It’s funny because I’ve now done a good handful of weddings there but none have felt the least bit samey. I don’t want to blow the horn for celebrants too hard, but f- it, this is my own blog. It’s so fun and brilliant and memorable when every wedding feels completely different because every couple is different and deserve to be celebrated in a unique way that feels genuinely them.
Read MoreI’ve never done a wedding this laidback and I’d be surprised if I ever do again; I’ll give you two exhibits of evidence. Exhibit A: Frankie referred to it as their “wedding-type-thing” from the off. I like it, very vague. Very cool. Very anti-establishment. Exhibit B: for our first two video calls - and I’m sure she won’t mind me saying this haha - Frankie forgot to show up.
Read MoreThe ceremony was full-to-cauldron-brim with witchy goodness, because Bethany loves her spooky, celestial, yogic stuff. And it was full-to-brim with raw emotion too, because this is a couple who weathered hard times in their twenties.
Read MoreReading lovely contributions from the bride and groom’s very closest people - both figuratively and literally, sat on the front rows - was one of my favourite parts of the ceremony. I can get to know my couples over zooms and irl cocktails and quizzes, but who truly knows them better than the ones who’ve been there for decades?
Read MoreIt’s unusual for me to not meet my couples in person before their big day, but it does happen every now and then if they are on the opposite side of the country. Well, Megan and Joe were wedding planning from the opposite side of the world, and only arriving a matter of (busy, wedmin-filled, family-filled) days before their wedding…
Read MoreThe first time I met lovely Amber and Rob, and their lovely little girls, in their lovely garden, I was offered homemade blueberry cupcakes and sun cream, shown plastic horse after plastic horse, we discussed our favourite Bluey episodes and it felt more like a playdate then a wedding planning meeting. In a good way. They made me feel so at home.
Read MoreAlex and Hana are so chill, and Hana is hilariously sarcastic. But she was visibly trembling as she arrived at the top of the aisle, it was very sweet. I did my best to relax her; I always want my couples to feel authentically themselves at the front, and able to enjoy it, but it’s easier said than done when dozens and dozens of people are staring at you!
Read MoreI loved The Octagon Barn. It was an indoor-outdoor hybrid space which was brilliant - the best of both worlds - especially on a hot day. We were outside, but completely covered, one barn wall open to the elements so a lovely breeze circulated but nobody was sitting in direct sun. I always worry for the older folks in direct sun. And the babies. And the baldies. And myself - I get adrenaline-sweaty as it is.
Read MoreI was looking forward to this one (or hoping, first, to get the job!) since the minute I first spoke to Alice and George and they explained their plan to marry on the bandstand in Battersea Park. The bandstand in Battersea Park! Fits right in with my need to make everything in life feel like a film.
Read MoreSasha and Chris were keen their wedding felt like real life and wasn’t a posh, quiet event for grown ups. So, in the ceremony, there were kids galore. Kids on laps, kids escaping laps, kids having a little cry and being shushed back to quiet(ish), and kids being kids. Brilliant and unpredictable and part of the fun.
Read MoreThe bride walked down the aisle, mum on one arm and dad on the other, to one of the most beautiful pieces of music from - perhaps - an unexpected source. Disney’s Encanto. If you’re a parent you’ll recognise it…
Read MoreHave you heard the wedding day phrase “a wet knot is harder to untie?”. I didn’t realise but it actually originates from Hindi tradition, with rain seen as a symbol of good luck and a strong marriage. I suspect The Brollys didn’t need rain, or luck, on their wedding day for everyone in that room, witnessing the wonderful, warm, hilarious way they interact, to know their marriage will be strong.
Read MoreThis was an unusual wedding for me, in that Jessica and Oliver didn’t actually book me. I was standing in for my celebrant friend India, as she had an urgent hospital appointment. It was my absolute honour (as the Eldest Daughter I love to be helpful) and there’s something about this job where it doesn’t matter what the scenario, you just want the couple in question to have the most joyful, least stressful day humanly possible.
Read More“Hals über Kopf verliebt” is the phrase I will always think of when I think of Florin and Lucy. And how they met, dancing; literally spinning into each other’s lives. And how they celebrated their wedding in an explosion of colour and tears and joy. Hals über Kopf verliebt. Head over heels in love.
Read MoreEmotions were high and happy as we began the wedding. Then factor in that Hannah’s ridiculously talented friend Maddy (and her ridiculously talented brothers Niall and Laurie) sang to the bride and groom in the ceremony, and I was struggling not to cry. I’d already welled up watching them rehearse before the ceremony.
Read MoreMy dad asked me this weekend “what’s been the most fun wedding you’ve had this year?”…and this is the one that sprang to mind. Khristianne and Glen. The One Where They Let Me Choose Their Surname. But it wasn’t just my involvement in picking their name. It was EVERYTHING.
Read MoreI’m a sentimentalist, but I feel like there’s something special about getting married on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. The idea, perhaps, that because Judy and David picked that day they had the gift of extra time to celebrate, extra sunlight, extra hours to call “day” on your wedding day. And I’d say the theme of this wedding was just basically how obsessed they are with each other. Obsessed. Which, as a wedding celebrant, is fine with me!
Read MoreAbigail and Tim’s wedding day took place in their own shed on their own land. Which was fitting, as young farmers. And when a couple get married in their own house/garden (or farming shed haha!) it makes me excited for them, thinking: you can visit your wedding venue whenever you want. You live here.
Read MoreThe heavens opened just in time for Kelly and James’ big day. Very Alanis Morissette lyrics. But as I said to lovely Kelly - better to have dodgy weather and the beautiful, gorgeous relationship they have, than gorgeous weather and a dodgy relationship.
Read MoreRachel and Connor honoured the splendour of the setting by hiring a string quartet, and to make the most of the live music - and get everyone up on their feet- we sang soul classic Stand by Me. I can’t tell you the RELIEF when the guests GO FOR IT. People sang their hearts out - “won’t you stand, staaaand by meee”- and it was glorious.
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