Are All Celebrants The Same?

Not all celebrants are the same and in my opinion the differences fall into three broad categories - ethos, training & practice.

The mark of quality!

In terms of ethos, each celebrant brings to the job their personal values and those of any professional bodies to which they belong.  As an Independent Celebrant I am free from all religious or philosophical restrictions and can write ceremonies that are deeply spiritual or entirely secular, and everything in between.  This is unlike many other celebrants who adhere to particular world views such as Humanism and are therefore restricted in the kinds of ceremonies they can create and deliver. As a Heart-led celebrant I am committed to the values of acceptance, integrity and creativity.  This means that in all my celebrancy work I am truly inclusive, accepting people for who they are and working with their needs to create ceremonies that represent and are meaningful to them.  This acceptance is demonstrated throughout the creative process by the language I use, the communication methods I employ, the connection I seek to make with each and every individual, couple and family with whom I work and, of course, the final ceremony that I write and deliver.  I conform to the highest professional standards in every aspect of my work.  This is one of the reasons that I limit the number of ceremonies I perform (significantly in comparison to some celebrants) in order that I can give every client my best work.  As a heart-led celebrant, creativity is foundational to all my work - I have been shocked during my first year of working as a celebrant by the number of people I’ve come across who have confessed to using the odd bit of AI or recycling ceremonies when pushed for time.  For me, however, creating a ceremony is a sacred act that requires all my creative energy; I will never employ AI or use a cut and paste approach to ceremony writing. For more detail on my ethos and what I can offer as a wedding celebrant follow the links.

It still amazes me that there is currently no regulation of celebrants in the UK.  Despite interacting with people at some of the most vulnerable moments in their life, anyone can set themselves up as a celebrant. The majority of celebrants do seek formal training although, just as anyone can say they’re a celebrant, so too can anyone say they're a celebrant trainer and it’s fair to say the quality of training on offer varies greatly.  I still shudder at the memory of reading the biography of one celebrant who argued that having no training allowed them to respond to their clients' individual needs, rather than be confined to any particular position!  In my book this is rather like saying that in order to respond to the individual needs of their patients, we’d prefer Drs to be untrained - ludicrous!  My own training was with Heart-led celebrant training - aka Veronika and Paul Robinson.  Veronika is a celebrant with more than thirty years experience and Paul is a similarly experienced voice coach.  Training with Veronika and Paul is a 1:1 experience and as such is personalised to each trainee's specific needs.  As a teacher, I had lots of experience speaking in front of people but less understanding of the concept of liminal space; I needed to practise to ensure my delivery of ceremonies did not sound like a school assembly!  Heart-led training involves both written and practical tasks and graduation is decided by achievement not attendance. The training I received from Veronika and Paul laid the most stable and thorough grounding on which to build my celebrancy practice and I am forever grateful.

C & M's Garden wedding, June 2025

The time eventually comes after training when a new celebrant has to embark on their own journey and start to build their celebrancy practice.  How each celebrant does this is hugely significant in establishing their similarities to, and differences from, other celebrants.  For example, not all celebrants will limit the number of ceremonies they commit to in any one week in order to ensure they have the space and time to do the absolute best for every single client.  Not all celebrants will undertake further training citing lack of time, money etc., as the reason.  Continuing to develop your celebrancy skills is critical if you are to be the best celebrant you can be and I have especially enjoyed the two celebrant retreats I have attended so far - one on Handtying Ceremonies and one on creating Beautiful Bereavement Ceremonies.  I have continued to take the opportunity to shadow more experienced celebrants, do my best to attend the monthly CPD offered by Veronika and Paul and set aside time each week for professional reading.  Not all celebrants make time for self reflection to build on their skills, or self care to nurture themselves in order that they can best serve their clients. Both these practices are a critical part of my working life - for example, last year I completed my first Park Run and recently reflected on how blessed I am with my friendships.

If you have an important occasion coming up in your life and think you might like to mark it with a ceremony, please take a look at my website.  I’d love to hear from you if you feel I am the right celebrant for you (for advice on choosing the right celebrant see my blog).

By Catrina Young, Leicestershire Heart-led Celebrant; Marking Life’s Moments.

© Hardingstone Ceremonies, January, 2026