Your Day, Your way

A Humanist Wedding
It is a wonderful thing to stand in front of all your friends and family and say out loud “I Love this person”. Such significant moments are rare in our lives and should be acknowledged and celebrated as such. A Humanist wedding is a collective witnessing of this union. My role is to work with you to create and conduct a ceremony that celebrates your love and commitment in the way that suits you and your particular style and beliefs.

A wonderful woodland wedding

Ceremonies can be as light hearted and individual, or as dignified and traditional as you wish. They can take place in almost any location, daytime or evening, indoors or outdoors. You can write your own vows; and you can symbolise your union however you wish.

A typical ceremony might include: welcoming the guests; music; poetry; some background to your relationship; thoughts on marriage; your vows/promises/commitments; an exchange of rings and/or other symbolic acts; an ‘announcement’ of your new union and good wishes for the future.

How I will work with you
It is important that you are at ease with the person who will be conducting the ceremony, so I suggest that we talk first or meet briefly face-to-face, with no obligation, before you decide whether you want to go ahead with me as your celebrant.

The Law
Humanist weddings are not yet recognised in law outside Scotland (although we are hoping this will change before too long), so you will need to go to a Register Office in the days before your wedding to deal with the legal formalities.

Renewing your vows
If you are already married but would like a special occasion to renew your vows to each other, all the benefits of a humanist wedding apply, giving you the flexibility to design a ceremony exactly the way you would like it.

What do I charge
My fee for 2022 is £750 which includes: a full meeting for us to get to know each other better and discuss in detail what kind of ceremony you have in mind; writing the script for your ceremony and editing it as many times as it takes to get it right; a rehearsal at the venue; conducting the ceremony; a presentation copy of the script and certificate; travel expenses within a 50 mile radius of Brighton (I am happy to travel further). Throughout the planning and preparation I will remain in close contact with you by email and phone. Once you have confirmed that you would like me to be your celebrant (usually after the full meeting) I will ask for a deposit of £200 to confirm the booking and secure the date.

What my latest wedding couple said:

We are very grateful to Simon for the great job he did as our wedding celebrant. We wanted a bilingual ceremony that involved our two daughters, and Simon’s suggestions led to a personal ceremony that surpassed our expectations.  We received so many compliments about the ceremony, as many of our friends and family had only been to church and or civil ceremonies before. We would recommend anyone getting married to have a humanist ceremony with Simon as celebrant – every couple is unique – so why not have a unique ceremony too?!

Do email or give me a call for a chat if you’d like to know more.