Creating Ceremony

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Creating Ceremony

Ceremonies with substance, style and soul for all of life’s significant moments. The alternative option of the registrar feels impersonal and soulless.

Since our arrival on the planet, we humans have instinctively marked important life events with ceremony and ritual. Over time, churches, synagogues, temples and mosques became the natural stewards of these life ceremonies. We live in an increasingly secular world and you may feel that the traditional places of worship don’t feel as though they fit any more. There is another way. As an independent

celebrant, I can create a ceremony with you for any significant life event, reflecting your personality, your beliefs and your lifestyle. Each ceremony is totally unique and as traditional or as creative as you wish. Get in touch today and let's create a ceremony that's perfect for you. [email protected]
07929 764162

25/08/2026

26 years ago I tied the knot with this one.

It wasn’t a celebrant ceremony (they weren’t a thing then). Nope, we had a church wedding but you KNOW we went full out.

I’m talking FIVE hymns, communion, TWO vicars and a church packed with our fave people. Go big or go home.

We had a bridesman and female ushers even back in the old days when such things were frowned upon.

And we felt married from the moment (one of) the vicars got us to look each other in the eyes and say our vows to each other in his office a couple of days before.

It was an epic day but more importantly it set a strong intention and foundation for an epic quarter century (+1 and counting)

Because a wedding is never really about the day itself (or at least not ONLY about the day itself). It’s about the story that came before it and the hope that comes ahead of it.

It’s about making a statement that this is the person I’m choosing and I’ll stick with it even when it’s a bit s**t or life throws its curveballs at us.

And enjoying the hell out of it when it’s awesome.

And everything inbetween.

I love love. I love weddings. And I love being married to you, Mr Bradford ❤️❤️

15/07/2026

Hi!

So… it’s been a hot minute.

And the truth is, my toxic on/off relationship with social media is still pretty rocky.

But I missed the connection. This. Me talking to you (well, at least imagining talking to you as I type on my phone in my overheated office, and hoping you’re somewhere with a breeze or a fan or at least a glass of cool water nearby!)

If this is the first time we’ve met, hi, I’m Claire 👋 I live in Worthing on the south coast which is a pretty awesome place to be, with my gorgeous husband and two daughters (when they’re here at least). Oh and about 200000 bees, but I’ll tell you about them another time.

I have the best job in the world as I’m a celebrant. This means I get to hear people’s stories (love stories and life stories) and celebrate them in super personal bespoke weddings, funerals and other milestone ceremonies.

So much to share but I wanted to just make a reappearance first!

Tell me about you in the meantime, if you like. Do you live in or near Worthing? Do you have a corking ceremony story? What’s your best life hack for hot weather? What’s your favourite biscuit?

Let’s connect again. I’ve missed this bit!

21/12/2025

Happy winter solstice ❄️

The light is returning!

11/12/2025

I make people cry for a living.

And I’m not even sorry 🥰

The prompt for today on the is ‘Cry, Baby, Cry’ so it seemed like the perfect time to repost this oldie (but oh so goodie) of the gorgeous Allie and Mike, snapped at their wedding by

10/12/2025

Trying to decide what you ‘should’ wear to a funeral? Or to your own wedding??

Here are my thoughts, in black and white 😘

Part of - ‘black and white’

07/12/2025

Weddings are basically one big gorgeous bundle of rituals to show your commitment.
Exchanging rings? Ritual.
Saying vows? Ritual.
Walking in with your favourite humans? Ritual.

And then there are the less traditional additions that can light up your ceremony and really be ‘you two’. Think handfasting ribbons, candle lighting, sealing a wine box for a future anniversary, pouring sand, mixing cocktails, sharing a quaich… or making something entirely bespoke.

ALL of these are of course totally optional (shock horror - including the vows and the rings!)

I’ll readily admit that sometimes these rituals can sound a bit performative when they are out of context… but when they’re woven into your story and done your way, they can pack a punch of meaning, fun – or both!

My whole job as a celebrant is to help people create rituals to mark the big occasions in their lives – in their way.

Old, new or totally created for you, let’s do it your way!

(oh and by the way, when I say ‘less traditional’, I should point out that handfasting and quaichs have been around on these shores longer than Christianity, so technically they’re as traditional as you get!)

📸 (in order) by (Salt and True)

Thanks to for the ‘ritual’ prompt on her

04/12/2025

It’s a funny thing, but the chances are that the pair of you won’t spend an awful lot of time together on your wedding day.

I mean, you’ll be side by side a lot, obvs, but there won’t be much time (outside of the ceremony) to look into each other’s eyes and just be together without posing for photos, trying to catch up with the friends that have come a long way to be with you, or slaying on the dance floor.

Which is why my advice as a celebrant is to sn**ch a bit of you-time post ceremony. Your friends and family can be grabbing confetti, being arranged for a group photo or getting their first drink and you two can get a few precious minutes together to have a private ‘wow we did it’ moment with a glass of fizz before the bonkersness commences.

It’s only a short time but it’s a tender one and I’ll guard it for you like a particularly tetchy tiger - woe betide anyone who tries to come and ask you about the canapés!!

📸 pic is of the magnificent D & M (ok they’re having their photo taken here but I can’t exactly show you the time I just said I guard for you like a tiger, can I?! 😂)

Day 4 of the and the theme is ‘tender’ 💕

03/12/2025

Day 3 of and today’s prompt is ‘not a wedding’.

So here’s a snap of me mid ceremony during the gorgeous Adamsito’s naming at last month.

What a gorgeous little boy and a gorgeous family! He was very taken with what I was saying about him, as you can see from this pic 🥰

It was an intimate, joyous occasion, arranged remotely as they travelled from Spain to the US to the UK, but we managed to make it fun, super personal and meaningful for the family that attended from various countries.

This boy is going to be a multi lingual globe trotter, that’s for sure - and he’s starting out with a taste for foreign music, as ‘Schnappi, das Kleine Krokodil’ is his favourite song, guaranteed to get him dancing along. So we played it at the end (and blew bubbles, natch!)

Hope it’s made you dance too and doesn’t become an incessant earworm for the rest of the day as it did me 😂

02/12/2025

It’s and the theme for this year is Growing with Grief.

I was honoured to conduct the HD Tribe Christmas Memorial service for the fourth year running this afternoon.

Here’s a little taste of the ceremony:

“Growing with grief.
Not growing past it, or growing despite it, or somehow blooming cheerfully on top of it, but growing in the thick of it, right in the middle of the mess and the
missing and the moments when we feel like we’re barely holding ourselves together.
Nobody chooses grief.
Nobody wakes up thinking, ‘Here’s a great opportunity for personal growth!’
Most of us would trade any amount of growth to have our person back in a heartbeat.
And yet here we are, carrying on, even when we didn’t think we could.

Grief changes us.
Sometimes in ways we can see, sometimes in ways we can’t.
And when everything feels stripped back, when life feels bare and wintery, growth can look very small -almost invisible.
Sometimes it’s just getting up and getting dressed.
Sometimes it’s answering a message or letting someone help.
Sometimes it’s laughing for the first time in weeks and realising you didn’t feel guilty about it.
Tiny things, but real things.”

We also lit candles and gave out wildflower seeds for people to plant 🌱

The Good Grief Trust H D Tribe Ltd

Address

Amberley
BN18 9LT

Website

http://www.creatingceremony.com/

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