Congratulations!
If you’re reading this, it would seem that congratulations are in order: you’ve hit the jackpot!
For you have not only found someone you love, but you’ve won their heart in turn. Whether through sleepless nights of planning or a sudden outburst of feeling, ‘The Question’ fell from one set of lips to be answered by a kiss from the other.
In a certain sense, the hardest part of building a life in love with another person is over. In another, as many of you may already know, the work of love has only just begun.
What comes next is a ceremony which takes the private truth of your love and makes it a permanent part of the world we share with our friends, our family, and the entire dramatic ensemble of humanity:
Marriage.
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The Role of the Celebrant
As a registered civil celebrant, this is the part where I come in!
The process of organizing a wedding is very much a collaborative one, with many hands on board before the vaunted kiss which opens your lives as a married couple.
You might think of a celebrant as a member of the ‘team’ which brings your wedding to life, working alongside other professionals – photographers/videographers, caterers, wedding planners, etc.
One key difference between a celebrant and other members of the wedding team is that, while much of the work of the others is centered upon the wedding reception, the celebrant’s work is focused on the ceremony itself.
While a celebrant can be more or less involved in a given wedding, according to the preferences of the marrying couple and the celebrant’s professional scope, the key duties of your celebrant are the following:
- To make sure that a wedding satisfies all the legal requirements necessary to properly register the marriage.
- To design and deliver a wedding ceremony, in collaboration with both of you, in order to satisfy your desires and preferences as far as possible, bearing in mind the legal stuff.
- To organise a rehearsal in order to make sure that everyone involved in the ceremony understands and are comfortable with the role(s) they have to play.
- To provide information on relationship and family support services which may be of use in working through the potential difficulties of married life. I normally provide this information to couples during an early meeting, but you can also find my info sheet here.
I’ll take a load off of your mind right now and say that this includes the legal documentation required to satisfy the government, leaving you with one less thing to worry about leading up to your wedding!
While not required for a legally valid wedding, a rehearsal prior to the actual wedding day (usually within the week before) is strongly recommended for all weddings except ‘legals-only’ services. For more information on the distinction between ‘legals-only’ and ‘standard’ or ‘full’ services, click here.
Mature love is union under the condition of preserving one’s integrity, one’s individuality.
Love is an active power in people, a power which breaks through the walls which separate people from their fellows, which unites them with others; love makes them overcome the sense of isolation and separateness, yet it permits them to be themselves, to retain their integrity.
In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two.
Erich Fromm, The Art of loving
Liam Kelly - Civil Celebrant 