Below is an overview of how I go about the process of planning, preparing and delivering your ceremony

First Contact

You get in touch – either by email or phone – and give me some basic information about your plans, mainly when and where you are planning to hold it so I can let you know if I’m available.

Initial Chat

Next, we’ll have an initial, no obligation video conversation, so you can ‘meet’ me in person and tell me a bit more about your plans for the Big Day. It’s an opportunity to get to know each other a little bit. You can ask any questions you might have about Humanism and what’s involved in a Humanist wedding. I’ll explain how I work, what you can expect from me and clarify what it costs.

Booking me

If you decide I’m the right celebrant for you, I’ll send you my standard contract to sign and ask for a deposit to secure the date.

We will also book a date for a detailed face to face planning meeting – don’t worry, I’ll send over some helpful notes about what to expect and the sort of things I’ll be asking you about, so you can be thinking about what you’re going to say beforehand.

Detailed planning meeting

Then we’ll meet up (at a location of your choice) for our detailed planning meeting, where we will spend a couple of hours or so discussing your thoughts about your ceremony in detail. I’ll also ask you lots of questions about yourselves, your relationship, your reasons for getting married, your plans for the future, that sort of thing – the answers to which will inform much of the content of the script for your ceremony.

Your vows are one of the most important parts of the ceremony so we will discuss different ways you can approach these – you can write your own from scratch or I can make suggestions from which you can choose and/or adapt those which feel most appropriate.

You might want to involve close friends and family – readings are a well-recognised way of doing this but why not consider symbolic acts or gestures. I’ll tell you more about the sorts of things you could include.

We will also discuss the logistics of the ceremony – who enters from where with whom and so on.

 Outline script

I will then send you an outline plan of your ceremony to make sure I’ve understood the key details correctly. You are of course at liberty to make any changes you like.

If need be, we can have some more conversations as the date of your ceremony gets closer – especially if there is a large time gap between this meeting and the date, as things may have changed.

Full draft script

Approximately eight weeks beforehand, (less if you have booked me less than eight weeks beforehand in the first place), I will send you a full draft script for the whole ceremony for you to check and approve.  This will give us plenty of time to make fill any gaps and make any alterations. Remember – it’s your ceremony, you should be completely happy with what’s in it.

Rehearsal

I always recommend a run through of the practical elements of your ceremony at the venue beforehand.

Knowing when and where you and everyone and everything else involved needs to be will go a long way to ensuring you feel as relaxed and happy as possible on the actual day.

The Big Day

The Big Day has arrived and I’ll be there early to make sure everything is in place and ready for the off.

I’ll liaise with the venue so they know what’s happening when and what they need to provide. I’ll hand out cue sheets for the person in charge of any musical elements; have readings ready to hand out at the appropriate moments; and brief the photographer on the content of the ceremony and where best to be positioned to capture the best and most memorable images.

And then I’ll be there with you to deliver the ceremony you have dreamed of, planned and prepared to be just the way you want it.

Your forever keepsake

After the ceremony, I will leave you with a beautiful presentation copy of your ceremony for you to enjoy and treasure and perhaps share with those who were unable to make it on the day. I will also send you an electronic version.