrant has the flexibility to include religious and/or spiritual elements if the couple wish to have them. Indeed many couples choose an independent celebrant because they have faith but are not a part of any organised religion. They may have faith but are divorced, or be of mixed faiths and therefore want a ceremony which includes an element of more than one religious which a celebrant can include.
You can find our list of recommended celebrants HERE.
We do recommend getting in touch your chosen celebrant before confirming your date with your venue so that you can check they have your preferred date available.
Read more about our ceremony spaces and how to incorporate your legal part of the day HERE
Please do get in touch to speak to one of our team HERE so that we can discuss your ceremony options in more detail with you and we can start planning your perfect wedding.
Lots of love,
Jess x
