I am sorry if that sounds rude, I don’t wish to cause offence but families are so complex and convoluted sometimes and negotiating your way through half truths and tricky situations can be a minefield. It is both the privilege and the curse of a Celebrant to hear the stories and try to make sense READ MORE
Category: Blog
Sure fire ways to set the right tone – choosing poetry that fizzes!
I don’t know about you but I love poetry and choosing the pieces that I use is one of my greatest pleasures. Sometimes a piece will suggest itself straight away and that is great but more often than not finding the right piece is a quest and it is one that I relish. Poetry creates READ MORE
Top tips to planning a spectacular wedding after Covid 19
My plan today is to encourage you to use me as your Celebrant. We are just beginning to see a glimmer of light at the end of a long tunnel of uncertainty where all the hooks on which we hung our plans were dashed to the ground and trampled on. Trust Just recently my READ MORE
Children and Animals – what can I say?
It has oft been said, to work with children and animals is a recipe for mishap. Not so in my experience this year. I was taught not to tie the actual rings to the bird tasked with delivering them … in the past I have had one owl who had other things on her mind READ MORE
Grief and Regret
Tomorrow is Father’s Day in England. I know that it is a modern concept, born of the marketing whizz kids keen to make a bit of money; but for those of us who have lost our Father’s it is a bittersweet day. It is hard to lose anyone important in your life. Speaking as a READ MORE
To tie the knot
I promised you photos and thoughts on the wedding of my son Jack and his beautiful bride Megan. They were married in the garden of Megan’s family home outside Saskatoon in Canada in August this year. Celebrant getting in a knot!! From the outset the wedding was going to be understated, a proper family event READ MORE
The Country Carer | Doula Work | Community
Doula Work I have had the immense privilege in the last few months to support three people at the end of their lives. I would like to emphasise that this is not medical support; we are lucky enough in Hampshire to have the wonderful Rosemary Foundation; a team of professional, dedicated people who provide a READ MORE
The business of naming | Celebrant work | Nurture
We all have a name, chosen for us by our parents … it may be a reference to someone special in their lives, it may be a name that they have heard and liked or it might be a reference to a character in a book or film. As we grow up, the name that READ MORE
Green Burials
We are lucky in Hampshire. We have access to several natural burial grounds. The one that I use most frequently is at East Meon. It is set on the chalk downlands above the market town of Petersfield and there are views away towards Chichester and to the sea at Portsmouth on a clear day. To READ MORE
The Country Celebrant: Memorials
I have been asked to write a memorial for a wonderful chap, married to his wife for nearly seventy years. They lived in the same village for all of their married lives, in a house that belonged to her parents. Sadly, they never had any children and they were the world to each other – READ MORE