Come and meet Spiritual Ceremonies at The Wedding Journal Show to find out more about their celebrants and services for your wedding ceremony. Here they share some important things to ask when looking for your celebrant to make exchanging your rings and vows a truly heartfelt and memorable experience.

Is your Celebrant registered with the General Registrars Office to conduct the legal part of the ceremony?

A solemniser is a person who is registered with the General Registrars Office to conduct the legal part of your ceremony. There are a lot of people and organisations out there offering their services to act as the celebrant for your ceremony, but not all of them are solemnisers, so be careful when choosing the celebrant. You don’t want to be sitting in the Registrars office giving your notice of intention to marry to be told that your celebrant isn’t registered.

“This happens very regularly,” says Enda Harte of Spiritual Ceremonies. “We get couples ringing from the Registrars in tears, asking if we can facilitate them on their wedding day because they’ve just found out that the celebrant they originally booked isn’t registered to perform the legal element of their wedding.”

There are a number of non legal celebrants misinforming couples that the only way to get married is to have 2 ceremonies, your legal ceremony in the registry office and then they will do a ceremony for you at your venue. This is not the case.

Is the celebrant working on his or her own, or as part of a group?

It is very important to check with the person you are looking to perform your ceremony what happens if they get sick or cannot attend to do your wedding. Do they have someone else who can perform your ceremony? The last thing you want after all your planning is no one turning up to actually marry you.

Is the person you want to do your ceremony able to cater for you and your partner?

Every couple and every wedding is different. According to Enda Harte: “Couples have told us that they’ve been told by celebrants and celebrant organisations that they don’t cater for same-sex marriages, or that they don’t cater for foreign couples, to name a few.”

We cater for all, we are all equal in love. Your celebrant should be able to give you the ceremony that you are looking for on your special day, subject to all of the legal requirements of a marriage being met.

Can you tailor the ceremony?

Your wedding is one of the most important days in your life and you should have an idea of what you would like to include. A solemniser should be able to customise your ceremony for you, into one that reflects you and your partner as a couple.

Your celebrant should be able to work with you to choose any theme of music, readings or poems that convey a message about you and your partner.

Says Graham Barrett: “Spiritual Ceremonies have been privileged to have walked with over 16,000 couples from all over the world on their journey toward their special day here in Ireland. We travel the length and breadth of Ireland, from Cork to Donegal, seven days a week, making memories with our couples on their special day. We can perform a ceremony indoors and outdoors (outdoors is subject to requirements under the Civil Registrations legislation).”

Can your celebrant bring a spiritual element to your ceremony?

The definition of spirituality encompasses real self, the truth of our inner self, our inner being. “At Spiritual Ceremonies we take time with you to design your ceremony, so that it reflects you as a couple, honouring your beliefs and values, ensuring they are reflected in the content and length of your ceremony,” says Tara Carroll.

Spiritual Ceremonies have a large team of Registered Solemnisers available in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, all of whom can perform the legal element of a wedding ceremony. They also perform vow renewals, wedding blessings, naming ceremonies and Celebration of Life ceremonies (funerals). 

According to Bernadette Dolan, “We are highly-trained to design your ceremony, to reflect your personal needs, because we understand this is one of the most important days of your lives. We ensure your ceremony is created with you, for you and about you. Our highly experienced team have performed over 16,000 wedding ceremonies to date”

To find out more about Spiritual Ceremonies click here

For a list of exhibitors booked to date at The Wedding Journal Show click here