“Thank you so much for our wedding ceremony: it was a really magical day for us and you were a huge part of it! You made the ceremony very special for us – thank you!”

Humanist weddings are always personal, focused on you and your story. It’s a privilege for me to be a celebrant and meet couples who want to declare their love and commitment to each other.  My role is to listen, to offer support and inspiration, and to co-create with you a unique ceremony, whatever your age, gender, sexual orientation, ability or neurodiversity.

You can have your ceremony in the style you prefer, from traditional to original, from a short event, agreed on quickly, perhaps with very few guests: close family and friends, to a large and long one with many attendees, in person and online.  All these kinds of different ceremonies will be designed to be inclusive and meaningful to everyone present, whatever their beliefs, and can be conducted anywhere: at a venue specialised in weddings or in a barn, in a field, on a beach or at the top of a mountain!  Sometimes, for health reasons, the ceremony may be held at your own home or in a hospital, but it will still be created with the same care and love to make your day very special.

A ceremony may contain:

• Your story; how you met; how you feel about each other; your hopes for the future
• Your commitments and promises
• Exchange of rings and speaking of vows
• Reading(s) of prose or poetry by yourself, a friend a family member or the celebrant
• Music, either recorded or live
• Various symbolic acts such as handfasting, warming of the rings, sand blending, lighting of candles or anything else devised by yourselves or originating from your own family and personal traditions.

My fee is £500 for ceremonies within fifty miles of Matlock; if required, I am happy to travel further afield and 45p per extra mile, after the first fifty, will need to be added.

The prices for weddings in Italy will vary from £700 to £800, depending on the location. The fee is payable in 3 instalments (the first of which will need to be after the first meeting when the booking is confirmed, the second after the ceremony script is completed and agreed, and the final instalment just before the ceremony).

Legal recognition

As humanist ceremonies are not yet legally recognised in England, in order for your wedding or civil partnership to be legally recognised you would need to have a civil ceremony. Humanist weddings are legally recognised in Scotland, Jersey, the Republic of Ireland and many other countries around the world.  We are hopeful that they will be in England and Wales soon too.