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Handfasting as a ritual is simple, tactile, and deeply symbolic. Where the Tradition Originates Handfasting has longstanding roots in Celtic cultures, where it symbolised a couple's intention to bind themselves to each other. Today, it's embraced by couples of all backgrounds who want a ritual that feels meaningful without being overly formal. I often talk about humanist ceremonies as ways to honour traditions yet reinvent and re-imbue them with personal meaning, and handfast

Opening the Door You don't have to be humanist to have a humanist ceremony. In fact, you don't even have to know what humanism is before you start, most people don't! But many people find that there are lots of parts of the humanist philosophy which already resonated with them. So here's my attempt at a (sermon free) introduction. Humanism in Simple Terms Humanism is a non-religious worldview which 'does what it says on the tin' and centres the human experience of this life w

Every story begins somewhere, and today this one will begin with a key. By Way of Introduction I've always been drawn to objects that hold stories: the things that you might find tucked away in an old drawer, on a dusty shelf, or in a forgotten corner of a museum. Becoming a humanist wedding celebrant felt, to me, like a natural extension of that instinct: the idea that you can learn so much about people and the way that they interact together by carefully gathering tiny frag

A romantic, sustainable wedding venue stitched with history, nature, and the wonder of progress Today marks the first entry in my Venue Archive series, and I couldn't imagine beginning anywhere else. Wakehurst Place and the Kew Millennium Seed Bank is the kind of curious combination which makes absolutely no sense unless you see it for yourself: a romantic Grade I listed Elizabethan mansion and scientific facilities home to the largest plant conservation programme in the worl