I told Rob and Sarah they’d never use this photo… As so often, I was wrong! Sarah and Rob are both busies, as they call the police in Liverpool, and they first met at the scene of a pipe-bomb incident. That and some Facebook stalking led to a first date at … Continue Reading
Category
Universal Humanism
Hannah & Rory’s Humanist Wedding at Broxmouth Park
I knew that marrying a dashing young racing driver to a beautiful equestrienne would be fun. What I didn’t expect was that Hannah’s handsome horse Rowan would also be a part of the proceedings. Mind you, they did say in the ceremony, “love me, love my horse”, so I shouldn’t really have been surprised. Like … Continue Reading

Aziza & Peter’s Humanist Wedding at The Hub
Aziza and Peter spoke their vows to each other from cards
Humanism & Christianity: friends or foes?
I was delighted to join the reverend Richard Holloway and others as part of this conversation at St Andrew’s and St George’s church last month, and Liam Fraser who also spoke, pointed me towards this video of the event. It’s long, but if you want to know why I think people choose to have humanist … Continue Reading

10 years of legal Humanist marriage
It’s amazing what’s changed since June 18th 2005, when Karen Watts and Martin Reijns were married by Ivan Middleton at Edinburgh Zoo. Then there were only 12 celebrants authorised to conduct marriage. Now the HSS has ten times that number. Then the society could have counted its membership in the hundreds. Today there are more than 10,000 … Continue Reading
Ewan and Stewart’s Humanist Wedding at The Caves
Look at these photos, then tell me what’s missing… Gaydar didn’t exist 23 years ago when Ewan & Stewart got together. They met over the phone: this very one, in fact The Caves weren’t even a glint in Norrie Rowan’s eye then either… Yes, this will be a kind of detective … Continue Reading

Daisy & David’s Humanist Wedding at The Loch Fyne Restaurant, Newhaven Harbour
Daisy and David’s parents and grandparents delivered inspiring and moving speeches

Ramona’s Naming Ceremony
A naming ceremony is very like a wedding but much more relaxed, and Ramona’s welcome to the world was very laid back indeed. The house was packed with friends and their children as Claire, Bob and I talked about her journey into existence and the way her character has developed over the year she’s been … Continue Reading

My New Portrait
Rhona and Paul are getting married at the beautiful Amisfield Walled Garden in Haddington this August in August, and they kindly sent me a snap of their wedding cake topper: an uncanny resemblance wouldn’t you say?
Same Sex Marriage
Last weekend I conducted my second legal same sex marriage since the introduction of new legislation at the end of 2014, and it was a hoot: fantastic music, wonderful ceremony, heightened emotion: everything I’ve come to associate with same sex ceremonies since I first started to conduct them almost ten years ago now.In all that … Continue Reading