**Why photographers 🧡 celebrant led weddings!**
As a professional wedding celebrant and the former manager of a destination venue wedding team, along with my team of wedding coordinators I’ve planned and delivered hundreds of ceremonies and I can wholeheartedly say that photographers, videographers and content creators adore celebrant-led weddings!
One of the biggest challenges for photographers on a wedding day is navigating the restrictions often imposed by registrars and vicars. Typically, they end up limited in their movement and where they can capture those precious moments. However, with a celebrant-led wedding, the atmosphere is entirely different. Celebrants tend to be more flexible, collaborating with photographers and allowing them to roam freely and capture the most authentic and beautiful images of the day. Plus, the emotional depth of the ceremony shines through. A good celebrant has built a great relationship with the couple and is able to elicit genuine emotional reactions of laughter, tears and joy from the couple and their guests, resulting in stunning images and video content filled with emotion.
Don’t just take my word for it, I asked the lovely Hayley Baxter, ‘Yorkshire & North East Wedding Photographer of the Year 2024’ for her opinion and she said:
“I absolutely love celebrant led ceremonies, they are so much more personal to a couples day. It’s lovely for guests (and us suppliers!) to find out more about the couples story. Often interlaced with humour and happy tears, celebrant ceremonies really do bring an extra dimension to a wedding day.”
There are so many benefits to having a celebrant, another is the freedom it brings to your ceremony location. You’re not confined to a stuffy corporate room; instead, you can tie the knot in your garden, atop a stunning mountain, beside a breathtaking waterfall, barefoot on a beach, on a boat or a steam train. You can marry at twilight under the stars, or have a ceremony at dawn with the sunrise, the possibilities are endless, allowing couples to choose a time and a meaningful place that resonates with their love story, their hobbies or where they got engaged.
I love when couples personalise their ceremonies, making them thoughtful and unique. After all, the day is about celebrating your love! Choosing the right officiant is crucial to creating a meaningful experience. I’ve sat through way too many ‘one size fits all’ ceremonies, they feel so impersonal, the registrar are strangers that are meet the couple a few minutes before the ceremony and it’s disheartening to see the level of anxiety and fear that this brings to a previously relaxed bride or groom. Thats not the way your special day should begin!
A fabulous celebrant crafts a fun, personal ceremony that truly reflects the couple and their love story. They invest time in getting to know you and creating a bespoke experience that involves your guests from the get-go. You could have surprise ring bearers, doggy ring bearers, dancing down the aisle, surprise witnesses, comedy flower men, sing-alongs, a touching ring warming ceremony, or even celebratory shots! Celebrants know how to bring the party, making the entire experience unforgettable and the photographers, videographers and content creators capture all of this magic!
Still happy to have a basic ‘one size fits all’ ceremony, or should we chat?