Why We Opted for a Celebrant Led Wedding

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When we began our wedding planning in 2016, I was really keen to get Russell on my side when it came to the ceremony. Unless you work in the wedding Industry or have been to lots of weddings its easy to assume there are only two ways to get hitched – in church if you’re religious or at a licensed venue/registry office if you’re not.

These days lots of venues are licensed to hold outdoor ceremonies but it is still the registrars decision whether it can go ahead based on factors like temperature and wind strength. Venues providing legal outdoor ceremonies have to have a structure built on foundations with a roof for the couple, registrars and witnesses to stand beneath as well.

Before our own wedding, we’d never attended a celebrant led wedding, but I’d photographed one and seen loads online that I knew it was exactly what I’d like for my own wedding day.

So what exactly are Celebrant led weddings and why should you consider one for your wedding day?

 

They allow you to have 100% control over the ceremony

Most celebrants will work with you to create your ceremony. We hired Bridget Garrett for our ceremony who met with us a couple of times for a bit of a fact finding mission. She then wrote a ceremony with personal anecdotes which was unique to us.

We also opted to write our own vows (More advice on this in a later post!) and chose two readings to be delivered.

If the weather looks bad you can delay it without worry that your registrars have another wedding to attend or go ahead under umbrellas!

They can take place anywhere at at anytime

Celebrant led weddings do not require the venue to be licensed so they can take place anywhere. You can really let your imagination run wild with this option and choose a place with some meaning to you. Perhaps you’ve always dreamt of getting married on a beach or in the woods. Maybe in your family’s back garden or in a barn or cool warehouse.

As long as you have permission from the land owners you can hold your ceremony anywhere and at anytime of the day.

 

They can involve your dog!

When we chose our venue and planned our ceremony we knew having our dog Tagg there would be top on our list of priorities. To those without pets I know this seems rather strange, but we love Tagg and he is such a huge part of our lives that we couldn’t have not had him there!

Bridget was on board with our plans to have him bring our rings down the aisle, so all it took was a little training on our part and a willing friend to look after him before his moment in the spotlight!

 

They can contain religious aspects if you wish, or fun ceremonial rituals

Bridget gave us a whole list of fun ideas we could incorporate into our ceremony, from hand fasting, broom jumping, ring warming and sand ceremonies. In the end we chose to include a ‘1st argument box’ which contained a letter to each other and a bottle of wine (from the vineyard where we were married). We’ll open this, read the letters and drink the wine if we ever have a serious argument!
They are more personal and memorable

We found a celebrant wedding to be far more relaxed and more meaningful. We love reading back through our transcript and remembering how we felt at that moment knowing no one else said the same words and we weren’t part of a wedding cookie cutter factory!

When speaking with our guests so many have mentioned how much they loved our ceremony because it was 100% us and it was unlike anything they had attended before. They weren’t forced to sing hymns, or listen to sermons they didn’t believe in, instead it was enjoyable rather than a legality before they could get to the bar!

 

 

There are a couple of things you may want to consider if you do go the celebrant route;

You may have to get married ‘legally’ beforehand

Because we chose an unlicensed venue we did still have to have registry office wedding to make things ‘official’. We opted to do this a few days beforehand with just 2 witnesses. We also went for the bare minimum ceremony so it didn’t feel like the real deal!

We saved the ring exchange and personal vows for the celebrant wedding, and said standard legal words required by law.

This does mean we now have 2 wedding anniversaries – a legal one and what we consider to be our real one!

You’ll still need permission from the land owner.

Although I mentioned you can get married anywhere you will still need permission from whoever owns the land you wish to hold your ceremony on. Be sure to check with them first before showing up on your wedding day!

 

 

Would you ever consider a celebrant led wedding? Let me know, I’d love to photograph more of them in the future.

 

 

Photos 2-4 from Sally T Photography on our wedding day.

Why We Opted for a Celebrant Led Wedding

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