VIP (Very Important Paperwork)

Here’s a thing.  I thought it might be useful if you knew what happened on your wedding day, prior to your ceremony starting and guess what?  There’s no one way.  You’re all very different.  You are all individuals <insert Life of Brian quote here>.

One thing that never changes- your Marriage Schedule.  You’ve submitted your M10 forms and supporting paperwork, one (or both) of you has collected the Schedule from the Registrar local to your venue a couple of days before your wedding and it’s barely been out of your sweaty hands since.

When I arrive at your wedding, I have a good scout* around for someone clutching a very official-looking envelope and I take it from them and I check it and I tuck it away in my folder and I smile and say, ‘There SHALL be a wedding today!’ and choirs sing and bells ring in glorious chorus and folk drop to their knees in elation.  Or something like that.

or

When I arrive at your wedding, I have a good scout* around for someone clutching a very official-looking envelope and, instead, I see queasy, grey-faced blank stares.  No marriage schedule.  It’s lost, forgotten, a dog ate it, it spontaneously combusted, it Evanesco’d, it’s an ex-schedule (what’s with the Python references tonight?).

Whatever.  Find it.  If you don’t find it, yo wedding is a bust.  It’s a very expensive party for some very grumpy people and the only saving grace is that your Mother-in-law, the one giving you the hardest, longest I’m-going-to-kill-you stare, isn’t actually your Mother-in-law BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT MARRIED.

So, for the love of All Things Dull and Ugly, remember your effing Marriage Schedule.

 

* Here’s a good scout, my friend and colleague, Jennifer.  With a owl.  Not a parrot.

 

Claire | Claire the Humanist

Wedding- Sarah & John

Sarah and John were married just before Christmas in Glasgow, at the City Halls and Old Fruitmarket and I’m still talking about it.  I’d been looking forward to their wedding for ages- our meetings had been a lot of fun, they both really put the effort in with their homework, the ceremony was looking pretty fine and the Fruitmarket is a really cool city centre venue.  AND John’s from Sunderland so his accent is a little lush.  AND Sarah never. Stopped. Smiling.  I’ve looked through all their photos (repeatedly, stalker-like) and Sarah is grinning, all the way through.  It’s lovely to see and it’s just amazing to be part of it all.

Three things we covered in their ceremony:

  1. Tinder
  2. Beetroot makes your pee pink
  3. There’s a relatively new Aldi in Anwick.

Can you tell that this was a fun ceremony to write?  Foiled engagement plans, love at first sight, great guns; we had it all!

We also had a band warming, a handfasting (using some very precious Harris Tweed) and, unusually, a wee jumping of the broom at the end.  Sarah’s mum and John’s son did fab readings: The Union by Robert Fulghum, which Mum read beautifully during the handfast and an excerpt from Cath Crowley’s Graffiti Moon, which was delivered word perfect and to enthusiastic applause,

“If my like for you was a football crowd, you’d be deaf ’cause of the roar.  And if my like for you was a boxer, there’d be a dead guy lying on the floor. And if my like for you was sugar, you’d lose your teeth before you were twenty. And if my like for you was money, let’s just say you’d be spending plenty.”

Back to the jumping of the broom.  I’ve maybe had it half a dozen times but it never fails to get your guests excited, especially in a kilted wedding ‘cos you never know what you might see, mid-leap.  Some say it’s a fertility rite, others reckon it’s more a way of marrying when there’s no one to marry you.  Whatever the reasons, it’s really good fun and a bit different.  You should try it!

“Dear Claire, We wanted to thank you again for being so wonderful and making our wedding ceremony certainly one to remember!  We had such a wonderful day and a big part of that was down to your care, attention to detail and, of course, humour!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Lots of love, Sarah & John”

This was also my first wedding with ace photographer, the bold Neil Thomas Douglas, he of the beard.  There were lots of ginger beards there that day:  Neil, The Groom, Me……


Readings: The Union by Robert Fulghum and an excerpt from Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Music: Rhys the Piper

Photographer: Neil Thomas Douglas (cheers for letting me use all your amazing photos and not running away when I started waving a fake beard about!

A year of weddings- what have I learnt?

It’s been a full year since I married the delightful Diane and Thomas.  And what have I learnt? 

Loads, loads, loads.

Things I quickly confirmed: my admin skills are abysmal, I have a pathological fear of double booking (but have invented a 400 point strategy to avoid it) and sleep in July is for wimps.

Perhaps more importantly for you:

It’s never to early to book your celebrant.  Fact.  

If you are getting married between May- September, regardless of how far away your wedding is, BOOK YOUR CELEBRANT!! Then sit back and peruse Pinterest with impunity, smug in the knowledge that you are sorted.

And, if you are getting married between October- April, BOOK YOUR CELEBRANT!  Damn it, just do it!

Claire | Claire the Humanist

People confuse Humanists with Spiritualists all the time.

Let me be clear. Humanists are fantastic, genuine, considerate and compassionate folk who would never pray on the understandable desire of the bereaved and vulnerable to speak to their much loved deceased relatives.

Spiritualists, not so much.

Weddings get HOT.  Damn hot.  

Open ALL the windows. Now.

Claire | Claire the Humanist

Folk worry about being emotionally vulnerable in front of their guests.

Dinnae worry about it.  They LOVE it.  In my limited experience, grooms are more likely to cry than brides.  I put this down to the long wait with no dizzyingly chaotic bridal party to distract them.  Groomsmen- yo need to up yo game, bruh.

Most commonly asked question about ceremonies is ‘How long does it take?’

Answer: longer than the 20 minutes on offer by some wedding venues.  Yes, The Vu, I’m looking at you.

Bridezillas are a figment of TLC’s imagination.

Bridesmaids and Mums, on the other hand, are occasionally as crazy as a soup sandwich.

Claire | Claire the Humanist

The most important thing I have learnt this year is this:

Your ceremony sets the tone for your entire wedding day.

Claire | Claire the Humanist
You heard me.

If you do your homework and spend some time thinking about who to involve in your ceremony, you will be amazed what happens.  A teensy bit of effort on your part and your wedding is elevated from something lovely to something extraordinary.  Don’t take my word for it, check out what Katie’s Dad had to say….

You really set the tone for the whole day and it carried on through the meal and the dance at night – we had an absolutely fabulous day.

See?  If Mike said it, it must be true.

I know it’s been a good day when I have to wolf whistle to get everyone back to their seats after the ‘Signing the schedule’ photo break ‘cos they are all so hyper.  I know it’s been it a good day when I’m picked up and burled round by an excitable Scouser proclaiming it’s the ‘best fookin weddin’ he’s ever been to.

And I know it’s been a good day when I get a wee email afterwards that says this,

Everyone at the wedding said it was quite simply the best they had ever attended, Louise & Chris

We had a totally perfect day and the beautiful ceremony you conducted was exactly what we had hoped for, Ryan & Angela

Thank you so much for making our wedding ceremony so amazing, Derek & Lisa

Nailed it.

Thanks, Year One Wedding Couples, it’s been a blast…..bring it on, Year Two!

Claire | Claire the Humanist