Anyone had a humanist wedding ceremony?

Grawns

Would like to do something other than the registry office but nothing too soppy. Would love to hear how others found the experience.

Crumble Froo

when is it? ive never been to one yet, but will be attending one in nz this december, twill be on a clifftop, of all places, i think there will be one prayer, but otherwise religion free.... ive no idea what to expect, but i can report back here if you like?

stevejazzx

I was hired to play guitar at one held in the Mount juliet hotel chapel thomastown.
It was great. Friends and family preformed poetry and music, and there were general speeches and well wishing. The person overseeing the ceremony (i.e makeshift priest sans religous entanglements) was great as she simply recorded the story of how the people met and invited them to share their reasons for wanting to cement their relationship. The whole thing was so much more touching and interesting than a regular wedding, many of which I have played at too.

robindch

My sister had one two weeks ago today here in Dublin. The day started off with a short and private registry office thing with just the immediate family present, then a longer and more formal one later on as the first part of the full wedding reception at the hotel. The whole thing was really rather nice and squarely placed the love that my sister and her now-husband so clearly share at the center of the ceremony. A great day

Scofflaw

Unfortunately, if you want a non-religious wedding, you cannot avoid the registry office, because there are no licensed non-religious solemnisers in Ireland. For the marriage to be legally valid, you will need to do the registry office thing.

Having said that, my wife and I viewed the registry office 'ceremony' as very much the same as getting a passport or any other bureaucratic process, and kept it very quiet, with a couple of very old friends in attendance.

We actually got "married" about 6-7 months later. The ceremony was held outside in a park, with my brother reading the vows (he's very tall, has a big beard and lots of gravitas), and all of our friends asked to 'witness' the vows.

If you don't mind separating the legal registration of the marriage from the celebration of it, you can do whatever you like. Bear in mind that elderly relatives will almost certainly disapprove.

cordially,
Scofflaw

passive

Bear in mind that elderly relatives will almost certainly disapprove.

And then they'll die, so it all works out okay...

Dades

passive wrote:

And then they'll die, so it all works out okay...

Someone got left out of the will. :eek:

aidan24326

Scofflaw wrote:

Bear in mind that elderly relatives will almost certainly disapprove.

Let them. Though I've been to a couple of civil non-church weddings recently and there didn't appear to be too much in the way of dissenting voices from what I could make out. If and when I get married it won't bother me if some of the older folk don't approve. Tough luck.

Poppy78

We had one in a marquee, in the field out the back of our house. We used a bloke from the humanist society called Dick Spicer (I think this is actaully his real name) to oversee the thing. We had planned to go to registry on our own (obviously with witnesses) and have a party after. Too many relatives asked if we would actually be married. Mostly to put their minds at ease we wrote a few vows and had a few songs and poems read by family. It turned out to be the best day ever and gave me a really happy memory to look back on. Suprising amount of family were either unimpressed or snotty about it though so make sure you have thick skin. Asked quite often if we were just getting married for tax reasons.

Grawns

Thanks for all the comments. Have decide to go with a unitarian service in the end. As long as I can avoid the catholic church why shouldn't I have my pomp and ceremony. Am still very interested in the Humanists and am going to request a humanist ceremony in my will. ( must update now that I am getting wed)

Dades

Have a great day!

And good luck with your secular gift list.

Tar.Aldarion

Oooh, I see contension in my future...