Welcome to my blog
This blog is a compilation of thoughts, musings and experiences of my life as a Civil Celebrant, mixed in with my reactions to relevant current events and news stories. There’s always lots to talk about!
Rituals – why bother?
As a celebrant, I obviously officiate at many types of ceremony. Some are quite conventional; others, less so. Some include ritual, while many do not. Rituals are too numerous to list (and originate from a whole variety of cultures). No selection is going to be...
Wedding Guests
Although my speciality, of course, is ceremonies, I have quite some experience of other aspects of weddings, and I’d like to focus on guests today. Wedding invitations typically inspire one of two reactions: “Yay! I’m getting married! Who can I invite?” Or “Yay! I’ve...
A Celebrant’s Typical Day
People are often quite curious about my work. One of the questions I sometimes get asked is “What is a celebrant’s typical day like?” The first answer is that there isn’t a “typical” day, really. One of the beauties of the work that I do is that there’s a lot of...
Questions to ask your Celebrant
Before you commit, you’re going to have questions to ask your celebrant. That’s normal. I’m going to anticipate some of them for you. How can I trust the Celebrant? Word of mouth is obviously a good starting-point. However, you may not have witnessed a celebrant in...
Funerals? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!
Considerable work and preparation goes into ensuring that a life-cycle ceremony goes smoothly and is memorable for the right reasons! However, even with the best-laid plans and the most accomplished professionals in place, things go pear-shaped occasionally. This...
Can you Cut Corners with a Wedding?
It can be dangerous to cut corners when planning weddings. However, it is not always necessary to “go the whole hog”. You can make savings. Clearly, there are going to be differences between a society wedding and one with a dozen guests. Then there are destination...
Is it Better to Marry in a Religious Ceremony?
Whether or not it is better to marry in a religious ceremony is subjective in the extreme. There may sometimes be outside pressures (such as parents), but normally it is down to the couple. Of course, they may disagree and will need to seek a compromise. Recent...
Why are Weddings so Costly?
You don’t need me to tell you that weddings are costly. There are potentially a lot of suppliers to engage and they do not tend to come cheaply! Some suppliers are probably guilty of hoicking their prices up as soon as they scent an engaged couple. Mind you, mainly...
I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT AN ELOPEMENT WAS
It’s about a year since I performed my first elopement ceremony. Up until then, I had images of sudden, unplanned flight to marry without parental consent. All very hush-hush and immediate. This one didn’t fall neatly into that category, however. This couple (who we...