Welcome to my first newsletter of the year! May your year be exciting and full of good health, prosperity and contentment.
I wonder whether you go in for New Year’s Resolutions at all? It’s quite a good idea to reset your targets and aim for new, beneficial challenges. But it won’t work if you set your sights too high, of course. How many gym memberships are taken out this month, only to fade into disuse or even cancellation before the end of winter?
One thing you can resolve to do is to make the best of things and be grateful for what you are receiving.
A beautiful way to do this is by creating a public ceremony. If you’re thinking that this can only be a wedding or naming ceremony, then think again.
You can celebrate other things in life. What about if you receive a windfall? Or someone has recovered from serious ill health? Maybe you can mark an anniversary. Years ending in -0 or -5 are particularly worth celebrating.
Or maybe your wedding vows have become outdated and you want to renew them publicly? Your family may have grown, and you want to include them in a life-cycle ceremony.
All these things are worth commemorating. And one of the joys about them is that you don’t need official input. Not like a wedding or birth, which need to be registered officially.
You can carry out these other ceremonies freely and absolutely in your style.
You may well have no idea how to set about putting together such a ceremony. That’s where a civil celebrant like myself can come in. We will ask you questions – and listen to your answers! – to establish the structure and tone of the desired service. If you have a vision, we’ll look at how we make that work.
Your celebrant can advise you (what texts and/or rituals do you put in? how do you include religious elements (if any)? How can you involve family members and/or friends?)
These are all questions that your celebrant ought to be able to resolve with you.
Then it’s a case of choosing a venue and date and sending out those invitations!
I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.
Happy New Year!