Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life. To get it the way you want it there is so much to plan and think about. A very important aspect of your day is the ceremony itself. It is during the ceremony that you make that all important commitment to each other. You can have your ceremony in a church and have a standard wedding ceremony. However, if you do not have a particular faith and/or feel you want something more personal then you can choose to have a ceremony created especially for you.

As an Interfaith Minister, I can provide you with a wedding ceremony completely tailored to your requirements. The ceremony can be designed to reflect your personal faiths and beliefs. You can choose exactly what readings, poems, songs, music and rituals you want to incorporate. I can give you ideas and guidance in creating your own ceremony, or I can create your ceremony for you in close consultation with you.

Should you be a couple from two different faiths, then it is possible to design a ceremony that will incorporate elements of both your faiths. This has to be done with care in order to help your families feel at ease and not offended by the content of the ceremony. However, it is entirely possible to create a beautiful service which will satisfy everyone.

Your ceremony can be held wherever you want: at home, in a garden, in a hotel, on the beach, in a field, in woodlands. The choice is yours.

Alongside the wedding ceremony service, I also offer handfastings (see below), vow renewals and civil partnership ceremonies.

Please bear in mind that the law in England and Wales requires you will to have a registry office wedding before or after your ceremony in order to making your marriage legal. In Scotland the law is different and an Interfaith Minister can marry people without the need for any other procedures.

It is very important for you to feel comfortable with the person conducting your wedding ceremony or vow renewal, so please do contact me at the number above if you require more information or to make an appointment for a free initial consultation.

Handfasting

A hand fasting is a very ancient Celtic tradition. It was originally a ceremony where a couple committed to stay with each other for a year and a day and it provided a certain amount of legal protection should any children result from the union. If, after this time, the couple still wanted to stay together, then a second handfasting would bind them for as long as love lasted.

This ceremony is still used today by couples who want to make a commitment together but do not want to get married or have a legally binding contract with each other.

It is usually a very beautiful ceremony with lots of natural elements of decoration such as flowers, branches and leaves, stones, , etc. It generally takes place outside and the powers and spirits of nature are called in to support the couple throughout the ceremony. During a handfasting the couple’s hands are bound together with a cord or ribbon to signify their being bound together for the length of their love.

There is a very special atmosphere about a handfasting which, I think, makes it a ceremony to consider if you want to make a commitment to the one you love. I have led hand fastings after a registry office wedding on occasion as well.

It is very important for you to feel comfortable with the person conducting your handfasting ceremony so please contact me at the number above if you require more information or to make an appointment for a free initial consultation.

A same sex marriage is known as a civil partnership in the UK. In a same sex marriage, the couple are legally joined and have the same legal status as opposite sex married couples. At the moment a civil partnership must take place at a registry office and no religious content of any sort may be included in the ceremony.

Many gay couples would like to have a wedding ceremony during which they can really express the depth of their love for each other. You may want a religious or faith based service or you might want your ceremony to be entirely secular or non-religious.

Either way, before or after your legal civil partnership at the registry office, I can offer you a beautiful, tailor made gay marriage ceremony which reflects the true nature of your feelings. You can write a ceremony which is totally personal to the two of you and I can conduct it for you. Or I can create a ceremony, in close consultation with you, which contains all the elements you want to make it your own and completely unique.

It is very important for you to feel comfortable with the person conducting your civil partnership ceremony so please contact me at the number above if you require more information or to make an appointment for a free initial consultation.

What is a naming ceremony? A naming ceremony is held as an alternative to a christening. It is a lovely way of welcoming your child into their community. If you do not have a particular faith or religion then a baby naming ceremony or baby blessing allows you to have the equivalent of a christening without the religious commitment involved.

As an Interfaith Minister I can provide you with a ceremony tailored especially to your family and your baby or child. It can contain any elements that you would like and be either secular or spiritual in nature.

The ceremony gives you, as parents, the opportunity to welcome your child into your family and to state your love for, and your commitment to, him or her. It is also a time for the supporters or guardians you have chosen for your child, who will take a role equivalent to a godparent, to make their own promises. During the ceremony these people will be able to express their willingness to support and be there for your child during his or her formative years.

A baby naming ceremony is a very special and beautiful occasion which is made all the more meaningful when you have created a unique and personal way of committing to and loving your child. As your celebrant and minister, I will lead you through the process of creating your ceremony and give you inspiration and ideas to make an occasion which is exactly as you want it.

It is very important for you to feel comfortable with the person conducting your baby blessing or naming ceremony so please do contact me at the number above if you require more information or to make an appointment for a free initial consultation.

When a loved one, whether it is a relative or friend, you would normally expect the funeral service to be conducted by the local vicar. However, there is no rule about who conducts the service. You can choose anyone you like to conduct it; you can even conduct it yourself. However, organising a funeral is demanding of time and energy, especially if the deceased is someone close to you. Therefore, it is often easier to arrange for a funeral celebrant to create and conduct the service for you.

As an Interfaith Minister, I am experienced in creating and conducting funeral services. I work closely with the family and the funeral director to ensure that everything runs smoothly. I spend time with you finding out about the personality and life history of the deceased. Then I design a service which contains all the elements that you choose to reflect and honour the life of the person who has died. Or I can help you plan and write the funeral and then lead it for you. I offer both religious and non religious ceremonies, depending on your beliefs and those of the person who has died.

My aim is always to celebrate the person who has died, to create a ceremony which respects and fulfils their final wishes and helps you to say goodbye to them in a way that is authentic to you.

Your choice of funeral celebrant is very important. It needs to be someone you feel comfortable with and able to trust. Therefore, I offer an initial consultation without charge, so that you and I can decide whether I am the right celebrant for you. Please contact me at the number above for further information or to arrange an appointment.