Wedding Ceremony in Northern Scotland - Inverness to Aberdeen

ALTERNATIVE OR TRADITIONAL CEREMONY – YOU CHOOSE! As an Interfaith Wedding Celebrant based in Northern Scotland, holding legal wedding and handfasting ceremonies is one of my passions in life and being invited to create and hold a ceremony of any kind is a great privilege.  When we work together I find out what you’d like for your wedding ceremony so you can have as much or as little input as you’d like - you can bring your own ideas or I can offer you ideas.  Sacred or secular, fun or formal, long or short, simple or complex, I invite you to think about what you would like most.

I HONOUR YOUR BELIEFS You and your fiancé(e) will have some religious, spiritual, moral or philosophical beliefs in common, and more than likely there’ll be something unique for each of you in what you believe and what you'd like your ceremony to include.  Your ceremony can honour both your beliefs and those of all your guests if you wish, as I can use wording which welcomes and includes everyone present, regardless of whether they follow a religious or spiritual path or not.  I'm just as happy to hold ceremonies you might call religious or spiritual, as Humanistic or non-religious.

EXERCISE THE FREEDOM AVAILABLE TO YOU During our preparations I assure you I will be listening carefully to your wishes and will not be imposing my beliefs on you – other than I believe you should be free to have the ceremony that would bring you the most joy.  So long as the content of your ceremony isn’t harmful or disrespectful to anyone or anything, you’re free to include any element and celebrate in whatever way you wish.

I’M A FULLY AUTHORISED LEGAL CELEBRANT I’ve been nominated by The Interfaith Seminary, the organization I trained with, to be one of a handful of fully authorized independent wedding celebrants.  I’ve been holding legal wedding ceremonies since 2006 in all sorts of amazing and memorable places across Northern Scotland – in castles, on beaches, in hotels, on boats, in houses and gardens – I love that every couple has their own unique idea about the location of their ceremony and what would make it special.

I’M HAPPY TO TRAVEL Whilst the area I hold ceremony in is mostly between Inverness and Aberdeen, over the years I’ve travelled all over beautiful Scotland to hold ceremony.  I've been down to Lochgilphead and the Crinan Canal, over the water to the Isle of Harris and Seilebost Beach, across to Glen Brittle Beach on Skye, and all around Northern Scotland, including Moray where I'm based and the Highlands which are close by, as well as down to Edinburgh and Perth.  I've also been to Southern Wales, Dorset and County Wexford in Eire!  If you feel I'm the right person to hold your wedding ceremony and share in your big day, wherever it will take place I'm always happy to discuss how to make this happen.

LET’S CELEBRATE YOU! The location for your marriage is just one aspect of your ceremony.  I can offer advice and ideas for location in the Inverness, Aberdeen and Moray area, or perhaps you’ve already decided where you wish to marry?  No problem either way as my primary role is to help you decide on the best way to celebrate and acknowledge your relationship with the wording, content and atmosphere of your ceremony.
 
WHATEVER THE WEATHER! I've held ceremonies outside in the snow, in gardens and conservatories in the rain, being blown around on the beach, and in scorching hot sun and under blue skies.  I take my lead from you as to what we'll do in case of frisky weather!  I may have to dress slightly differently to accommodate wet weather gear or wear several layers to keep warm, but I'm willing to do what it takes for you to have your ceremony as you wish.  (And I'm very agreeable to toasting you afterwards with hot toddies or chilled champagne depending on what the weather does!)

HAVE THE CEREMONY OF YOUR DREAMS If you’re reading this information it’s likely that you’re looking for an understanding and friendly Wedding Celebrant to hold your ceremony of marriage in Northern Scotland in a way which gives you the freedom and flexibility to have only and exactly what you would like within your ceremony.  To give you an idea of this, here’s a little about some of the marriages I’ve been invited to write and solemnize over the past couple of years.

FORMAL AND ALL ABOUT FAMILY Maggie and Hugo had family and friends travelling from the US and England for their ceremony so they chose to have a ceremony that was 45minutes long and had three family members doing readings.  Nature and a Celtic feel were important to them so we created a special handfasting ritual unique to them.  Their ceremony was held in the ballroom of the beautiful house Auchnagairn near Inverness, which could also accommodate their reception and around 45 guests overnight.  

CREATIVE AND CLASSIC Donna and Dave chose to marry at Spynie Palace in Moray which is just a few miles away from where they live.  Donna is a very creative person so she decorated the place with greenery and candles, floral arrangements and fabric, which looked wonderful.  Then she and Dave chose a ceremony which was quite traditional in structure with two readings during the address, and pre-recorded music to begin and end with.  The address was very personal and led up to their quite traditional vows and a ring exchange.

NATURAL AND INFORMAL Chris and Jules were having three marriage celebrations – one in the US as Chris’s Mum was unable to travel to Northern Scotland, one in Ireland with family and friends, and the one I held for them set the ball rolling – it was both the legal ceremony and their own undiluted acknowledgement of their relationship.  There were no guests other than two witnesses I provided for them, so no one to please other than themselves.  We held the ceremony on the beautiful Findhorn Beach on the Moray coast.  The ceremony was short and simple and included personal declarations and a ring exchange.  We finished the ceremony with a wee dram!

These are just three examples of ceremonies ranging from small to medium to large groups, and from complex to simple, from short to mid length to long.  Whilst they may not sound like exactly the kind of ceremony YOU might want, hopefully they highlight that they reflect each individual couple the ceremony was written and created for.  So if you'd like a ceremony written and created for you, about you, and including your choice of readings, ritual, vows and music - that is exactly what you will get!
 
Gratitude goes to everyone who has given permission for their photographs to be used on this site - both couples and photographers.
 
WILL RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPHY Many of the photographs within the general sections of this website have been kindly supplied by Will Russell.  Will is my fiance, a fellow Interfaith Minister and Celebrant, and a Wedding Photographer.  We have the great pleasure of working together to offer you a very unique combination of your wedding ceremony and your audio/visual needs.  
 
Will combines a rare sensitivity together with a friendly disposition to set you at your ease on your big day - especially important if you feel nervous about the prospect of being the centre of attention or having lots of photographs taken.  Whether you'd like posed formal shots, or mostly reportage, Will can be as creative or traditional as you'd like.  He will discuss your ideas about when and how you'd like photos taken and make a plan with you for the day.  Following the big day and after the editing process he'll make you an online gallery quickly so you and your family can see your photos, then he's very happy to create a wedding album for you, or he can supply you with all your photographs on a memory stick so you can make your own album and print as many copies of your photos as you wish.  
 
He not only takes great photos, he takes the time and trouble to ensure he understands what you'd like, and gives you just that. You're under no obligation to have Will as your photographer if you choose to have me as your celebrant, but know that you have that option should you wish to explore it.