Earlier in May, EmbraceTheDay's Lisa was interviewed on BBC Hereford & Worcester. Lisa talked to Kate Justice about naming ceremonies; a great way to have a bespoke ceremony for your child with traditional or modern touches. She also talks about weddings, commitment ceremonies and the ability to have ceremonies in your dream locations. Check it out. #celebrants #babynamings #naming #wedding #commitment #radio #interview #royal

This is a relatively new term in this country, so what does it mean? This term refers to families that are joined together by a relationship. So whilst they are not all necessarily blood relatives they are families in a broader sense of the word. I guess once upon a time they may have been referred to as a step family. The Oxford Dictionary gives this definition “a family consisting of a couple, the children they have had together, and their children from previous relatio

When planning ceremonies it is quite usual for people to want to mention those that cannot make the ceremony. For some this can mean those that are no longer living and for others simply those that cannot attend the ceremony that day. This can be an awkward issue for couples to negotiate. If they are people that cannot make the ceremony that day as, maybe they are on holiday or they are housebound, that is a little easier to deal with. A paragraph can be included that refe

One of the great things about using a Celebrant for your ceremony, apart from the obvious personalised nature of the work we do, is being able to have any readings you want included. They can be religious, poems, quotes or something that has been written especially for the day. However, what you will need to think about is who will read these for you as part of your ceremony. It is not usually a good idea to spring this on a family member or friend on the day as public spea

So now you have read our earlier blog about what a Celebrant actually is and why you need one for to make your ceremony totally unique….how does it work? Well if you have decided to engage the services of a Celebrant you are about to be taken on a very special journey in the build up to your big day. As one of the main reasons for engaging a Celebrant is having your ceremony totally bespoke and personalised you will be asked to take time to think about what marriage means to

Naming Ceremonies are becoming increasingly popular as a way of celebrating a child, often not long after it has been born but sometimes years later, as an alternative to a christening. If one or more parents are not religious they may feel that a christening or baptism is not for them. Or they may feel as we did, that they want their child to be able to choose whether to follow a religion in the future, not being at all religious ourselves. It felt wrong for us to introdu

No, I mean LITERALLY. Most people these days have heard of a hand fastening but do we really know what they are? Well for a start that is where the term “tying the knot” originates from so we all know more than we think immediately. Hand fastenings date back to the ancient Celts and are an ancient Pagan custom that are definitely having a revival with couples. It wasn’t originally part of the wedding ceremony but more connected to a typical engagement period. When a coupl

Celebrants are quite used to conducting sand ceremonies as these have become more popular of late for weddings, commitments and also naming ceremonies. But what is a sand ceremony, I hear you cry….a sand ceremony is a unity ceremony and the blending of the sand represents the coming together of two people and their families and friends one. There are many ways to include a sand ceremony and this is down to individual preference. Some couples prefer layering the sand whilst o

Well actually quite a lot! Selecting a name for your child may seem like an easy fun thing to think about but actually it can be quite overwhelming and stressful for parents and can even end in arguments! Often parents will have a list of names that they each like and family and friends will try to be helpful by adding their suggestions. However, here lies the problem…if two parents are involved they will have to agree on the name and the name will also have to complement t

Ever thought about a wedding afloat whilst on a cruise. This has to be the ultimate in wedding romance. There are the obvious benefits to this, for example combining your wedding and honeymoon dramatically reduces costs, your guests pay for themselves and, of course, cruises are usually inclusive of food so no massive food bill for the day. However, you need to think about whether you want a full family entourage on your honeymoon and this is not to mention the thousands o

So here goes my first blog as a Celebrant. Back to basics….what’s a Celebrant? So I’m trying to reduce the number of puzzled faces here! If I had to choose one word to sum up a Celebrant ceremony it would be PERSONALISED. If you have your ceremony conducted by a Celebrant it means it will be totally unique to you. There will be no restrictions with the content of your ceremony, time or the venue you want to use. Did you know with a Celebrant you can have any readings yo