with a beautiful personal ceremony any day of the week.
I am often asked what the difference is between the various types of wedding ceremonies and types of celebrants, so I thought it might be useful if I set down some of the major differences to help you navigate your way through.
Until recently the main distinction was between Church and Civil, with the choice being whether you wish to have any religious or spiritual content or not. By choosing Civil ceremony it meant that the couple were not only choosing not to be marrying in the Church but also that the content of the ceremony disallowed any form of spiritual/religious reference including the mention of God, Angels, spirit guides etc.
In 2013 the change of law allowed for spiritual/ religious Wedding Ceremonies to be legally carried out in non-Church venues BUT only by people who, like myself, are on the HSE list of Registered Solemnisers. Sadly there are a number of people who call themselves celebrants who have no legal standing. They have been known to tell couples that the way to have this type of ceremony is to get married legally in the Registry office and have a separate ceremony possibly on a different day (especially if the party is at the weekend or bank holiday) THIS IS NOT TRUE. You can have your wedding cake and eat it, and here’s how.
As an Ordained One Spirit Interfaith Minister I am registered with The HSE to solemnise Legal weddings. This means that I can conduct the legal side of your bespoke Wedding Ceremony on the day, in front of witnesses and guests at your chosen venue. Be it a Castle, Hotel, Restaurant, Art Gallery, Museum, Sports arena, community centre or even your favourite bar …. in fact anywhere, indoors or outdoors, as long as it is open to the public and has an identifiable address (to be legally compliant). The decision as to the suitability of the venue lies with me as the solemniser. This does, however, exclude long stretches of beach or random forests due to lack of address, and private residences. These laws were brought about to avoid forced marriages. There is also no restriction as to days of the week and, subject to my availability, can be week days, weekends or even bank holidays.
As I am registered to solemnise marriages between couples of all faith paths and none, I can include prayers relevant to you, and can give mention to God, angels, spirit and other non-Earthly Deity of a benevolent nature, or have no spiritual reference. I find some couples, although not having any strong beliefs themselves, would like to honour parents or grandparents who do. This can be achieved in a sensitive manner without losing authenticity. Some couples who have secular (Humanist, non-spiritual) beliefs come to me simply because they had attended my ceremonies and like my style. I also mention that couples do not need to have the same beliefs, but it is important to respect the differences.
So however you define your beliefs be it in: an established Religion, Spiritualism, Atheism Agnostic, Gaianism, Jedi or Pastafarian, and whether your beliefs are entrenched or still developing, my aim is to create a wedding ceremony which is true to you.