Why We Chose To Have A Wedding Celebrant

One thing we hadn’t really ever considered was having a celebrant instead of a registrar. Although this would mean doing the legal paperwork bits separately, when we discovered my brilliant pal Sarah Powell was also a celebrant with Humanists UK, it swayed us in a bit of a different direction- and actually made the biggest difference to our special day. In short- having a celebrant, meant we were able to customise our ceremony to be whatever we wanted it to be- which felt like something we both agreed we’d really want to do.

Although it was easy enough to have a registrar (and would still make for a gorgeous ceremony if that’s what you choose to do), the idea of having a celebrant- and making the ceremony completely personal and unique to us felt like a really special personal touch that had the potential to really transform a part of the day that can sometimes feel quite serious, formal and impersonal.

We chose to do the legal bit a couple of days before our wedding, keeping it to our parents as witnesses, and us in our local civic centre, which yes, was every bit as chic as you might imagine (think abandoned eighties office blocks and old sixth form common room vibes and you’re getting closer). Initially I was worried that doing this before the wedding would ‘take away’ from the big day, but if anything, it made it far more relaxed and enjoyable. We knew the legalities were out of the way, and it was the most special part that was left.