Your Best Life- Helen Phillips Humanist Celebrant

Your Best Life- Helen Phillips Humanist Celebrant Non-religious, personal & fun Wedding and Naming Ceremonies in Yorkshire and the North of England.

🐇 We must chat about a very important matter 🐇Whenever I get an enquiry from a couple (or family) I do my best to reply ...
19/06/2026

🐇 We must chat about a very important matter 🐇

Whenever I get an enquiry from a couple (or family) I do my best to reply as promptly as I can but earlier this week I had an experience that really struck me.

I replied straight away late on Friday night and then left it over the weekend (whilst I had a gorgeous wedding and then 5 girls sleeping over for my daughter's birthday) before following up on Monday morning. By then it was too late as the couple had already booked someone else over the weekend.

I totally get that sometimes you just click with a supplier and just know they are the one and this may well have been the case here. However, it does feel like there is a growing expectation that suppliers in weddings and events are 'always on' and that the speed of response/ availability to jump straight on a call is indicative of the level of service you can expect.

Whilst I accept that this might be the case if you are left hanging for days or weeks but fast forward to your wedding day and you want my head in that not replying to that enquiry as quick as possible, right?

It could be this is a generational difference and this is me being 'unc' (my ten year old did call me/ teach me this word this morning!) but there are a lot of us millennials in the industry juggling our work (which we love!) and our family (that we also love) so please go a little easy on us 🤣

Also, not saying it happened here but it is worth saying that you should never be put under pressure to book swiftly after and especially not on a call. I always encourage couples to speak to multiple celebrants and take their time choosing the right one. Unless there are genuinely multiple enquiries for the same date, there is never any rush for a decision.

✨️ We are shining ✨️ Throwback to three years ago during my first full year of Namings and this gorgeous day for little ...
17/06/2026

✨️ We are shining ✨️

Throwback to three years ago during my first full year of Namings and this gorgeous day for little E whose parent's wedding I had conducted the year before 🥰

This was also when I was observed by my colleague Louise Williams Celebrant (Non-religious/Humanist) to be fully signed off and become accredited after my training.

Being observed regularly is a key part of our continuous professional development as Celebrants and ensures we are always learning and delivering ceremonies of the highest quality!

I had several Naming ceremonies in 2023, only one in 2024, several again in 2025 and just one coming up this year. Feels like a pattern but I would love to conduct more this year and next!

Get in touch with me if you are thinking of a Naming and want to find out more about them. I am always happy to talk ceremonies 🥰

💜 Out in the sunlight, in all the colours 💜Today marks a decade since Labour MP and Humanist, Jo Cox, was killed outside...
16/06/2026

💜 Out in the sunlight, in all the colours 💜

Today marks a decade since Labour MP and Humanist, Jo Cox, was killed outside her constituency surgery here in West Yorkshire.

I clearly remember this day as my husband and I had taken our son (6 days old) to be registered in Leeds and were having lunch on Call Lane afterwards when the news broke.

I was shattered that this could happen to a such an inspirational young woman as she simply went about her job helping others in a town I know, somewhere I have worked and where I had friends nearby. It felt so close to home and, as I looked down at our newborn son as he slept and fed, I wondered what world he had come into 😢

It breaks my heart that, as he now enters his next decade of life, we haven't come very far from this tragedy. It could easily happen again in this current climate of hate and division so please, let's all take a moment today to remember the words of Jo that 'we have more in common than that which divides us' (a quote I am known to use in my ceremonies) as well as the message in this song from Peter Gabriel that he dedicated to Jo, 'love can heal us' ❤️‍🩹

🏰 For the love, I'd fallen on 🏰I am back at the stunning Swinton Park tomorrow and I can't wait. It's such a dreamy drea...
12/06/2026

🏰 For the love, I'd fallen on 🏰

I am back at the stunning Swinton Park tomorrow and I can't wait. It's such a dreamy dream venue!

So, as a little teaser, this is last two times I was there which were both romantic elopements for US couples 😍

If you are looking for a castle vibe amongst gorgeous grounds in North Yorkshire then definitely take a look Swinton Estate

And, if you want a ceremony as personal and intentional as your choice of venue then I am proud to be a recommended supplier so please get in touch!

1st image Toria Frances | Destination Photographer + Super 8 🌞
2nd image THE MATEERS

⚽️ At the top of your game ⚽️As most people will know (even those who aren't football fans like me!), today is the start...
11/06/2026

⚽️ At the top of your game ⚽️

As most people will know (even those who aren't football fans like me!), today is the start of the Men's Football World Cup in the US and Mexico.

It makes me think of M & R who married earlier this year. They are huge sports fanatics and sport is a big part of their life and story. They got engaged on the way to the world cup in 2018* and are heading over to the Americas for their honeymoon shortly.

Of course I had to weave a sporting thread throughout their ceremony which included team metaphors, sporting analogies and this, the red card that I warned guests they would get if they broke any of the housekeeping rules!

It really broke the ice and thankfully I didn't have to use it as they were all impeccably behaved, even Oakley the dog (photos of him coming I promise!)

On a serious note, the housekeeping is an important part of any ceremony so important to plan and not overlook. It is where we set the tone, establish a few boundaries and when guests learn what to expect, a trophy worthy ceremony 🏆

*Fun fact, our eldest was born on the first day of the 2014 world cup and our youngest the first day of the 2016 Euros tournament. The world cup in 2018 was therefore first major football tournament in 4 years that I wasn't giving birth 😆

James at Sugarbird - Yorkshire Wedding Photographer
North Yorkshire Wedding Venue - Howsham Hall

🏹 Simply the bows 🏹On our youngest's 10th birthday, I reflect on a decade of parenting him and recall this poem by Kahli...
10/06/2026

🏹 Simply the bows 🏹

On our youngest's 10th birthday, I reflect on a decade of parenting him and recall this poem by Kahlil Gibran.

It is, in many ways, a sobering and stark reminder that as much as we want to hold on to and shape and steer our children closely (especially so, I think, for us millennials!), we can't forget that they are their own unique selves, in charge and in control of their own path and decisions.

Our role as parents is to nurture, guide and support them and be the bow to their arrow 🏹

This is a fab poem to include in a Naming ceremony where the adults around a child promise to do just that.

If you want to find out more about a Naming ceremony then I am always happy to have a no-obligation chat to tell you more. I love Naming ceremonies and would really love to do more! Drop me a message or a DM to set up a chat!

🤍 Two celebrations are better than one 🤍There has been a lot of attention around Dua Lipa and Callum Turner having a dou...
08/06/2026

🤍 Two celebrations are better than one 🤍

There has been a lot of attention around Dua Lipa and Callum Turner having a double header and separating their legal marriage ceremony at Marylebone Town Hall from the main wedding celebration in Scilily. I am all over this. Can't wait for the details of the main event 😛

However, this is not a new trend as far as I am concerned. My couples rock the dual wedding and I love to see how they celebrate their legal marriage so differently to the wedding, the location, the outfits etc. It's a fab opportunity to have a different vibe and, far from detracting from their Humanist wedding ceremony with me, I firmly believe that each can have its place and they can complement each other nicely.

I know that the 'inconvenience' of having to legally register the marriage separately can put some couples off but if you reframe this and look at it as two distinct moments where memories are made then double the love is surely a beautiful bonus*??

I don't always get to see the photos from the legals but I do love to! So previous couples, if you are happy to share your legal photos then please do (and let me know if they are professional ones so I can check in with the photographer).

*If you opt for a 2+2 ceremony it also doesn't have to add significant additional expense into the cost of the wedding.

📷 Credits:

1.
2. .jackson.photography
3 & 4.

🌼🌸This was the very first page, not where the story line ends 🌸🌼I was delighted to lead my first ceremony this week and...
07/06/2026

🌼🌸This was the very first page, not where the story line ends 🌸🌼

I was delighted to lead my first ceremony this week and equally delighted to coordinate with the stunning florals from who were an absolute pleasure and delight to meet and work alongside. Hopefully we work together again soon 😍

I always like to blend in and in this case I think I almost took it to camouflage levels 🤣

I can't wait to be back at Camp Kátur next month and hopefully many more times to come!

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Leeds

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