Are you in your engagement era?
Ruby and Will celebrating their engagement on Brighton bandstand. Image by @kloemayphotography
And wtf are you supposed to do while you’re here?
“They” say we have entered engagement season, with Christmas and Valentine’s Day proposals still being the most popular times, so you can imagine how many excited couples are starting to plan their dream wedding. If you are in your engagement era too, you might want to start thinking about your next steps.
But, don’t make rushed decisions!
This is the time to think about how you want your wedding to feel.
To research venues that can provide the right atmosphere for that feeling. To find the people that can make that feeling a reality: a photographer that gets your vision, maybe a wedding planner that understands the big pictures of your random, or maybe quite organised, notes, thoughts or vision boards.
And not least, a celebrant that matches your vibe and will turn your feelings, values and energy into a fabulous story of commitment: an unforgettable ceremony to kickstart your wedding day.
I have some ideas and suggestions for you…
What your next step will be, probably depends on how and when you want to get married. Cool wedding venues and wedding photographers are often booked a year or more in advance, so this will be one of your first choices to secure. Celebrant-led weddings are also increasingly popular and celebrants are booked many months, sometimes years, in advance. So, if you’re planning to get married by a celebrant, at a cool venue, this year, I suggest you find your people and places.
Book a celebrant
Good celebrants also get booked a long time in advance. Humanist wedding ceremonies are becoming more and more popular as people - just like lovely you - realise that you can have it all: an original, fun and completely personalised ceremony (not a cookie-cutter service by someone that has never met you) with you in focus (not God).
You can have a celebrant officiate your proper wedding* Wherever you want, However you want and to Whomever you want. They will get to know you really well through personal meetings and continued co-planning, so that your wedding ceremony feels like a warm hug from your bestie (who knows all your quirks, fun anecdotes and most wonderful qualities).
That warm fuzzy feeling after getting married by a fun and friendly celebrant. Image by https://www.wychwoodweddings.co.uk
Yes, I know that sounds like magic. I’m afraid I have to let the cat out of the hat: we’re not magicians. But! We have trained, practised and perfected the way of the wondrous wedding ceremony. We know our stuff and we love this wedding stuff. So, we are in hot demand. Find your humanist celebrant now.
Book the venue
While I am not a wedding planner (just for the ceremony bit), I know that one of the first things you need to secure is the venue. As a celebrant, I talk to venues all the time. I visit them long before my first time officiating a wedding ceremony there, I organise the choreography and set up of the ceremony with them and often spend time chatting about how it all went down after the ceremony.
Come rain or shine, not much beats a woodland wedding ceremony. Longton Wood in Kent. Image by https://www.indiegophotography.com
All the professional wedding venues I know are booked at least a year ahead for the popular weekends. You might get lucky and find a less popular date, but then you obviously have to be flexible. So, grab your skates and get yourself out to visit venues and book the one you love asap.
Photographers, stylists, caterers, florists and entertainers etc. are in hot demand too
I’m afraid this is not my area of expertise either, but there are so many fabulous and helpful wedding websites and planners out there that can help you with that. Why don’t you check these websites out?
Rebel Love Directory (LGBTQ+ inclusive wedding suppliers)
Here are also a few wedding photographers I highly recommend:
Indiego Photography
You’ll find examples from these and other amazing photographers on my Instagram page.
In conclusion…
Dates for this year is filling up quickly for everyone involved in weddings. So find your wedding team first (and they’ll help you turn your ideas into a plan).
I’d love to marry you (to each other…)!
If you want to find out more about me as a celebrant, have a look here:
Or get in touch for a completely informal and non-binding chat, where you can brain dump your ideas and I will happily answer any questions.
Image by https://kirstymackenziephotography.co.uk
*You will have to do the legals in a quickie first at the register office. At least until parliament gives Humanist Celebrants the power (which both the courts and MPs favour already).
