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"What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life, to strengthen each other, to rest on each other...to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories."
George Eliot |
As a Professional Celebrant, I will work with you to create a personalised wedding ceremony, tailor-made to suit your individual wishes. The service can be as traditional or as unusual as you wish.
Historically, the options for wedding services in England have been very limited. You could choose a religious service in a church or place of worship, or you could opt to be married by a Registrar with strict rules prohibiting any religious or spiritual content, including hymns, readings or simple prayers, and no flexibility in the format and wording of the service itself.
The Independent Professional Celebrancy Movement first began in Australia over 40 years ago and has been growing in popularity in the UK for the past decade. More and more couples today are choosing to write their own vows and want the flexibility to create a wedding service which is truly individual and personal to them.
Working with me as your Professional Celebrant also means that you can hold your wedding service anywhere you choose - the venue doesn’t need to be licensed so you can get married anywhere from your garden to a favourite place with a special significance for you both. As a formality, each couple is required to obtain a wedding licence ahead of the ceremony. This is very simple - all you need to do is register with your local Registry Office a month before your ceremony, and then visit the office in person to get your wedding licence which costs approximately £50 and involves reading out a short legal citation in front of the Registrar. This can be done on the morning of your ceremony or earlier to suit you.
Before your special day, I will work with you to write a personalised ceremony for you which I will then officiate for you on the day. With the responsibility of the smooth running of the ceremony taken care of, you can relax and enjoy a truly memorable and individual wedding day shared with family and friends.
What kind of ceremony do we want?
You may still want a service that has a traditional feel to it but one which also incorporates some additional vows written personally for you to share with each other in front of your closest family and friends. Or you may want a wedding ceremony that involves elements of symbolism such as hand fasting or the lighting of a unity candle. Whatever your preference, I am here to talk through your ideas and options to help you create the best possible ceremony to suit you both.
Some couples can feel restrained by the overall formality of traditional wedding services. If humour is important to you, working with an independent Celebrant means that you can build in light-hearted moments to your ceremony, while still being respectful of the commitment that you are making to each other.
Many couples today are also choosing to marry abroad, but this can make it difficult to have all of your closest family and friends present on the day due to cost and the logistics of getting everyone there. However, you can still enjoy an intimate wedding anywhere in the world and then, working with a Professional Celebrant, re-create your special day back at home when you can more easily have everyone you want to be there to witness your vows to each other and share in your wedding ceremony.
The options are limitless and ultimately the choice is yours.
What happens next?
Once we’ve spoken, if you feel that I could be the right person to create a personalised wedding ceremony for you, I will arrange a time to meet with you to talk through your ideas, wishes and options. I can also suggest ideas for you to think about if that would be helpful for you.
On payment of an initial deposit, I will then go away and write a draft personalised ceremony for you to meet all of your individual needs. Once you’ve reviewed the service created for you, I can make any amendments or alterations as needed so that you can go into your wedding day entirely happy with your ceremony, knowing that it’s exactly what you want.
Once all the details are finalised and the date for your wedding is confirmed, I will arrange a rehearsal with you and your immediate family and friends who are directly involved in the ceremony. This way everyone will feel comfortable and confident in what they have to do so that you can all concentrate on enjoying the day itself, while I lead the ceremony for you and ensure that all runs smoothly and according to plan.
I don't charge any travel expenses for ceremonies in central London or the Ashbourne area of Derbyshire and, with enough warning, I'm happy to discuss the possibility of taking ceremonies elsewhere if additional costs incurred are covered.
I also create bespoke Renewal of Vows ceremonies.
For more information on how I could help create the perfect ceremony for you, or to find out more about working with an Independent Celebrant, please contact me and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Recent Wedding Ceremonies
www.jayrowden.com/wedding-photography-at-mandarin-oriental-london/
Testimonials
Thanks so much for helping us create such a personal wedding ceremony. The ceremony turned out even better than we hoped and everyone really enjoyed it – I think the laughter and the tears demonstrated that. Many people welled up, including my mum, who wasn't expecting to! Thanks for everything on the day and in the run up.
Claire & Will, wedding ceremony at the Drayton Court Hotel, London W13
We loved the ceremony that you wrote for us, and thank you for patience and for listening to what we wanted, and making it all so personal and meaningful to us. A special thank you for your help in writing our personal vows, we really wouldn’t have known where to start on our own! It was such an incredibly happy day for us both and for our families, and we thank you for everything that you did to create such a special ceremony at the heart of it.
Emma & Lynne, wedding ceremony at Devonshire Terrace, London EC2
Thank you for all the work you put into writing our wedding ceremony. It was a pleasure to work with you, everyone thought we must have known you for years! We had such a fantastic day and the ceremony was a perfect balance of fun, love and seriousness – and jokes! You’ve been so brilliant, thank you so much for everything.
Izy & Nick, wedding ceremony at the Amadeus, Little Venice, London W9
Thank you so much for your wonderful ceremony. It was perfect, and perfect in a way we never imagined. It was formal, intimate, moving, funny and created such a sense of warmth throughout the room. We received countless comments on how good our ceremony was from our guests, and is a period of the day that we will hold closely in our memory for years to come. We are both so grateful for all your time over the summer, your flexibility to our ideas and timing as the day drew near, and wish you all the very best. With all our love and thanks.
Mindy & Peter, wedding ceremony at the Amadeus, Little Venice, London W9
Thank you so much for an amazing ceremony. So many people commented on how special and personal it was to us and we have to thank you hugely for that. It was a magical day from beginning to end and thank you so, so much for helping to create a gorgeous atmosphere in a very special venue.
Leanne & Del, wedding ceremony on New Year's Eve at The Swan, Shakespeare's Globe, London SW1
Thank you so much for all your work, it was a really lovely service and we got many compliments on our vows – people were surprised that we hadn't actually written them ourselves, they seemed so natural. Thank you for such a personal and moving ceremony.
Rebecca & Mike, wedding ceremony at the Bear Inn & Hotel, Alderwasley, Derbyshire
Thank you for really making our day so special. We had lots of comments about how personal the ceremony was and how perfectly suited it was to us. As well as everyone saying what a lovely person you are, we obviously agree with all their comments! You really helped us shape our wedding and we could tell you really understood us as a couple and put that into some special and memorable words on the day. We couldn’t have asked for a better day and are truly grateful for everything you did in the lead up to and on the day. Thank you!
Caroline & Tim, wedding ceremony at Little Longstone Chapel, Derbyshire
Thank you so, so much. How you managed to come up with the most perfect service in such a short time I will never know! We wouldn't have changed a single second of our day, it was perfect. Thank you.
Jessica & Adam, wedding ceremony at a private home, Rowsley, Derbyshire
We just want to say the biggest thank you ever for being part of our day, for putting us at ease and helping to create the most perfect, personal and special ceremony! Everyone loved how well it fitted us and the whole day was just wonderful, so thank you for everything you did for us, we will remember it forever!
Jess & Chris, wedding ceremony at Horsleygate Hall, Holmesfield, Derbyshire
We loved every second of the day. It couldn't of been any more perfect! Thank you so much for making our ceremony so special and personal.
Harriet & Toby, wedding ceremony in the garden at home, Sudbury, Derbyshire
Thank you so much for leading our wedding ceremony. We really appreciated all your efforts from working with us to get the ceremony just right, to all your advice on making it go well and working for everyone. The ceremony was exactly what we wanted and so many people commented on how beautiful it was and just right for us.
Thank you so much for everything.
Kirrily & Paul, wedding ceremony at Lowfield Farm, Middleton-by-Youlgrave, Derbyshire
We were looking for something personal, something that reflected what our marriage meant to us and didn’t want a formal approach or a reading of ‘just words’. Our experience with Sue was just perfect. She took time to get to know us both as a couple and individually, taking ‘our words’ and shaping them into a wonderful story. We wanted our children to be involved in the day and Sue offered up some really creative ideas on how to involve them in the ceremony. It meant so much to us to have our children play a role in our special day and offer ‘their words’. In the preparation and build up to the day, Sue kept the process, and the effort on our side, simple. We felt we were in safe hands and she took care of everything. Our friends all commented on just how perfectly matched the ceremony was to us, and how wrapped up they felt in the story that was being told by Sue. It was a surprise to us to receive all ‘those words’ in print from Sue after the ceremony – what a lovely way to look back on our day, the promises we made and the message we received. Sue is a warm and welcoming individual, someone who immediately feels part of the family. We can’t recommend her highly enough.
Julie & Johnny, wedding ceremony at Birdsgrove House, Ashbourne, Derbyshire
So many of our guests commented on what a lovely service it was and how unlike any other they had been to. They mentioned how personal it was and just the right balance between being a formal ceremony whilst at the same time being so relaxed. We both had an absolutely amazing day and are so glad that we chose you to be our celebrant. Many thanks for everything,
Eve & Jon, wedding ceremony at home in the garden, Ashbourne, Derbyshire
We both just wanted to send you a quick message to say thank you so much! The ceremony was absolutely perfect and we couldn’t have asked for it to have gone better. After initially dreading standing up in front of people it is now the part of the day I hold dearest. It fitted our personalities and our day perfectly. You made us feel very comfortable and we had so many compliments on the ceremony.
Kat & Mike, wedding ceremony at Horsleygate Hall, Derbyshire
We just wanted to express our thanks to you for such a beautiful, lovely and wonderful wedding ceremony you performed for us on 7 September. We have received many comments from our guests on how personal and touching they thought the ceremony was. How well you talked about us both, our story and all the little personal touches within it. We could not have asked for a better ceremony or celebrant to conduct it for us, it really was memorable in every way. Thank you once again.
Alice & Gallin, wedding ceremony at Osmaston Park, Derbyshire
I just wanted to say thank you for the beautiful ceremony you wrote for Fliss & Mark: the quotations you shared and your own messages about marriage throughout the ceremony were so sincere and thought-provoking. To bring all of us together in that way and in celebration, despite our different beliefs, was pretty amazing. The inclusive language you chose was so perceptively in tune with what we all had in common - and was so clearly and skilfully considered. Many wedding services I have been to were not like that at all. What an amazing and inspirational thing to be doing for people! I’ll praise your name to the rafters for anyone I know thinking about a more personalised ceremony.
Ben, friend of Fliss & Mark, wedding ceremony at the Tithe Barn, Old Ditcham, Hampshire
Historically, the options for wedding services in England have been very limited. You could choose a religious service in a church or place of worship, or you could opt to be married by a Registrar with strict rules prohibiting any religious or spiritual content, including hymns, readings or simple prayers, and no flexibility in the format and wording of the service itself.
The Independent Professional Celebrancy Movement first began in Australia over 40 years ago and has been growing in popularity in the UK for the past decade. More and more couples today are choosing to write their own vows and want the flexibility to create a wedding service which is truly individual and personal to them.
Working with me as your Professional Celebrant also means that you can hold your wedding service anywhere you choose - the venue doesn’t need to be licensed so you can get married anywhere from your garden to a favourite place with a special significance for you both. As a formality, each couple is required to obtain a wedding licence ahead of the ceremony. This is very simple - all you need to do is register with your local Registry Office a month before your ceremony, and then visit the office in person to get your wedding licence which costs approximately £50 and involves reading out a short legal citation in front of the Registrar. This can be done on the morning of your ceremony or earlier to suit you.
Before your special day, I will work with you to write a personalised ceremony for you which I will then officiate for you on the day. With the responsibility of the smooth running of the ceremony taken care of, you can relax and enjoy a truly memorable and individual wedding day shared with family and friends.
What kind of ceremony do we want?
You may still want a service that has a traditional feel to it but one which also incorporates some additional vows written personally for you to share with each other in front of your closest family and friends. Or you may want a wedding ceremony that involves elements of symbolism such as hand fasting or the lighting of a unity candle. Whatever your preference, I am here to talk through your ideas and options to help you create the best possible ceremony to suit you both.
Some couples can feel restrained by the overall formality of traditional wedding services. If humour is important to you, working with an independent Celebrant means that you can build in light-hearted moments to your ceremony, while still being respectful of the commitment that you are making to each other.
Many couples today are also choosing to marry abroad, but this can make it difficult to have all of your closest family and friends present on the day due to cost and the logistics of getting everyone there. However, you can still enjoy an intimate wedding anywhere in the world and then, working with a Professional Celebrant, re-create your special day back at home when you can more easily have everyone you want to be there to witness your vows to each other and share in your wedding ceremony.
The options are limitless and ultimately the choice is yours.
What happens next?
Once we’ve spoken, if you feel that I could be the right person to create a personalised wedding ceremony for you, I will arrange a time to meet with you to talk through your ideas, wishes and options. I can also suggest ideas for you to think about if that would be helpful for you.
On payment of an initial deposit, I will then go away and write a draft personalised ceremony for you to meet all of your individual needs. Once you’ve reviewed the service created for you, I can make any amendments or alterations as needed so that you can go into your wedding day entirely happy with your ceremony, knowing that it’s exactly what you want.
Once all the details are finalised and the date for your wedding is confirmed, I will arrange a rehearsal with you and your immediate family and friends who are directly involved in the ceremony. This way everyone will feel comfortable and confident in what they have to do so that you can all concentrate on enjoying the day itself, while I lead the ceremony for you and ensure that all runs smoothly and according to plan.
I don't charge any travel expenses for ceremonies in central London or the Ashbourne area of Derbyshire and, with enough warning, I'm happy to discuss the possibility of taking ceremonies elsewhere if additional costs incurred are covered.
I also create bespoke Renewal of Vows ceremonies.
For more information on how I could help create the perfect ceremony for you, or to find out more about working with an Independent Celebrant, please contact me and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Recent Wedding Ceremonies
www.jayrowden.com/wedding-photography-at-mandarin-oriental-london/
Testimonials
Thanks so much for helping us create such a personal wedding ceremony. The ceremony turned out even better than we hoped and everyone really enjoyed it – I think the laughter and the tears demonstrated that. Many people welled up, including my mum, who wasn't expecting to! Thanks for everything on the day and in the run up.
Claire & Will, wedding ceremony at the Drayton Court Hotel, London W13
We loved the ceremony that you wrote for us, and thank you for patience and for listening to what we wanted, and making it all so personal and meaningful to us. A special thank you for your help in writing our personal vows, we really wouldn’t have known where to start on our own! It was such an incredibly happy day for us both and for our families, and we thank you for everything that you did to create such a special ceremony at the heart of it.
Emma & Lynne, wedding ceremony at Devonshire Terrace, London EC2
Thank you for all the work you put into writing our wedding ceremony. It was a pleasure to work with you, everyone thought we must have known you for years! We had such a fantastic day and the ceremony was a perfect balance of fun, love and seriousness – and jokes! You’ve been so brilliant, thank you so much for everything.
Izy & Nick, wedding ceremony at the Amadeus, Little Venice, London W9
Thank you so much for your wonderful ceremony. It was perfect, and perfect in a way we never imagined. It was formal, intimate, moving, funny and created such a sense of warmth throughout the room. We received countless comments on how good our ceremony was from our guests, and is a period of the day that we will hold closely in our memory for years to come. We are both so grateful for all your time over the summer, your flexibility to our ideas and timing as the day drew near, and wish you all the very best. With all our love and thanks.
Mindy & Peter, wedding ceremony at the Amadeus, Little Venice, London W9
Thank you so much for an amazing ceremony. So many people commented on how special and personal it was to us and we have to thank you hugely for that. It was a magical day from beginning to end and thank you so, so much for helping to create a gorgeous atmosphere in a very special venue.
Leanne & Del, wedding ceremony on New Year's Eve at The Swan, Shakespeare's Globe, London SW1
Thank you so much for all your work, it was a really lovely service and we got many compliments on our vows – people were surprised that we hadn't actually written them ourselves, they seemed so natural. Thank you for such a personal and moving ceremony.
Rebecca & Mike, wedding ceremony at the Bear Inn & Hotel, Alderwasley, Derbyshire
Thank you for really making our day so special. We had lots of comments about how personal the ceremony was and how perfectly suited it was to us. As well as everyone saying what a lovely person you are, we obviously agree with all their comments! You really helped us shape our wedding and we could tell you really understood us as a couple and put that into some special and memorable words on the day. We couldn’t have asked for a better day and are truly grateful for everything you did in the lead up to and on the day. Thank you!
Caroline & Tim, wedding ceremony at Little Longstone Chapel, Derbyshire
Thank you so, so much. How you managed to come up with the most perfect service in such a short time I will never know! We wouldn't have changed a single second of our day, it was perfect. Thank you.
Jessica & Adam, wedding ceremony at a private home, Rowsley, Derbyshire
We just want to say the biggest thank you ever for being part of our day, for putting us at ease and helping to create the most perfect, personal and special ceremony! Everyone loved how well it fitted us and the whole day was just wonderful, so thank you for everything you did for us, we will remember it forever!
Jess & Chris, wedding ceremony at Horsleygate Hall, Holmesfield, Derbyshire
We loved every second of the day. It couldn't of been any more perfect! Thank you so much for making our ceremony so special and personal.
Harriet & Toby, wedding ceremony in the garden at home, Sudbury, Derbyshire
Thank you so much for leading our wedding ceremony. We really appreciated all your efforts from working with us to get the ceremony just right, to all your advice on making it go well and working for everyone. The ceremony was exactly what we wanted and so many people commented on how beautiful it was and just right for us.
Thank you so much for everything.
Kirrily & Paul, wedding ceremony at Lowfield Farm, Middleton-by-Youlgrave, Derbyshire
We were looking for something personal, something that reflected what our marriage meant to us and didn’t want a formal approach or a reading of ‘just words’. Our experience with Sue was just perfect. She took time to get to know us both as a couple and individually, taking ‘our words’ and shaping them into a wonderful story. We wanted our children to be involved in the day and Sue offered up some really creative ideas on how to involve them in the ceremony. It meant so much to us to have our children play a role in our special day and offer ‘their words’. In the preparation and build up to the day, Sue kept the process, and the effort on our side, simple. We felt we were in safe hands and she took care of everything. Our friends all commented on just how perfectly matched the ceremony was to us, and how wrapped up they felt in the story that was being told by Sue. It was a surprise to us to receive all ‘those words’ in print from Sue after the ceremony – what a lovely way to look back on our day, the promises we made and the message we received. Sue is a warm and welcoming individual, someone who immediately feels part of the family. We can’t recommend her highly enough.
Julie & Johnny, wedding ceremony at Birdsgrove House, Ashbourne, Derbyshire
So many of our guests commented on what a lovely service it was and how unlike any other they had been to. They mentioned how personal it was and just the right balance between being a formal ceremony whilst at the same time being so relaxed. We both had an absolutely amazing day and are so glad that we chose you to be our celebrant. Many thanks for everything,
Eve & Jon, wedding ceremony at home in the garden, Ashbourne, Derbyshire
We both just wanted to send you a quick message to say thank you so much! The ceremony was absolutely perfect and we couldn’t have asked for it to have gone better. After initially dreading standing up in front of people it is now the part of the day I hold dearest. It fitted our personalities and our day perfectly. You made us feel very comfortable and we had so many compliments on the ceremony.
Kat & Mike, wedding ceremony at Horsleygate Hall, Derbyshire
We just wanted to express our thanks to you for such a beautiful, lovely and wonderful wedding ceremony you performed for us on 7 September. We have received many comments from our guests on how personal and touching they thought the ceremony was. How well you talked about us both, our story and all the little personal touches within it. We could not have asked for a better ceremony or celebrant to conduct it for us, it really was memorable in every way. Thank you once again.
Alice & Gallin, wedding ceremony at Osmaston Park, Derbyshire
I just wanted to say thank you for the beautiful ceremony you wrote for Fliss & Mark: the quotations you shared and your own messages about marriage throughout the ceremony were so sincere and thought-provoking. To bring all of us together in that way and in celebration, despite our different beliefs, was pretty amazing. The inclusive language you chose was so perceptively in tune with what we all had in common - and was so clearly and skilfully considered. Many wedding services I have been to were not like that at all. What an amazing and inspirational thing to be doing for people! I’ll praise your name to the rafters for anyone I know thinking about a more personalised ceremony.
Ben, friend of Fliss & Mark, wedding ceremony at the Tithe Barn, Old Ditcham, Hampshire