THE CHOICE IS YOURS Q We wanted to hire a celebrant for complete freedom of how to have our ceremony. Now we’re at the point of deciding what we want, we don’t know what we want − there’s so much choice! What are a few of the celebrant rituals we could be inspired by? A This depends on your beliefs, personality, and identity as a couple. This is part of the excitement of working with a celebrant to design your perfect ceremony. For example, you might want a completely nonspiritual wedding, in which case you might love to have a hand-tying ceremony, a cocktail ceremony or to create a beautiful sand sculpture as part of a sand ceremony. However, if you wanted to represent a particular belief, an independent celebrant like me can help you to include aspects of faith into the ceremony; for example Greek crowns, Pagan hand-fasting, Celtic oathing stone or Christian candle-lighting ceremonies might suit you. In many faiths, some form of symbolic tying forms part of the ceremony. In Christian ceremonies the priest or vicar often covers the couple’s hands with his ceremonial scarf. In Sikh ceremonies the couple are tied together by items of clothing, and in the UK couples would have a handfasting ceremony which joined them for a year and a day before a final ceremony confirmed their union. I hope this has explained some of the many options available to you and helped to guide you to your perfect wedding ceremony! Kate, Celebrant Kate, https://celebrantkate.co.uk Our local heroes come to the rescue to solve your wedding planning dilemmas www.emilybrown.photography PLANNING SOS: Save our sanity! A WALK FOR TWO Q My fiancée and I would like to walk down the aisle together on our wedding, and are unsure of the logistics when choosing this option. A Thanks for your question! It’s lovely that you want to enter the ceremony together on the day, it really shows your love and respect for each other, and to everyone there, before either of you have said a word! It depends on your venue of course, but unless the space is really tight then most venues will be able to space the chairs for the guests out so that there’s enough room in the aisle for you both to walk down together. If I was your celebrant this is something that I would be checking with the wedding coordinator at the venue on the day, just to make sure. And of course, we would need to be certain there was nothing in the aisle that could cause any problems − like lit candles for example! If you both have bridesmaids and attendants such as pageboys and/or flowergirls these could walk down the aisle in front of you in pairs, and if you are having anyone to present you they could follow behind them − we want you both to be the stars of the day! Paul, Rainbow Weddings, www.rainbowweddings.net https://jamesgristphotography.co.uk DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Q How do we know if a magician has mastered his craft before booking his services for our wedding? A If they are part of the Magic Circle then they would be of a good standard. A lot of magicians say they are part of the Magic Circle when they are not, you can check this out by contacting the magic circle directly (https://themagiccircle.co.uk) or ask the magician to show you their Magic Circle profile. But the best way is to seek recommendation from someone who has had a magician, they will give you honest advice and will tell you how good or poor the magician is. To check to ensure he’s a reputable professional, social media is the best way. A good magician will always have a social media profile, on there you can see the weddings the magician has attended, and any reviews left by customers/clients of how good the magician was on their special day. Read the reviews, it will give you a good indication of what to expect. Richard, Magician Richard Harrington www.facebook.com/Magicianrichardharrington PLANNING SOS 51
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