NEW BLOG from my lovely team member Laura!

The Church

My first wedding (of three.... greedy I know!) was when I was 22 and my ex-husband and I married in the church he had been a choir boy in. Neither of us were religious but it was the obvious choice because of his connections. It was a beautiful old church and because his family knew people there we had the full works. 

There were bell ringers, trumpet fanfares, organ players, choir boys... it was quite the affair! It was back in the late 90s and I was 22.  Now looking back I did feel uncomfortable about the religious element but I was young and carried away with romanticism. These days fewer people seem to choose to get married in church for the romantic notions and environment, as so many other options have become available. Of course, if you have religious leanings then the church, mosque, or wherever you may worship is a perfect choice. 

The Registrar

Roll forward just shy of 20 years and my new partner and I were preparing to marry. I had found a venue that I wanted to marry in serendipitously the year previously and I discovered upon further investigation that it wasn't licensed so I would need to be married legally by a Registrar and employ a celebrant to host a wedding at the venue. I wasn't educated particularly well in this matter, but I was set on the venue, so we forged ahead with the plan!

Having contacted the register office it wasn't clear to us that we had a choice for a quick appointment for the legal elements, we were offered a choice of room depending on the number of guests and then a choice of scripts depending essentially on how formal we wanted the wedding.

'It was basically an administrative process without any romance or feeling, and with hindsight we just needed the meeting with the legal elements and not a full ceremony.'

Had I been better informed I'd have done a quick 'sign the certificate' style meeting with a Registrar instead however, we invited our immediate families to the Register Office wedding and held it the day before our actual weddingat the venue. Looking back, it feels unnecessary and even confusing if I'm honest. 

The Celebrant

My third wedding was Celebrant led and what a completely different experience it was!

We felt completely in control of the experience, instead of it 'happening' to us we were instead immersed in the design and planning of the ceremony. Led by an experienced professional we were guided through the process of creating a unique and personal wedding.

My husband is Spanish and we had some of the ceremony spoken in Spanish and included a naming ceremony for our 9 month old as well! The guests joined us singing 'Bring Me Sunshine' in her honour! We all have such fond memories of that day and guests often talk about it as the best wedding they've ever been to! 

The venue was a private residence, and as such, was completely free of the legal restrictions, so we got to choose the setting that we had the ceremony in, and it ran just as we wanted it to.  It was beautiful.

The New Career

This experience ultimately inspired me to become a Celebrant.  Getting married is a (thrice in a!) lifetime experience and it should be exactly what we want, something that we imagine and dream about and not something that happens to us or that we have to pick from a list.

'The choice should be in OUR hands not the venue or registration service.'

It should be memorable for the guests and unique to the couple and families who are uniting. As a Celebrant, I can enable this experience for couples and educate people about their choices.

I never dreamt that my third wedding would lead to a new career!