A celebrant is NOT a humanist. The term celebrant is a job title. The term Humanism relates to a world view.....Not all celebrants are humanist.... Read on.

This blog is about the difference between a humanist and an independent celebrant. While all humanists are celebrants, not all celebrants are humanists. For example, I am an ordained minister celebrant authorised to officiate legal weddings.

Lets be clear. Both Humanist and Independent Celebrants will deliver a beautiful ceremony. There are a good deal of similarities in how they write and officiate a ceremony. The main difference is that Humanism is a belief in itself and a way of life that people adhere to embracing reason, ethics and human connection. They do not believe in God or a higher power and cannot include any religious, sacred, or spiritualist content in their ceremony. A humanist celebrant must, to remain in integrity, design and lead a ceremony that reflects humanist beliefs and values devoid of spiritual support.

An Independent Celebrant is by definition Independent and therefore free to design and conduct ceremonies that are non religious, spiritual, contain religious content, or a combination of them all offering a more open-ended, customizable approach to ceremonies which are filled with depth and connection to the greater cosmos.

An independent celebrant however cannot legally marry you unless, like me, they are part of a belief organisation and authorised to officiate marriages.

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I am an Ordained Interfaith Minister with Open Sanctuary and authorised by the Registrar General to officiate legal weddings. This means you can have a beautiful, personalised wedding ceremony reflecting your wishes, beliefs and values. An amazing day filled with fun, soul, humour, and warmth all within a sacred heartfelt ceremony to create the foundation of your marriage.

There is no need to have the legal side done elsewhere. I have the freedom to include whatever you as a couple want in your wedding ceremony. It is YOUR ceremony - YOUR Way......and it will be legal.

image by denisemcdonaldphotography

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