When thinking about their wedding ceremony, many couples believe that they have a straight choice – registrar or church.

If you’re churchgoers, then church is obviously going to be where you get married. But what about if you’re not? Registrars do a fantastic job but they have to stick to a pretty rigid script that offers little opportunity for personalisation. You can’t have any readings or music containing religious or spiritual content, and you have to get married in a licensed venue.

So what if you want to get married in a forest, in your garden or at another unlicensed venue?

What if you want to include spiritual content in your ceremony but don’t want the full church service?

What if you want to be as creative and imaginative with the ceremony itself as you have been with the rest of the day, but are restricted by what’s allowed?

And what if you want the ceremony to be all about your love story and you want to write your own vows?

Fret not, there is another way…

As an independent celebrant, I can give you the freedom to have the ceremony of your dreams – exactly how you want it, where you want it and when you want it. You are limited only by your imagination, as almost anything is possible.

I will get to know you both and find out what makes you crazy for each other (as well as the things that drive you crazy about each other!), your interests, your style, your beliefs and your love story so far. Together, we will create the perfect ceremony that will reflect who you really are.

You will need to do the ‘legal bit’ at a registry office, but this is very simple and quick. Some couples even do it in their lunch hour! It’s fewer than 50 words and costs around £50, depending on the county you live in. Once this is done, you are free to have your ‘proper wedding’ – the one where you declare your love and commitment to each other forever in front of all your loved ones – however and wherever you like.

You can marry in an unlicensed venue if you would like to.

You can include religious or spiritual content if you wish (I can create ceremonies which combine two religious backgrounds if required).

Your wedding can be as formal or as informal, as traditional or as way-out as you would like.

Once you have decided you would like to hire me, you will have unlimited access to me via phone or email until the big day itself, we will meet in person at least twice and a wedding rehearsal is included if you would like one.

I will only ever book one wedding per day (unlike registrars, who can sometimes do six on a busy summer Saturday).

…and all of this normally costs less than a registrar coming to your venue.

Want to know more about how I can help you to create the wedding ceremony of your dreams?

Give me a call on 07929 764162, visit my website (link to: www.creatingceremony.com/weddings ) or come and join me on Facebook (link to: www.facebook.com/creatingceremony). I can’t wait to talk weddings with you!

© Claire Bradford, Creating Ceremony 201