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Guides for UK celebrants.
Practical guides for UK wedding and funeral celebrants — admin, software, GDPR, and running a calm one-person celebrant business.
Choosing software as a UK wedding celebrant — what to look for
A spreadsheet copes with four weddings a year. It does not cope with a full season booked eighteen months ahead. Here is what to look for in software built for UK wedding celebrants.
Why your ceremony writing should stay yours
There is a line between software that saves you time and software that writes the words a family will remember for the rest of their lives. It is worth being clear about where that line sits.
How to become a wedding celebrant in the UK
There is no single licence to become a wedding celebrant in the UK, which makes the path both freeing and a little daunting. Here is the realistic route, from training to your first couples.
What should a UK wedding celebrant charge? A guide to setting your fees
Pricing your work is one of the least-discussed parts of being a wedding celebrant. Here is a practical way to think about your fee — deposits and all — and keep track of it.
Wedding celebrant vs registrar: what UK couples need to know
Celebrant or registrar? It's the first question most UK couples hit when planning a ceremony. Here is the honest difference — and the bit of law that explains why most couples use both.
Children at funerals: should they attend, and what do you tell them?
Should the children come? How young is too young? A practical guide for UK celebrants on deciding, preparing a child honestly, and supporting the family on the day.
How to write personalised wedding vows: a UK guide for couples
"Write your vows" isn't a task, it's an outcome — which is why the blank page feels impossible. Here is the structure, the three questions, and the phrases to avoid.
How to become a funeral celebrant in the UK
There is no single licence to become a funeral celebrant in the UK, which makes the path both freeing and a little daunting. Here is the realistic route, from training to your first bookings.
How to write a wedding ceremony script: a process for UK celebrants
A wedding ceremony should feel effortless and entirely personal — and that is the hard part. Here is a calm, repeatable process for writing one, from first meeting to final read-through.
What should a UK funeral celebrant charge? A guide to setting your fees
Pricing your work is one of the least-discussed parts of being a funeral celebrant. Here is a practical way to think about your fee — and keep track of it.
Funeral celebrants and funeral directors: winning referrals
For most funeral celebrants, the funeral director is where the work comes from. Here is how to build relationships that make them want to call you again.
GDPR for UK celebrants: looking after family and ceremony data
Celebrants hold some of the most sensitive personal data there is. Here is what UK GDPR actually asks of you, in plain English.
How to get more bookings as a funeral celebrant
A fuller diary comes from a handful of things done consistently — not gimmicks. Here are the realistic levers that bring a funeral celebrant more work.
How to write a funeral ceremony script: a UK celebrant's process
A good funeral script looks effortless and is anything but. Here is a calm, repeatable process for writing one — from the first meeting to the final running order.
Working as a wedding and funeral celebrant: running both from one diary
Weddings are booked a year out; funerals come together in days. Doing both well means one calm system, not two. Here is how to manage it.
Choosing software as a UK funeral celebrant — what to look for
Spreadsheets and a shared inbox stop working the moment you have three funerals in a week. Here is what to look for in software built for UK funeral celebrants.
How UK funeral celebrants stay organised under pressure
Managing several funerals at once without losing a detail is one of the hardest parts of the job. Here is a simple system that holds up on a busy week.
How to lead a celebration of life ceremony: a guide for UK celebrants
A celebration of life is not a funeral with balloons. Here is how the ceremony actually differs, a six-section structure that holds, and how to run the open-mic section without losing the room.
How to officiate a friend's wedding in the UK: the complete guide
Someone you love has asked you to run their wedding ceremony. Here is the legal position in plain English, a structure you can build the day around, and how to deliver it without falling apart.
Unity rituals beyond handfasting: ring warming, sand and candle ceremonies
Ring warming, the sand ceremony and the unity candle each do a different job, and each has logistics that can quietly wreck it. Here is how to run all three well.
How to lead a baby naming ceremony: a UK celebrant's playbook
Christenings are declining in the UK; the urge to mark a child's arrival is not. Here is how to plan and lead a naming ceremony that feels like its own thing, not a christening with the religion removed.
When the family disagrees: handling celebrant ceremonies with conflict
Plenty of the ceremonies a UK celebrant is booked for involve a family at odds with itself. Here are the four patterns, the phrases that hold a room without picking a winner, and the requests you should decline.
Vow renewal ceremonies: structure, timing, and what couples actually want
A vow renewal isn't a smaller wedding, and writing it like one is the commonest mistake. Here is the structure, the timing and the calls that decide whether it lands.
How to lead a family meeting before a funeral: questions, structure, tone
The family meeting is the part of funeral work nobody really teaches you. Here are the questions that unlock real material, and how to hold the room when emotion hits.
Handfasting ceremonies: a UK celebrant's planning guide
Handfasting is the ritual couples ask for most often — and the one most likely to tip into cringe if it's rushed. Here is how to plan, word and rehearse one properly.
What to wear as a celebrant: a practical guide for weddings and funerals
You're the visual anchor of the ceremony and you're in every photograph the family keeps. Here's how to dress for weddings and funerals so nobody notices — which is exactly the goal.
12 funeral readings for non-religious ceremonies (UK)
A handful of poems carry a large share of the secular funerals in the UK. Here are twelve, with what each one does well, who it suits, and where each one falls flat.
How to write a eulogy: 7 questions that unlock the words
A eulogy is not a biography, it's a portrait. Here are seven questions that unlock the words, a structure that holds, and a way of delivering it that survives the day.
10 non-religious wedding readings UK celebrants actually use
Most "top wedding readings" lists are ranked by search traffic, not by what lands in a real room. Here are ten that consistently earn their three minutes in a UK ceremony.
Civil vs humanist celebrant: what's the actual difference?
Humanist, civil, independent — everyone uses the word celebrant and no-one quite agrees on what it means. Here's the plain-English difference, including the legal bit that catches couples out.
What to say at a funeral as a celebrant: a structure that works
A funeral ceremony is the most demanding writing a celebrant ever does. Here is a six-section structure that holds, with notes on tone and the phrases to avoid.