Welcome to Ask a Celebrant, the new Podcast with me and Berni B, my friend and fellow Celebrant. I will be sharing the episodes of the Podcast through this site as well as on Social Media. If you have questions you’d like to ask us, do get in touch and we’ll do our best to …
‘What is a Celebrant, exactly?’ The question I am most often asked when I meet people and tell them what I do. Many people have never heard of a Celebrant or have a limited understanding of what we do. I’m always happy to tell them; I love being an Independent Celebrant. Like many of us, …
One of my favourite parts of planning a handfasting with a couple, is helping them decide on the colours for their cords or ribbons. Whether we’re going with one or multiple ties, understanding the choice of colours and their significance, adds an extra dimension to the handfasting. The colours mean different things depending on where …
How to select the colours for your Handfasting cords Read More »
The origin of ‘hand-fasting’ is believed to come from ancient, Celtic practice. A couple made their relationship official by holding hands in front of a witness or two. They were literally ‘making fast’ their love. This comes from the term used when you tied a boat to a dock. Marriage was traditionally reserved for the …
How to include Handfasting – Ceremony inspired by history & myth Read More »
Eco-friendly weddings are going to be more than a fad going forward. I am so pleased to see more couples planning their wedding day around their personal ethics, values and beliefs for the planet. It’s a vital step and also one filled with opportunity. Planning an eco-friendly wedding is no longer the challenge it was …
Talking about our inevitable death and our wishes after the event, is not usually included in light conversation for date night. Despite us all knowing that we will die, many of us never let our loved ones know what we hope for at the end of our life. As a Celebrant, I often have detailed …
There are some wonderful reels and videos on social media showing incredible proposals. They clearly took ages to plan and required lots of people being involved in secret, to create the ‘perfect’ scenario. And I am as delighted by them as the next person. I am also aware of the pressure some people feel to …
I visited a client recently who asked me to help them plan a remembrance service for their partner who had died, because there had been no funeral. The partner had expressed in his Will that he wanted his body cremated with no fuss and no service. No doubt, he thought this was sparing his loved …
As a wedding celebrant I am often asked to recommend poems and readings to include in the ceremony. In this post I am going to share my top ten poems for your wedding day. Do remember that, if you wish to publish the words to a poem by a living poet, you will need their …
There are so many beautiful poems for a life celebration. Some will lift everyone up and make them smile with fond memories. Others will reduce you all to tears as they remind you of your loss. Knowing which poems to include as you plan a life celebration can set the tone for the entire ceremony. …
