Hello and welcome!

I frequently get asked 2 questions

1) Are you a humanist?

2) What is it exactly you do?

So I thought I’d create a series of posts to answer them, and to give a little more insight into the work of a celebrant. Feel free to comment and ask me anything you like. Disclaimer: this is my professional page so I will be shamelessly touting for work.

1) Are you a humanist?

No! I’m n independent civil celebrant. I’ll expand on that, and the differences in a later post.

2) What is it a celebrant does?

Well. The short answer is I help you to celebrate an important moment in your life. My work is divided into three categories: Wedding, Family and Funerals. Or ‘hatches, matches and dispatches’ as they used to say.

As a wedding celebrant, I work with you and a wedding planner (if you have one) and the venue to help you script the perfect ceremony, including vows and readings . Then on the day I’ll be the one presiding over it. This could be for a wedding, or a civil partnership, or even for a renewal of vows. Can I actually marry you? Alas, no. The official part has to be done with a registrar beforehand- and under a roof. But the ceremony with me can be anywhere you like, however and whenever you like. We can make it a true celebration, exactly the way you want it.

As a family celebrant my main role is to perform naming ceremonies – the non-religious version of christenings. I can also work with you to welcome a new person to your family with an adoption ceremony. Some people change their name and their identity, and to mark this important moment they sometimes like to celebrate this with a ceremony-I can help there too. Finally, some people going through divorce would like a ceremony to show their friends and family that they are moving on, making this new chapter in their life as official as the ceremony that started the marriage. Divorce ceremonies are becoming more popular.

Finally, as a funeral celebrant I work with you and your funeral director to help you say goodbye to your loved one. This can be a cremation or a graveside committal and ideally is a true celebration of the deceased’s life. Fun and laughter are not uncommon at a funeral scripted and held by a celebrant. Some people who are approaching the end of life hold ‘living funerals’- these are a way to say goodbye, to hear eulogies and to make final memories; I can work with you on that too.

So that’s a bried overview. I’ll expand on each aspect of celebrancy in posts to come. In the meantime, pop over to www.frasergrantcelebrant.com to see more of the stuff I do.