Humanist Wedding Ceremony

[RedEmma]

Has anyone had one? Did you go for a legal marriage as well, or just the humanist ceremony? And what was your venue?

Me and DP are both atheists, and DP in particular is not interested in a legal marriage, but I would love to have a wedding/commitment ceremony. I'm just a bit stumped on venue - not keen on a big hotel wedding really, but prefer something a bit less formal.

If you come to Scotland, you can have a humanist wedding which is also legally binding. And you can have it wherever you can persuade a humanist celebrant to go.

We're not that bothered about the legally binding bit, more the ceremony. Did you have a humanist wedding?

No, but I'm thinking about becoming a humanist celebrant. If they'll have me.

I do really like the amount of freedom you have to design your own ceremony. Coming up with a suitable venue is the problem though!

How about a village/community/Scout/Guide hall sort of a place? You can dress it up as much or as little as you like.

There is a community centre near us. I guess maybe I'm looking for somewhere a bit smarter than that but less formal than a hotel!

I'm quite interested in slightly quirky venues too - some American friends recently got married in a New York book shop

No one else had a humanist wedding then?

We had a legal wedding in a registry office and then later on a humanist wedding in a hotel

Yes, we did where its legally binding. We had the ceremony and wedding in one venue; a lovely old wooden building in an old harbour.

The ceremony had the same section you get in a registry office, but before that we had a long address made by the celebrant to the two of us (she had chatted to us weeks before)

We chose readings - poems, lyrics from a song and a passage from Kahil Gibran's the prophet, and musicians playing our choice in music.

We could basically chose anything we wanted so long as it didn't overtly mention God etc.

It was a really nice way to have a special, unique ceremony that felt "weighty" without being religious or sterile in a civil ceremony. It was a very special day - our celebrant was wonderful.

Good luck in your wedding planning!

Thanks

What kind of building was it MistressSeuss?

Friends had a humanist wedding - they dived into the registry office the day before to do the legal bit, and then had their wedding in a theatre. It was wonderful, and totally reflected them and their 'alternative' lifestyle

A warehouse - but a very pretty old one