Weddings of the Heart

I see wedding ceremonies and civil partnerships as festivals of Love, and it is a great joy for me to accompany a couple on the journey that leads to their marriage ceremony. I am happy to meet with a prospective couple free of charge to explore the possibility of working together. Finding a date early on, and making sure I am available is key!!!! Answering a questionnaire will provide a wonderful platform for me to get to know you and help you get clearer about your relationship and wishes in getting married. Using this, and in consultation with you, I will begin to create a tailor made wedding ceremony, to reflect your spiritual beliefs, deepest thoughts and highest intentions.

Your vows reside already in your heart. I will help you bring those deep wishes and intentions to the light, and support you, or collaborate with you, to write your own vows that reflect your unique relationship.

It is still not possible in England, as a non-denominational minister, to do the legal registration of the marriage. This has to take place in a registry office, or on a site registered for weddings for example, a hotel, to which the Registrar will come. However, it is not necessary in the simplest form of the registry office wedding to exchange rings, or speak the “statement of intent”. Together with the vows, these can be kept for the heart of the ceremony, which I will lead, where family and friends are gathered to witness the event. Some couples like to go to the Registry office right before the wedding ceremony where I am waiting with most of the guests for them to arrive. Others prefer to do the legal part the day before, or some other time.

When I work with a couple, as their minister, I hold them in my heart for the duration of the process from the time we agree to work together to the big day itself. I am available for additional counselling if necessary. Most couples find two or three meetings suffice in discussing the creation and shaping of the ceremony. It is very much a collaborative event. I am able to give advice on many aspects of what is involved in the ceremony, and support the couple in the emotions that can arise, often unexpectedly.

A wedding rehearsal is essential. It is ideal if it is at the same time of day as the wedding is going to be, so we know what the sun will be doing! You will find that the rehearsal is a great opportunity for all kinds of laughter and tears, and nervous tension to be released so that the actual wedding can run smoothly.

I have performed wedding ceremonies in many different locations, inside and outside, from private gardens to woodland, or beaches, from hotels, to village halls, and private houses or other function rooms. I am certain that “there is no place where Love is not”, and that any place is made sacred by the loving hearts of the wedding guests and family.

When we have agreed the final version of the ceremony, (usually after the fine tuning a