How to choose your Wedding Celebrant
Are you thinking about how you can reflect your love, your story and your values in your wedding?
Perhaps you're keen to re-imagine the old traditions and have a wedding ceremony that feels authentic to you both? Maybe you’re thinking creatively about how to create a more sustainable, eco-conscious wedding? Maybe you want to get inventive about reflecting your blended family?
Shouldn’t all weddings feel meaningful and reflect the couple getting married? Instead of an off the shelf, one size fits approach…If this resonates, then it’s highly likely you’re considering a Humanist Ceremony.
But what about choosing your wedding celebrant? The person crafting, creating and conducting your ceremony is a really personal choice. So what should you think about...
Choose a Wedding Celebrant you connect with and would want to spend time with
There are lots of celebrants to choose from. So when you’re looking around, think about what’s important to you. Are you passionate about having a wedding that reflects certain values or perspectives? Look for a Celebrant who reflects these and who you feel comfortable is on the same ‘page’ as you.
You’ll be spending time with your wedding celebrant as you get to know each other so that they can create and craft your unique wedding ceremony. So, it’s important that you actually like them and could see yourself ‘hanging out’. The really lovely thing about this, is that by the time you get to your wedding, you’ll feel like you have a friend, a wedding cheerleader, there with you sharing your story with everyone dear to you and celebrating alongside you.
Consider what celebrant training and accreditation they’ve undertaken and the support network of celebrants they’re part of
You want to feel comfortable that your celebrant is prepared and skilled at creating and delivering your fabulous personalised wedding ceremony.
There are different kinds of training available for all celebrants. Humanist Wedding Celebrants undertake an intensive selection and training programme, that includes creating multiple ceremonies in order to achieve their accreditation. Once accredited, we have to show our continuous professional development and be observed at various intervals to maintain it.
Humanist Wedding Celebrants are also part of a formal support network, working alongside other humanist celebrants in their local area and beyond. This is really important to consider, just in case the rare but unfortunate happens where there is an emergency for your celebrant!
Also, looking for a celebrant that has a strong support network also means they’ll have had lots of opportunities to develop themselves and have a range of ideas for your ceremony.
Ask them about their wedding ceremony crafting process
Humanist Celebrant training delves into different ideas for crafting a bespoke wedding ceremony, but each celebrant will have their own style, tips and tricks that work for them and the couples who book them.
All Celebrants will meet and get to know you - I call it a wed-meet. Some Celebrants use activities to help them do this, either at the wed-meet or in your own time, others will be more informal, some will take lots of notes and others may get you playing short games.
Think about what would make you feel comfortable and talk to celebrant’s about how they create a wedding ceremony.
Choose a Wedding Celebrant who shares your excitement for your Wedding plans and ideas
Your Celebrant should be one of your key wedding cheerleaders! They can also be an advocate for your wedding choices if they’re less traditional.
Choose a celebrant who is just as excited as you by your dancing aisle exit, your schnauzer-ring bearer or your rock’n’roll wedding readings. A celebrant-led, humanist wedding, gives you full flexibility and creativity in your wedding choices, so find a celebrant, who’ll be super excited to make them happen!
