It’s not ABOUT ME

but this is who I am

My job is to make your ceremony about you and your child and to share your story with the family and friends you choose to include in your special day. To help you decide if I’m the right person to do this, here is a bit about me:

My parenting journey began as a single mum. Once she arrived, my initially perturbed parents were besotted with their granddaughter. Sadly, both died when she was very young. By then, I had married and, when my firstborn was four, her baby sister came along. Having grown up as an only child (with all its pros and cons) I felt privileged to have two daughters and to see them develop their own special bond. I did my best to bring them up to express themselves freely and to ask my opinion (and that of others) and then make their own choices. They are both now adults and, although my husband and I are long-separated, we all value family get-togethers. My older daughter is married with two sons, so I am enjoying the new experiences of being a grandmother, having two little boys in the family and seeing them interact with each other, their parents, their other (English and Italian) grandparents and their two aunties.

As for the non-religious part, I was brought up by a C of E Mum and an agnostic Dad with an Irish Roman Catholic background. I was ‘converted’ on a school Christian Union house party and spent many years with one foot in C of E formality and the other in evangelical fellowships. I gradually conceded that neither felt real to me and made a long slow journey to what I eventually realised is known as humanism; a belief that this life is all there is and we have to make the most of it, and that you can be a kind, caring person without the threat of punishment or the promise of reward.

I would love to hear your story and to work with you to shape the ceremony you want, in celebration of your child (or children). Give me a call or text me on 07736 461616 or e-mail me at julia.bolden@humanistceremonies.org.uk to start the conversation.