So, you said yes. Now what?
Ruby and Will celebrating their engagement on Brighton bandstand. Image by @kloemayphotography
It is time to start planning. At least plan your planning. What your next step will be, probably depends on how and when you want to get married. Celebrant-led weddings are becoming increasingly popular and celebrants are getting booked many months, sometimes years, in advance. So, if you’re planning to get married in the next year, you really need to get your skates on.
Book the venue
I am no expert in wedding planning (just the ceremony bit), but even my kids know that the first thing 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.
All the professional wedding venues I have spoken to so far this year are booked at least a year ahead. 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.
Book a celebrant
Now, this bit, I am an expert on. Good celebrants also get fully booked a long time in advance. At the time of writing, many celebrants are fully booked for this year and filling up fast for next year. 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 and create a ceremony that puts you in focus, so you can have Your Wedding, Your Way.
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.
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)
The peak of engagement season is upon us
With Valentine’s Day just behind us, which accounts for over 20% of proposals, you can imagine how many excited couples are starting to plan their dream wedding. Even dates for next year will start to fill up quickly for everyone involved in weddings. This is especially true for this year, which is already looking like the Wedding BOOM year. Covid postponements, the return of joy following Covid lockdowns and generally lots of brilliant people ready to celebrate their awesome relationships. Get in line, put your skates on and start planning that dream wedding of yours!
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.
*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).