Celebrant profile:
Linda Britton
I've been a celebrant for a while and enjoyed this work more than anything else I've done previously. I retired from full-time employment in Social Services, before that in the NHS. I volunteered as a counsellor with Cruse Bereavement Care and found it to be helpful when meeting grieving families. Humanism is about equality and respect, what we share rather than anything that might divide us, about making choices and the opportunity to live life to the full and that's what I try to do
Check My Availability
Busy Limited Available
Wedding & Civil Partnership Ceremonies
How I feel about being a wedding Celebrant
I love it! - it's a privilege to be part of your special day. I enjoy meeting people, discussing your plans with you and ensuring it all comes to fruition.
My approach to weddings
Meet each other (if it's possible, if not use email and phone) discuss the ceremony, I can write the script or I'm happy to read what you have written. I take my lead from you. There are lots of ideas and advice I can pass on however I like you to make the decisions. My role is to ensure the ceremony is what you want and feel comfortable with and we all enjoy the day.
What I love most about conducting weddings
Being part of your day, making sure that you are calm and prepared, saying the things you want to say to family and friends and ensuring the day is happy and memorable
My advice to you
Enjoy the day, be yourself, delegate as many tasks as you can and have a wonderful time.
My favourite piece of wedding poetry:
Finally, I have found a place into which I fit,
Perfectly, safely and securely, with no doubts, no fears, no sadness, no tears.
This place is filled with happiness and laughter,
Yet it is spacious enough to allow me to move around,
To live life and to be myself.
This wonderful place, which I never believed really existed,
I have found. Finally - in your arms, in your heart, in your love.
(Author unknown)
My favourite piece of wedding music
"Lovely Day", by Bill Withers
My most unusual location for a wedding to date:
A youth hostel, a beautiful old house with spectacular grounds.
More recently I conducted a wedding on a privately owned island on Loch Lomond which was spectacular. The sun shone, the cows joined in by serenading us and it was exactly what the couple hoped for, sunshine too!
Funeral Ceremonies
A Humanist funeral ceremony should reflect the life and personality of the person who has died in a fitting and meaningful way. It's a way of saying goodbye honestly and without pretence, using words and music to remember who they were and how they lived their life. It is a celebration of their life and the people who shared it with them.
In these difficult times it's even more important that people feel part of the ceremony, this has been helped by the introduction of 'live-streaming' in venues. If there is a way to make the ceremony meaningful and inclusive then it should be done. Everyone who is part of the process of conducting and carrying out funerals will do whatever it takes to make it the best it can be.