One of the best things that I get to do as a celebrant is go to wedding fayres and meet all the lovely couples who are planning their wedding day. There are so many different types of couple, ranging from those who know exactly what they want, to those who are right at the start of their marriage journey and haven't even begun to think about what they might like to happen on their big day.
Wedding Fayres (or Fairs, you choose - and that's what it's all about. Choice!) can be daunting places, and it's no wonder, with stall after stall of cakes, violinists, magicians, flowers, dresses, caterers, photographers, favours, cars, horses... the list of things you can include in your special day is endless.
And then you have someone (i.e. me!) look you straight in the eye and ask you, 'Have you booked your celebrant yet?' to which the response is invariably some version of 'What's one of them, then?' or 'We've got a registrar, is that what you mean?' or a plain 'No, we haven't.' And if you want to know the difference between a celebrant and a registrar, check out my blog post 'What do you get if you cross a celebrant with an engagement?'
A lot of people will (quite sensibly, in my opinion...) will leave booking their celebrant to the end of all their careful prep so that everything is in place for the celebrant to work around. Of course, one of the most important elements of any wedding day is where you're going to hold the ceremony, and this is where a celebrant can really make all the difference.
A celebrant is able to perform your wedding ceremony anywhere you like: on the beach, up a tree, in a valley forest, in a field, in a caravan, on the top deck of a double decker bus...the list is, you've guessed it, endless, whereas a registrar is more limited as to where they can perform ceremonies.
But, back to those wedding fayres.
They really are excellent places to get a lot of your prep work done. Personally, I love meeting all the different suppliers, and getting to know them, and the sort of work they do. As you might imagine, we bump into each other all the time, so we get to know their areas of expertise - and we love being able to pass our knowledge on to our engaged couples.
The wedding fayre is your friend. Attend with open mind, and open heart. And if I'm there, drop by by stall - at the very least, you'll be able to answer my question well!
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