Yvonne Beck Celebrant

Your bespoke Ceremony is all about you and your style, ideas, and personality. It really can take place almost anywhere indoors or outdoors, at any time of year, and in almost any locations or venue. I have led ceremonies in private homes and gardens, in National Trust premises, Village Halls, private Marquees in Forest and Field, at Country Clubs, hotels, and public houses, as well as on Boats, on Rafts drifting over a mountain lake, in Castles and Palaces, woodland, beach and lakeside, and so many more beautiful locations. Ceremonies can be held in licenced and unlicensed venues, so the choice is completely yours! The day of the week is your choice - some venues offer excellent rates in off season or midweek and so you can really plan around your budget. The time of day is also decided by you - so if you are looking for a ceremony under the stars or at sunrise, I am happy to oblige! Absolutely every Celebrant just wants to say "YES" to your ideas!

At the moment as the Marriage Act stands, marriages in England cannot be legalised by a Celebrant, and this is currently under the scope of a Review by the Law Commission. Celebrant led ceremonies however are a wonderful option if you are looking for a totally unique and personal ceremony. Celebrants can include rituals and symbolic elements, religious or spiritual themes and content but if a couple wish to make their marriage legal they should go to a local Registry Office, give notice and then sign the Register at an allotted time and date. The marriage service is conducted by the Registrar who asks the couple to complete repeat a 32 word declaration before 2 witnesses. Couples who decide to hold a Celebrant-led wedding ceremony can choose to do this during a short Standard Service at a Register Office at some point before or after their Celebrant led Ceremony. The cost of the Service is usually around £50 to £60. There is no mandatory exchange of rings or Vows, so many couples will choose to complete this at their Celebrant led Ceremony. Registrars do licence a variety of premises for legal marriage services, and venues will often show couples the rooms that have been approved. However, the couple will not be able to hold their wedding ceremony outdoors, and nor will they be able to have any religious or spiritual content and their vows, Readings and Music will be vetted by the Registrars office. There are no restrictions in my Ceremonies, and my couples love the fact that they are able to blend a variety of symbols, rituals, words and meaning so that they are truly able to represent their own values and beliefs and lifestyle.

Yes of course you can! The Ceremony is truly yours, therefore you have full control of the time, location, and the content. If you wish for a blending of faiths to be a part of the ceremony, then this can of course be done. We can have symbolic faith based rituals such as holding a Chuppah, Breaking the Glass, Seven Steps Ritual, Hand Washing Ritual, and many more. I have also worked with Clergy and Priests at ceremonies where they have given Blessings and read passages from the Bible. I am happy to include and represent all faiths, and beliefs.

A Registrar is not able to spend time with you over months even years to get to know you, and create something that is totally about you as a couple. They may have up to 4 ceremonies to attend to in various premises on any one day - whereas I will only conduct one ceremony per day so that I can give you my 100 per cent attention. I will meet you, discuss your plans and ideas, and offer you a completely bespoke package, with your story, vows and promises, and the opportunity to have any guest take part. All guests for example can take part in the Ring Warming Ceremony, where the rings are passed to each guest, who is asked to hold them and "warm" them with their love and good wishes for the couple's future. You can include any readings, religious, or spiritual themes and nothing is vetted or restricted. A Registrar is only able to provide a very limited amount of personalisation, based on templates rather than creatively written scripts, and absolutely cannot perform the ceremony outdoors (unless under a licenced structure) and is not able to offer rituals like a Candle Lighting or Ring Warming Ceremony. I offer couples unlimited drafts of your wedding script, full editorial control, authentic storytelling and content that reflects you both in a Ceremony totally tailored to your own personal beliefs, ideas and wishes.