Hello, my name is Michael (aka Micky) McAlinden and I am a celebrant accredited by Humanists UK.

I live in Bangor, Co. Down and am available to conduct non-religious Humanist wedding and funeral ceremonies throughout Northern Ireland, Ireland and beyond.

I’m very much a ‘people’ person having worked in the voluntary and statutory youth service in N. Ireland for the past 30 years.

I’ve always had a sense of service to the community so becoming a celebrant was a natural progression for me – I’ve worked with children and young people all my professional life, helping them through the major developmental milestones in their young lives. I’ve seen young people grow and flourish into young adults, form relationships, get married  and have kids. Similarly, I’ve also experienced the tragic loss of life of a number of young people and its impact on friends, family and the wider community.

In recent years, I’ve noticed the growing number of people who have moved away from religion but who have struggled to find a celebrant to help them mark some of life’s biggest occasions. When a person is born, gets married or sadly dies it’s incredibly important that friends, family and even the local community come together to mark the occasion. When we look back in history there is ample evidence that this was as important in pre-history as it is in modern times.

I want to be the person that helps you mark those key milestones and I will work with you to create a ceremony that fits with your outlook on life.

Weddings are wonderfully romantic and joyous occasions in which everyone present can have great fun. I will work with you to craft a ceremony to include songs, music, poetry, story telling and symbolic gestures that will make you wedding memorable for all the right reasons and inclusive of everyone present, irrespective of their background.

Funerals are equally important to me. While we need to mourn  the loss of a loved one, we also need to remember and celebrate the wonderful life they have lived and the joy they brought to everyone who knew them. I will work with you to create a funeral ceremony that does just that so that we give your loved one a great send-off.

The wonderful thing about Humanist ceremonies and celebrants is the flexibility we bring to a service. Each ceremony is bespoke to you which means that no two ceremonies are ever the same. You get to decide how you want the service to go and you can have readings from favourite poems or prose, music that is meaningful to the you and a number of different speakers to recount stories or give testament to the character of the couple/person at the center of the ceremony.

 

Please contact me if you want to discuss any of the above and I’ll be happy to talk things through with you.

Book an appointment to discuss your needs via Zoom HERE:

Email:         michael.mcalinden@humanistceremonies.org.uk

                                             or

                  m.mcalinden2017@outlook.com

 

Mobile:     07305892201