Choosing your wedding celebrant for a wedding in Ireland

Choosing a wedding celebrant for your wedding in Ireland that will reflect you both as a couple is one of the most important decisions you will make when you decide to get married. The wedding celebrant should be able to guide you through the process of registering your intention to marry and put your wedding ceremony together with your input.  Here is a list of tips when selecting a wedding celebrant:

1. 1. Is your wedding Celebrant registered with the General Registrars Office to conduct the legal part of your wedding in Ireland?

There are a lot of people and organisations out there offering their service to act as the wedding celebrant for your wedding ceremony in Ireland. A Solemniser is a person who is registered with the General Registrars Office to conduct the legal part of your wedding in Ireland.

Be careful when choosing your wedding celebrant.  You don’t want to be sitting in the office giving your notice of intention to marry to be told that your wedding celebrant isn’t registered.  This happens very regularly where we get couples, in tears, ringing from the Registrars asking if we can facilitate them on their wedding day as they just found out that the wedding celebrant they originally booked isn’t registered to perform the legal element of their wedding in Ireland.

In the Republic of Ireland you need to give a minimum of 3 months notice of a wedding in Ireland.  This needs to be done to the HSE. You will need to have your date, venue and wedding celebrant booked before you give your notice, as you will be asked this information.

In Northern Ireland you need to give a minimum of 28 days notice of a wedding in Northern Ireland. This needs to be done to the local council of where your venue is. You will need to have your date, venue and wedding celebrant booked before you give your notice, as you will be asked this information.

2. Is the person working on their own or as part of a group?

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

At Spiritual Ceremonies we always have some of our wedding celebrants not booked to provide cover in the event that your wedding celebrant becomes unwell or unable to perform your ceremony. The administration team will allocate the new wedding celebrant to perform your wedding ceremony and give them the ceremony script that you agreed with your originally appointed wedding celebrant.

3. Is the person you are looking to be your wedding celebrantable to cater for you and your partner?

Every couple and every wedding is different.  Couples have told us that when they are looking for a wedding celebrant they have been told by other wedding celebrants and wedding celebrant organisations that they don’t cater for same sex marriages and that they don’t cater for foreign couples to name a few.

Your wedding 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. We perform wedding ceremonies for all couples regardless of their age, gender, color or creed.  This is one of the core foundations on which Spiritual Ceremonies was started, We Are All Equal in Love.

4. Can you tailor the wedding ceremony?

Your wedding in Ireland is a special day in your life and you have an idea of what you would like to include.  A wedding celebrant should be able to customise your ceremony for you, into a wedding ceremony that reflects you and your partner as a couple.

It is important that your wedding ceremony reflect you both as a couple, that it acknowledges your heritage and traditions, while also respecting and acknowledging those of your partner.  Including elements like Jewish glass breaking, bible readings, Chinese tea ceremonies, Celtic hand fastening to name a few allow these cultures to be part of your wedding ceremony.

We have performed a wedding in Ireland for couples from all over the world

Spiritual Ceremonies have been privileged to have walked with thousands of couples, from all over the world, on their journey toward their wedding in Ireland since 2010.  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.  In fact, we performed the first legal outdoor wedding ceremony in Ireland in April 2011.  Most of these couples had questions, just like you may have, so the information below is intended to answer some of those.

Some people ask us, what do you mean by spiritual? A religious person may be spiritual, but a spiritual person is not necessarily religious, thus all activity be it physical, emotional, intutional and so forth that leads towards greater perfection, goodness and wholeness is therefore spiritual.  The definition of spirituality encompasses real self, of us.. truth of our inner self… the inner being, hence why our ceremonies always focus ON YOU.

We have a large team of wedding celebrants who are Registered Solemnisers and are available in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, all of whom can perform the legal element of a wedding in Ireland.  We are highly trained to design your wedding ceremony, to reflect your personal needs because we understand this is one of the most important days of your lives and we ensure your wedding ceremony is created “WITH YOU, FOR YOU ABOUT YOU”.

We at Spiritual Ceremonies, take time with you to design your wedding ceremony, so that it reflects you as a couple, honoring your beliefs and values, ensuring they are reflected in the content and length of your ceremony.  When speaking with your wedding celebrant you can choose any theme of music, readings or poems that convey a message about you and your partner.  Also a wedding ceremony in Ireland can be performed indoors and outdoors (outdoors is subject to requirements under the Civil Registrations legislation).

For more information on giving notice of intention to marry for a wedding in Ireland,  visit the HSE website for the Republic of Ireland Click here to see information on Getting Married in Ireland

For more information on giving notice of intention to marry visit the General Registrars website for Northern Ireland Click here to see information on Getting Married in Northern Ireland