While you may not need a celebrant, you may definitely want one to make your celebration that bit more special and unique to you.
A celebrant is a trained professional with the skills and experience to create and conduct a personal and meaningful ceremony. We spoke to Jenny Knight, celebrant and founder of Knight Ceremonies, to learn a bit more about what value a celebrant will add to your big day.
What does a celebrant they bring to an event?
It’s a lovely way to create a ceremony, being able to choose the person that conducts your special celebration, getting to know one another, having an input into the ceremony words, and having sight of those words before the day so you know what is happening.
We get to run through these details in situ at their venue, and so by the time the day arrives, the clients have a real understanding of how it will flow on the day, and of course, know that we have it all in hand.
What’s the difference between a registrar and a celebrant?
In short, the registrar will prepare and conduct a concise and standard ceremony, and a celebrant creates a personal and meaningful one!
The registrar has to include two legal aspects within their ceremonies, the legal declaration and the signing of the marriage paperwork.
Which ceremonies do you offer?
I come from a wedding planning background and so wedding ceremonies were naturally where I felt I belonged, but I now also thoroughly enjoy renewal of vows and baby naming ceremonies too.
To be able to tell a couple’s story at a wedding is a wonderful thing, but to be able to also tell the story of two people that are celebrating a milestone anniversary, or indeed a family welcoming a new arrival to a family is really beautiful.
We have been there at many of life’s milestone events for our couples. It’s all about relationships and we love being there for them at these wonderful times in their lives.
What types of venues have you worked at?
I work across the entire spectrum of venues, from working farms and barns to luxury and landmark buildings!
Last year over 80% of the venues that I worked at were licensed, which shows me that couples were booking us because they chose personal and bespoke, over and above a more standard option.
There are no restrictions when using a celebrant, just so long as you have permission to use the space or the land, we can (and do) work anywhere!
If you fancy a beach wedding, a rooftop venue under the stars, a woodland setting, a festival themed celebration in a field, a gallery space, luxury ballroom, or a ceremony on a boat, we would love to work with you!
Do you have any tips/advice on making the ceremony as unique and special as possible.
We embrace diversity, and as independent celebrants, we can include elements of religion, cultures and family traditions too. I have worked with couples that have a deep-rooted faith but just wanted an acknowledgement of this rather than it being the theme of their celebration, and so we work together to create something personal and completely unique to them.
I advise all of my couples to keep in mind what they want, and to be true to who they are, and the rest then slots into place!
You must have worked on some amazing celebrations, tell us about your favourites?
It sounds cliché, but as each couple is different, the experience behind each wedding is completely unique and I love this about my role as a celebrant. It is hard to pick a favourite as such, but some of the ones that stand out as being a little different include:
- Conducting Sri Lankan lamp lighting ceremony for a multicultural couple
- A Persian Sugar Rubbing Ceremony for an Iranian bride and Irish Groom
- A Lamp Lighting and a rice wine toast for a couple working in Vietnam
- Handfastings with family members involved in ‘tying the knot’
Our couples really feel the value that we add and the difference we can make, and our feedback is consistently exceptional. We can’t ask for more than that, and we truly love what we do!
For more information, head over to Jenny’s website at www.KnightCeremonies.co.uk.
