Independent Celebrant

Blog Weddings

Ceremonial, Tradition or Not?

There are times in life when a little bit of ceremony is appropriate, to mark a change and to give significance to something that has happened. In our lives this is more usually, a birth, a death or a marriage. In the past month, however, we have witnessed the biggest ceremony that some of us will ever have seen, with the coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey – ceremony at its most resplendent – and whatever your background or creed, I think most people would admit it was pretty awesome.

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Happy New Year and Happy Micro Wedding

A piece in The Times Body and Soul Section last Saturday highlighted an emerging trend in the wedding industry. Venues are reporting a drop off in bookings for large, luxury weddings, with couples opting instead for a minimal celebration. In fact, SO minimal, that the wedding could be little more than a quick ceremony with a couple of witnesses, no fancy reception, and no fuss!

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Beautiful Small Wedding

Times are changing, and we are adapting fast. I just wanted to just share the good experience I had a few weeks’ ago, before the latest restrictions, when I was invited to celebrate the marriage of a young couple, who had cancelled the fabulous wedding they had planned in Corfu, and replaced it with a tiny gathering in the garden at the bride’s family home, with a few family members and friends.

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Outdoor Weddings – Where to Hold your Wedding?

What is the most important aspect of a wedding?  The place, the date, the time, the dress…..??  If you are about to marry a prince, then clearly you need a royal sort of back drop.  Right now the current royal wedding is the hot topic of speculation in the press, tv, and on social media – as on this Saturday, May 19th 2018, an American actor is marrying the younger son of the Prince of Wales in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor in a story that has its own very special bit of magic.   If that is the style of wedding you dream of, then it is true – this one is a bit of a fairy tale, and I wish them well.  

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Contemporary Weddings - A New Leaf

So much has been written recently about the decline in the significance of marriage, especially with the rise in popularity of the civil partnership, which has now been extended to heterosexual couples.  As a wedding celebrant, however, I have to tell you that marriage is alive and well, thank you, and as valued as ever.  It is just the way in which people are choosing to wed that has changed so much, and there are bound to be reactionary views when it feels as if one of the most sacred pillars of our society is threatened.

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