For the believers that the sky is the limit. Celebrant-led weddings.

For the believers that the sky is the limit.

For those that want an epic location, add personal meaning to their vows and curate a moment like no other for their wedding day, no matter how big or small… read on.

Hilltop with a sunset in the background saying “I do” to the one you love? Yes is the answer from our side. You can.

Saying “I do” on the dock of a lake with your friends and family watching in awe as your bespoke vows are spoken? Yes is the answer. You can.

This is for the ones that have always dreamed to realize their big or small wedding day a bit outside of the traditional standards and bring those limitless visions and ideas to life without too many constraints. Rather than having to stick to the limitations around where exactly you must stand or sit to adhere to the licenced spot at a venue, rather than be limited by exactly what words are spoken or not and rather choosing to have bespoke and deeply meaningful vows add to the emotion of a moment to never forget… why not choose to plan your day with more freedom and flexibility.

HOW? Read on.

So how can you achieve that? With a celebrant-led wedding. If you choose a celebrant you can have a wedding ceremony that reflects you as a couple through and through, a ceremony that is free of all those wedding 'shoulds' and you can really bring your vision for your day to life your way. If you then also choose a “moment maker” (aka wedding planner) like ourselves at Woven, let’s fly to the moon and back for your wedding day. Let’s shape it the way you wish!

While celebrant-led ceremonies are not legally recognised in England or Wales although this may change in the near future as it is already the case in Scotland and Northern Ireland, all that is needed to make your marriage official is a 10-15 minute marriage licence signing in a registry office before your wedding day. That’s it. We’ve got some great ideas how to make the most of that ‘official’ signing day so happy to give you some tips, just get in touch. So, once the signing is completed, the excitement for your big day can begin and it’s all yours do have and do as you envision.

I had the privilege and opportunity to speak with Kathryn Palmer-Skillings recently, a Humanist Celebrant, located in South London, UK who is dedicated to creating ceremonies for couples who are ‘just outside of the box’. A great way of saying the ones that really want to make the ceremony the way that feels right to them and think ‘of the “coulds” versus the “shoulds”. Her Instagram is filled with inspiration of what you can achieve with choosing a celebrant, so I highly recommend to taking a look. Below is an excerpt of her recent blog, which gives such valuable insight of what a humanist wedding is and the top reasons why you should have one. You can read the rest of her full blog article here: What is a Humanist Wedding? and 10 Reasons why you should have one!

Over to you Kathryn, give us the key reasons of what a celebrant -led wedding is and WHY the couples reading this should have one!

“More and more couples are thinking carefully about their wedding day and are looking for a really personal experience - including a fully bespoke ceremony that reflects their values, their love & their story. A Humanist celebrant-led wedding ceremony will give you and your guests a completely unique experience as every ceremony is written by me from scratch for each couple I have the honour of marrying.”

Have an Outdoor Wedding outdoors or absolutely ANYWHERE you like!

“Always dreamed of getting married on a hilltop? Want to hold your wedding at the coffee shop where you met? Want a relaxed wedding ceremony in your garden under your favourite tree? With a Humanist wedding you can do just that!

Currently all civil ceremonies have to take place in an approved structure. This means that, for example, you may be able to get married in a gazebo at a certain location in that Country House garden but if you wanted to be fully outdoors by their lake then that won’t be permitted.

With a Humanist wedding ceremony, you can have your wedding ceremony exactly where you want.”

A truly personalised wedding ceremony

“When you choose a Humanist wedding, your celebrant will create and craft a personal ceremony where every single word is written just for you both.  Your wedding ceremony will start as a beautiful blank canvas, with each element chosen to reflect your relationship.

With a civil or religious ceremony there are certain ‘legally prescribed words’ that have to be spoken and responded to by you both and you will usually be given a choice of a couple of standard ceremony scripts to choose from with little to no ability to amend them. Lots of couples find that their ceremony options don’t really seem to suit them, their partnership or their family. With limited options in these situations it can mean the ceremony starts to feel like the bit that you ‘get through’ before starting the party that you’ve spent ages making feel personal to you.

A Humanist Ceremony is the opposite of this. It can be as formal or as informal as you like, with as many friends, family and loved ones taking part as you like (or not!) it can truly reflect your values as a modern family. Most of all, a Humanist wedding will be fun, feel-good and fabulous, kickstarting your wedding celebrations! “

Involve your family, friends and fur-babies in your wedding

“While your wedding day will definitely focus on the two of you. There may well be other loved ones that you really want to involve in different ways.

Perhaps you want your Schnauzer to be your canine ring-bearer or both sets of parents to add ribbons to your handfasting wedding knot. You might even want your friends to lead a wedding sing-a-long to your love song! All of these things (and so many more) are possible at a Humanist wedding ceremony!

It might also be the case that there are people, important to you both, who are no longer with us. Your Humanist Celebrant can advise and support you if you’d like a sensitive way to honour them as part of your ceremony…”

(Excerpt of blog post reproduced with permission)

Find out the other seven reasons in the by reading the original blog post and say hello to Kathryn to find out how you can have a feel-good personalised ceremony...

Kathryn, thank you so much for sharing your advice and thoughts. I must say, we chose a celebrant ceremony for our wedding and that made the day quite extraordinary and remarkable, a day to recall in our minds over and over again with special touches and bespoke elements we thought were not possible. I cannot wait to share the advantages and opportunities of a celebrant-led wedding with many in the future and share first-hand experience with those intrigued to find out more.

Kathryn, I very much look forward to collaborating with you in the future and being part of the movement to make celebrant ceremonies legal in England.

Signed off with limitless inspiration,

Astrid

founder of Woven

All photography thanks to unsplash.com.