Independent,Registrar or Humanist? - MADE TO MEASURE CEREMONIES by Sarah

So why would you choose to have your special day officiated by me? Well we will have a great time for a start. But seriously there are differences and I'll explain them here.

I'm an independent Celebrant and right now the law does not allow Independent Celebrants or Humanist Celebrants to marry a couple legally this bit has to be done by a registrar, either before or after a celebrant ceremony. This is generally a 15 minute exchange infront of witnesses, you don't even need guests, it's usually pretty standard and you are not permitted to add any of your own vows, words or religious content to this. So as ceremonies go it's short and sweet. At the end you sign your marriage certificate. It's a bit like wedding admin.

What can I do.

Pretty much anything anywhere. I can create a ceremony and it can be whatever you want, it can be funny, or sentimental. We can include anything that's important to you. Religious content, Music, quotes, animals, any references. We can make your ceremony as big or as small as you desire. You can write your own vows, you can speak your truth. You can commit to the person in front of you, your way. You are not tied to any words or expression. We are able to do this anywhere and we are not restricted to just licensed wedding venues.

What about a humanist ceremony ?

On the surface we have many similarities both of us offer personalised and unique ceremonies that can be held pretty much anywhere. The main difference is that humanists will only offer a non religious ceremony as their service is based on humanity and reason. The celebrant themselves would be a humanist. Independents have more freedom which allows the couple the same.

So to clarify. If you want to be married in the eyes of the law, which nowadays most do, you have to do the legal bit , but it doesn't have to be on the same day as your ceremony, it can be done separately, whenever you want. Most importantly it's what you want to do and how you see your day looking. We can talk about this at our meeting.