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Bride and groom kiss at the end of their wedding ceremony led by a celebrant

Wedding Celebrants


Celebrant weddings are on the rise in the UK, as an increasing number of couples are choosing to have a personalised wedding ceremony conducted by a professional officiant. Wedding celebrants offer the expertise and background required to guide couples in shaping one-of-a-kind ceremonies that truly reflect their individuality and profound love for each other. Whether you're seeking a Humanist wedding ceremony or one led by an Independent Celebrant, you can explore the offerings of these skilled officiants and discover the best wedding celebrants near you who will make your wedding ceremony truly special.

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Ultimate Guide to Wedding Celebrants

Wedding couple jumping the broom

From tackling your most common queries about wedding celebrants to diving deep into all the important details you need to know when choosing a celebrant-led wedding ceremony, our Ultimate Guide to Celebrants and Celebrant-led Ceremonies is your best resource for guidance and insight. Read More Here

Key Facts About Wedding Celebrants


Typical Price The national average "typical" cost of a celebrant-led wedding is £664. Of course, this price will vary depending on your location, the celebrant's experience and package inclusions.
Legalities If you're having a wedding in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Jersey, wedding celebrants are able to perform legally binding wedding ceremonies. Celebrants in England and Wales can currently perform symbolic ceremonies.
Location There aren't really any restrictions on where a celebrant can perform your wedding ceremony. So, your wedding can take place anywhere whether that be inside a wedding venue, at home or in the great outdoors at a meaningful place.
Booking We recommend booking your wedding celebrant as soon as you have booked your wedding venue or chosen where you'll be tying the knot. Most couples book their celebrant at least 12 months before the big day.

Wedding Ceremony Reading Ideas

Wedding celebrant performing beach ceremony and giving reading as couple hold hands

If you're looking for some inspiration for wedding ceremony readings at your celebrant-led ceremony, check out our resource. It's important to find readings that authentically reflect your relationship, align with the style of your chosen ceremony, and bring a distinctive touch, setting your wedding apart from friends' and family members' big days... Read More Here

FAQ's About Wedding Celebrants

A wedding celebrant is a professionally trained officiant that will write and deliver your bespoke wedding ceremony. These often feature your story as a couple, any readings that you like (or sometimes bespoke readings) and symbolic rituals. A wedding celebrant will often get to know you and your partner on a deeper level so that they can truly represent your relationship in your ceremony.

It depends where in the UK you are based. For couples in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Jersey, it is the officiant that is licensed to perform legally binding weddings, so many wedding celebrants are able to perform a legally binding ceremony. England and Wales currently work under a slightly different law where the location is licensed and not the person. So, it is only registrars or specific religious leaders who are able to perform legally binding weddings. The law in England and Wales is hopefully going to be changing in the near future to work on a similar model to Scotland and other UK countries, so it is hoped that celebrants will soon be able to perform legally binding weddings here too.

Celebrants can perform a ceremony anywhere. They are able to perform your ceremony indoors and outdoors and there is no time limit, so you generally have no restrictions, which offers couples complete flexibility. From ceremonies in wedding venues to elopements on mountains, there is no limit to where you can tie the knot.

If you are in England or Wales, you can have the legally binding wedding ceremony anytime! Many couples having a celebrant-led wedding like to head to a registry office with a handful of loved ones to witness the civil ceremony before their bigger celebration. Others like to have their bigger wedding first and do the official part soon after for the legalities. The choice is totally yours!

It is best to book your celebrant as far in advance as possible since many will get booked up quickly, especially for summer Saturdays. Once you have decided where you'd like the big day to take place, it is only natural that your ceremony booking will follow soon after. Most wedding celebrants will only perform one wedding a day, unlike registrars who can do a few, so if you have a specific celebrant in mind, get them booked! From a timing perspective, we would suggest at least a year with a minimum of six months before the wedding day, especially if you want a truly customised ceremony.

Humanist and Independent celebrants both offer very personalised ceremonies which can take place wherever and whenever the couple chooses, as they are not legally binding and so are not restricted by marriage laws. Couples choosing a Humanist or Independent celebrant ceremony will complete their legalities separately, often though an inexpensive statutory ceremony. Humanists celebrants follow a particular belief, that you live just one life and that life should be cherished and lived fully, so elements of that belief tend to be woven into the ceremony. You don't have to consider yourself to be a Humanist to have a Humanist ceremony, however their celebrants all follow the Humanist faith and undergo extensive training in order to be a celebrant. Independent celebrants don't follow a particular belief, so their ceremonies can contain a mix of religious, non-religious and belief-based content and rituals.

Many wedding celebrants belong to organisations like the Association of Independent Celebrants (AOIC) or Humanists UK. They know lots of other celebrants and have often developed great relationships with their celebrant colleagues. So, should the unexpected happen, they can find a replacement they trust and know will be able to deliver the wedding ceremony they've written for you to keep things running smoothly on your big day.