When you choose to design your wedding ceremony, it can make your day a genuinely creative experience. You will have a personal ceremony, quite unlike a church wedding, that follows the book of common prayer, or the Registry with a set script. An interfaith celebrant creates the service around your values, wishes and beliefs. This makes your ceremony uniquely meaningful to you as a couple.
Following a wedding in Edinburgh last year, I received some lovely pictures and a letter, I thought to share here. It really sets out what is possible when you design your wedding ceremony with the right celebrant.
I believe marriage to be a sacred act
It was such an absolute joy for me to marry Alison and Dominic. They found me on the Easy Weddings website, and from our first telephone conversation, decided that I was the Minister for them. This, despite there being lots of choice of Celebrants in Edinburgh, much closer to them than I am in Forres. Alison told me afterwards that the reason for this was my saying that I believe marriage to be a sacred act, regardless of whatever the beliefs of the couple may be.
A deep and lasting commitment between two loving hearts is something to be deeply cherished in a ceremony, and all my services will reflect this, be they spiritual, religious, or humanist.
Over the months that I put together the service for Alison and Dominic, we became good friends. I was particularly moved by their story, and this became woven into the ceremony we crafted together. Unusually, this couple married in December, choosing a romantic candlelit cave for a venue. The reception, to which they invited me, was also held there and a very good laugh was had by all of us over excellent food and wine. I am unlikely to forget this wedding in a hurry, as I had such a lovely time that I missed my train home and had to take the night bus!
Here, in their words, are Alison and Dominic’s reflections.
Design your wedding ceremony
In so many ways and for so many reasons, we felt very blessed to have found Judith. Even from our first conversation, we both felt that what Judith was offering as a Minister was the perfect fit for each of us and for us as a couple.
We felt a connection with Judith throughout. Judith invested so much of her time in deepening that connection with us, taking real care in finding out about each of us and what was important to us both about our relationship and our planned marriage.
It was so very striking how genuinely Judith is committed to gaining true insight and understanding into the relationship between the couples she marries. It was also so incredibly welcomed that Judith brought so many ideas and suggestions for us to consider.
She got the balance exactly right for us between offering a structure and ensuring our personal preferences and wishes were all reflected in the ceremony. Judith was also able to provide guidance about the marriage after the wedding – another way in which the nature and extent of Judith’s commitment as a Minster (and not simply a celebrant) translates into the actions she takes and the support she offers.
It was a ceremony entirely personal to us
On our wedding day itself, the ceremony Judith delivered was everything we could have wished or hoped for – it felt so incredibly right. It was a ceremony entirely personal to us and conveying the real essence of what our relationship and marriage meant to us.
People laughed and people cried – and many of our guests told us and Judith that it was the best wedding ceremony they had ever witnessed. The extra touch of having the ceremony captured so beautifully in a book for us by Judith is such a lovely legacy – and provides us with a touchstone to mark the passing milestones in our marriage.
If you are looking to design your wedding ceremony do get in touch