29/10/2019
Below is a wonderful testimonial I received from Lucy and Matt who got married at a beautiful venue in the woods earlier this year. I love it because it is not only a testimonial for me, it is also a wonderful description on why you would choose a celebrant led wedding. A big thanks to Lucy and Matt for allowing me to share their day....
When we first booked our venue, which was still in the process of opening, it had not yet been sanctioned by the local authority as somewhere we could ‘legally’ get hitched so we considered celebrant options very early on in our planning. A few months in we were told that, with the venue now approved, we could do the legal bit in one place, on the same day. ‘Great’, we thought, that makes things easier. However the closer we got to our wedding day the more we doubted if the ‘legal’ bit really reflected what a ceremony and a marriage meant to us as a couple. As odd as it sounds when we looked into the ceremony options they seemed impersonal, dull and even clinical! Then we got talking to Mark!
In the wedding world of ‘I know what you want’, ‘that’s not the traditional way and ‘your orchestral music sounds a bit religious so you can’t have it for your Civil ceremony’ it was refreshing to meet someone who, quite simply, asked ‘what does marriage mean to you’ and ‘what do you want your ceremony to be?’. There was no pressure or preconceptions. Needless to say we changed camps from Civil Ceremony to Celebrant Ceremony pretty quickly after our first conversation with Mark.
The trickiest bit with having a Celebrant ceremony was managing a few other people’s expectations. You’ve probably already had multiple ‘It’s your special day, do what YOU want’ and I can guarantee the same people will also be asking when the ‘real’ wedding is if you are having a Celebrant lead ceremony. Once again, Mark had some words of wisdom, and that was to think of the civil ceremony (cheap and cheerful in an office with a filing cabinet and a pot plant at our local town hall) as simply ‘registering the marriage’, much like you would with a birth or death (and those are NEVER done on the same day).
Mark was quick to send us a questionnaire and then the initial ceremony script based on what we had answered as individuals and as a couple in our questionnaire. A few things that I loved about working with Mark to build the ceremony was that he was able to offer us guidance and options for format and what could be included and we could feed in, change or suggest as much or as little as we liked. Nothing was vetoed. We ended up with a Ceremony that was completely personal to us, our story as a couple, what the promises we were making meant and our hopes for a future. We could include a prayer but not feel like it was a ‘religious’ ceremony. I was permitted to walk down the aisle to the music I chose. A round of applause was permitted for the guest responsible for our first date and there may or may not a been a minor profanity slipped into the ceremony at our suggestion. Quite simply, Mark gives you the flexibility to create one of the most significant moments in your life.
The pictures of our ceremony reflect what Mark orchestrated throughout our ceremony. A lot of laughter, a few tears and a genuine feeling of involvement from all who were there.
Looking back at our ceremony, and the whole process of its creation, I am so glad that we went with Mark. I can’t imagine anyone else leading us and our guests through such a personal, sentimental and funny ceremony; a true reflection of what marriage meant to us. To quote one of our guests ‘that was the most beautiful ceremony I have ever sat through, I loved it, it was so personal and genuine.’
So Mark, from both of us, Thank you for setting this married couple on the best foot possible.
Pics c/o Dan Biggins Photography https://www.danbiggins.com/
