Colin and Joanne tell me they’re not long back from a long honeymoon away in California and Hawaii where they loved cycling over the Golden Gate bridge, clay pigeon shooting in Kauai, kayaking on Lake Tahoe and going around all the different wineries in Napa. It sounds amazing, and they deserved to enjoy every minute because they put a lot into creating a truly wonderful ceremony at Keavil House Hotel! Here are their top tips on how to design yours.
I guess the best tip is to be willing to invest time in making your ceremony. The most fun and probably the most difficult part of having a humanist ceremony is completing your “homework”. It’s not as scary as it sounds, but be willing to sit down away from your other half, and scribble down what you remember about when you first met, how you came to fall in love, and why you want to marry this person. It will seem silly at first but once you read back what you’ve written it will make you grin from ear to ear (well hopefully!) and also give you some content for your ceremony!
Tim suggested Colin and I sit down together once we had completed our homework, and read each others out to one another. It took us a while to get it completed but when we did eventually sit down, it was a lovely wee moment and we both got a little teary.
With a humanist ceremony, don’t expect your celebrant to write the whole ceremony for you (after all, YOU chose to have a humanist ceremony. So that means having to invest some time into making it into personal). Your celebrant will provide you with lots of helpful information, readings, and example ceremonies.
Another tip would be to try and include family/friends in your ceremony. We had our mums as our witnesses, which was a nice touch (good suggestion Tim!). Colin’s dad read some Burns, our Maid of Honour (the person who first introduced us) read the story of Joanne and Colin, and Colin’s sister tied our hands together for our hand blessing.
I guess our last tip would to be not to rush writing the ceremony and homework. If you are strapped for time then obviously don’t take too long, but we booked Tim 2 years in advance of our wedding. We therefore had plenty of time to think about what and who we wanted in our ceremony. The result was an intimate and sincere ceremony full of love, the ceremony of our dreams. 🙂
We are so happy that you were the person to marry us. Thank you for all your support leading up to the wedding too. Everyone is still raving about how it was the most sincere ceremony they have ever attended and we couldn’t have done it without your help. Keep up the great work Tim. You’re obviously a natural at what you do 🙂
Can you see why I love my work? Thank you, Joanne and Colin. It was a privilege. And thanks to Photos by Zoe for these great shots too.
Joanne Riddell left a comment on August 6, 2014 at 11:01 am
😀 We meant every word. If we could do it all over again we would. Joanne R
Katrina Lowrie left a comment on August 6, 2014 at 8:14 pm
Was the most loving,fun,emotional and personal wedding ceremony.we laughed and cried all day. We cant thank you enough Tim for supporting Joanne and Colin to prepare for their big day.It was truly special just like them. Best wishes Katrina and Gordon (Joanne's Mum and Dad)
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😀 We meant every word. If we could do it all over again we would. Joanne R
Was the most loving,fun,emotional and personal wedding ceremony.we laughed and cried all day. We cant thank you enough Tim for supporting Joanne and Colin to prepare for their big day.It was truly special just like them.
Best wishes
Katrina and Gordon
(Joanne's Mum and Dad)
I'm very touched! Thanks Katrina and Gordon and of course Joanne and Colin xxx