Humanist marriage ceremonies are joyful and intensely personal occasions. Paraphrasing the lyrics of a song that was popularised in 1969 by Frank Sinatra, otherwise known as Ol’ Blue Eyes, they enable couples to ‘do it their way’. They are for couples that seek a more flexible and personalised alternative to either a civic ceremony or a religious service.
Unlike a civic or religious ceremony, which requires an exchange of vows, a distinguishing feature of the Humanist marriage rite is that a couple is asked to declare their ‘aspirations’ for a future together. They state their firm hope and intention of achieving their aims and honouring their commitments but at the same time, are honest and realistic enough to recognise that such aspirations may not, in fact, be realised in the long term, as they and their circumstances change. Nothing can be seen as certain in a couple’s future but by pledging or promising commitment to each other and ‘tying the marital knot’, they take an important step forward into it with confidence and with a clear understanding of the resolution that the path requires. Bearing witness to their pledges and promises, families and friends may only hope that a couple will uphold their intentions for as long as their relationship prospers. Yet with a determination on the part of each partner to rise to the challenges of making their marriage work, whether in health or sickness, happiness or sadness, ease or hardship, their relationship may endure till death shall them part.
However you seek to celebrate your alliance, marriage, partnership or union, whatever your sexual orientation, whoever you are, whenever, wherever and why you have chosen to marry, I can guide you in creating and staging the perfect ceremony. Please feel free to contact me.