As P.G. Wodehouse once observed, “it’s never hard to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine” and it’s true that there are no words in English (or Scots) for “joie de vivre”. I quite often meet couples who say they really don’t want “a lot of flowery, romantic guff” in … Continue Reading
Category
Humanist Weddings Scotland
Are we allowed to sing?
My advice is to find a song that’s not too complicated, so everyone can join in
Let’s begin at the beginning
Weddings always begin with the entrance of the bride. Well yes, up to a point, Lord Copper. That’s usually the case, but it really doesn’t have to be like that. Many of the women I marry have successful careers, earn more than their partners and live independent lives full of achievement and purpose. How many … Continue Reading
My parents are very religious, I don’t want to upset them…
Humanist ceremonies are non-religious, not anti-religious. Humanism is about the things that unite people, rather divide them, and the most important of these is love, so it’s difficult for even the most intolerant person to take offense. I often say that “although this ceremony is non-religious, it will be entirely legal, mostly civil (slight pause … Continue Reading
Order, Order!
The most important thing to remember about your humanist ceremony is that it should be exactly the way you want it. So if you’re totally chilled and like whatever, man, you probably won’t want an Order of Ceremony. On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who sets goals and can recite most … Continue Reading
Is Humanism some kind of weird hippy thing?
Until they get married, or go to a funeral, most people have never heard of Humanism, so we get asked all sorts of questions by Anxious of Newtonmearns. So let me reassure you now that – unless you really want to – we don’t all take our clothes off and dance widdershins round a yew … Continue Reading
Can we have music?
I’ve never done a wedding yet without some kind of music and I find it hard to imagine what it would be like. Depending on your budget and resources, you can have music of all sorts. I did a lovely wedding on a farm where the groom’s sister and brother in law played a song … Continue Reading
How long is the ceremony?
Most wedding ceremonies seem to last between 20 minutes and half an hour, which feels about right to me. Any less and it’s too quick; much longer, and the drinkers in the audience start getting restless. It’s a good idea to follow the old theatrical rule: leave them wanting more.
First steps
Once you’ve decided you want to get married (congratulations, by the way!), you’ve got lots of decisions to make about venues and menus, all of which can take up a lot of time. It’s worth taking a moment to think about who you want to celebrate your marriage too, because how they conduct themselves will … Continue Reading
Why choose a Humanist Wedding?
According to the latest official statistics, weddings in the UK as a whole are in long term decline, down by 10%, year on year. Which is odd, because the demand for humanist weddings in Scotland is growing all the time. In 2005 – when they became legal – there were 434. By 2007, there were … Continue Reading