Over the years I have attended all sorts of wedding ceremonies!

I am a massive fan of celebrant led wedding ceremonies. They are the best for inclusivity, diversity and purely for the fact you’ll form a connection with the person who’s going to lead your ceremony which really shows.

However, because there isn’t much awareness of the many upsides of celebrant led ceremonies, couples often don’t realise just how well it could work for them. While it may not be for everyone, I feel like many couples who are a fan of my style would also really suit a celebrant led ceremony!

While I have briefly written about this topic before, I have been meaning to write a proper post on why you should consider a celebrant led ceremony. I caught up with Fan of Fanfare Ceremonies, with whom I worked last year at Deer Park, to try and get some more info for couples who may be interested!

So what is a wedding celebrant, Fan?

A wedding celebrant is a professionally trained and fully insured individual, with the skills and experience in place to create completely bespoke and personalised ceremonies.

Why do you think other wedding suppliers, like myself, are such supporters of celebrant led ceremonies?

I’m guessing there are a few reasons. My ceremonies are completely bespoke. They are tailor-made to each and every couple. They are filled with warmth, laughter, sincerity in equal measures. Wedding photographers and venues will have heard the same ceremony time and time again and will possibly even be able to repeat the words verbatim. This is never the case with a celebrant led ceremony and suppliers like yourself witness first hand what a different and special atmosphere we can achieve. Everyone can be totally absorbed in the moment.

My ceremonies are all about the personalisation and are in line with so much of the rest of the wedding. By that, I mean that couples want to put their stamp on their big day, be that the styling, the dresses, catering, photography of course and all the other amazing touches. However, for some reason, the ceremony often seems to get sidelined.

When I talk about personalisation, I’m not just referring to the vows. In fact, if the truth be known, that’s the one area I do not write. I encourage either the couples to write their own or adapt familiar wording to suit them and I am always there offering guidance and advice.

The vows are, of course, madly important but the entire ceremony is about them, their love for another and their friends and families. Weddings are all about community and I like to make everyone feel included, celebrated, and loved. There are so few opportunities in life when can acknowledge all those people who are special. For instance, the bridesmaids - why have they been chosen? It is because they are a massive part of the brides life and so why not celebrate them.

A wedding ceremony is a landmark moment in a couple’s lives and it shouldn’t be ruled by bald impersonal words, it should be about a couple’s history, their relationship with each other and all those who have been on the journey with them, their hopes, their dreams. A registrar’s ceremony may be legally complete, but they can feel oddly empty and are often over and done within minutes.

I’ve heard one of your ceremonies and the focus really is the couple. It feels like you know them really well, how do you achieve this?

I meet the couple properly beforehand. I send them a questionnaire amounting to about 40 questions all about them. How they met, what they love about what another, and of course what drives them mad. They then send the questionnaire back to me and we arrange to meet.

This meeting can take anything up to 3 hours or more on some occasions! It’s when they get to know me properly and vica versa. I’ll run through all the questions again, but this time I will be watching them like a hawk. How they look at one another, interact with another, the banter and whether they’re touchy feely or more reserved.

By the end of this meeting we all know one another properly which means that I can write a script that reflects them both and also, and as importantly, they will feel really relaxed with me on the day of their wedding. It won’t be like with someone who is government official, albeit very nice I’m sure, who they will have only met moments earlier.

Why do you think that celebrant led ceremonies are not more common?

To be honest, it is very frustrating, especially when you hear from lovely photographers like yourself that are so supportive.

Simply put, the reason celebrants are less used is that many many engaged couples still don’t know that having a celebrant led ceremony is an option, let alone the huge advantages of doing so. I am therefore really grateful to you Sam, to give me this platform so that together we can raise awareness.

Sadly, the other sticking point is that celebrant led ceremonies are not currently legally binding. For many couples this is a massive deterrent, despite the fact that it is commonplace abroad and the process is incredibly simple. For some reason some it’s often only considered ‘ a wedding’ when it happens at the same time as the legal contract.

So how do you get legally married if you want a celebrant to lead your wedding ceremony?

It’s incredibly easy. The couple must get the legal paperwork done beforehand. It’s the most basic ceremony offered by the registration services. You take two witnesses along with you, sign the relevant documents saving the vows and rings and everything else until their actual wedding date. It’s no different to the legal registration of births and deaths which have always been separate from any ceremony.

If you would like to find out more about celebrant led wedding ceremonies do contact Fan at Fanfare Ceremonies. She’s an absolute delight and truly loves her job. Having witnessed her ceremonies I would highly recommend her!