Today on the blog we are talking to Samantha Dobson from SDCelebrations who is an independent celebrant. She is going to explain her top five reasons for having a celebrant wedding ceremony and how flexible Lillibrooke Manor is for all your ceremony needs.
There is so much choice available to couples over how you get married. It isn’t just a choice between a religious or a civil ceremony, or a barn wedding venue verses an outdoor wedding venue (of which Lillibrooke Manor is actually both!). You can now also choose a celebrant to carry out a truly unique and personalised wedding ceremony.
In order to get legally married, you need two people who want to get married and two witness. You don’t need to say vows and you don’t need to exchange rings (I find that usually my couples don’t want to). You just have to say the contracting and declaratory words and sign the legal paperwork which takes about 10 minutes. This is called a 2+2 or statutory ceremony, and the best way to look at this ceremony is when you are legally registering your marriage. It is the paperwork bit and is not your wedding day, and cost’s as little as £50 plus the standard giving notice fees (so you will no doubt be saving lots of money!).
If you are looking for a wedding venue in Berkshire, why not book a celebrant to conduct the ceremony in any of the numerous locations at Lillibrooke Manor a stunning country wedding venue, and then book the registrar to do the legal paperwork on another day?
I’m going to give you my top five reasons to choose a celebrant ceremony.
1.) With a celebrant wedding you have so much flexibility on your side, and it really is all about location, location, location at the stunning Lillibrooke Manor. As an impressive exclusive hire wedding venue, it really is a fantastic venue for a celebrant ceremony as there is just so much outdoor wedding venue space to consider for your ceremonies.
It is a rustic wedding venue dream, with the cloister garden, and its beautifully manicured garden surrounding you from every side, plus an eye-catching fountain which you will pass as you glide up the aisle to marry the love of your life.
Next you have the Manor House garden, with its sweeping views and its picturesque backdrop of the Manor House.
Then the orchard, for those weddings where you really want to embrace nature.
All locations give you the best of both worlds. A wonderfully rural wedding ceremony and then the comforts of the facilities of a barn wedding venue for your wedding breakfast, with the bonus addition of a tastefully decorated toilet block extension. As both the Manor House garden and orchard are not licensed for registrar ceremonies, you really will be having an outdoor wedding by saying your “I do’s” with nothing between you and the sky above.
Best of all should the weather not be on your side on the day, you still have three beautiful indoor locations to relocate to: the characterful small barn, much grander Grade 2 listed Great Barn, or the unique shaped Engine room which is just crying out for a horseshoe shaped ceremony layout. Proving Lillibrooke Manor really is the ideal location for a ceremony both inside and out and making it one of the most popular barn wedding venues in Berkshire.
I haven’t had a chance to view Heritage venues newest acquisition Stanlake Park yet. But if a wedding ceremony surrounded by vineyards in a picturesque winery wedding venue is what you dream of watch this space. There are numerous possibilities throughout the grounds, and I can’t wait to get to look around this stunning vineyard wedding venue in Berkshire.
2.) The majority of celebrants only book one ceremony a day. So, you can choose any time you like for the ceremony, giving you compete flexibility and control. This is a massive bonus in the current climate when availability of registrars is stretched as they try and accommodate wedding postponements. Should you already have your wedding booked at Lillibrooke Manor on a certain day and had your heart set on a 1pm ceremony and the registrars can only offer you 11am. Choosing a celebrant gives you the control back to have the wedding day that you had always envisioned and as an added bonus they won’t need to rush off to perform another ceremony if you are running late!
3.) Your celebrant will really get to know you during the planning process, so much so that when it comes to the actual wedding day you will feel like a friend is marrying you which really does help cure those nerves! They will find out about your individual love story, how you met, how you proposed or were proposed to, and what you love about each other. They will then expertly weave this into a heartfelt, emotional one of kind wedding ceremony injected with both your personalities.
4.) Nothing is out of bounds with a celebrant ceremony, there are no restrictions with music or reading choice, and if you want to mention religion or have a singsong these can be included too.
5.) Celebrants usually charge the same fee for every day of the week and are often considerably lower than a Saturday summer date at a venue with a registrar.
I’m sure you can agree these are some compelling reasons to choose a celebrant, and you can see why Lillibrooke Manor is one of my favourite country wedding venues in Berkshire.
A little about Samantha Dobson:
My mission is to make wedding ceremonies fun, personal & unique, one ceremony at a time. As I am also a wedding planner I’m uniquely placed to give you advise about all aspects of your wedding. It is important to me that you find the right celebrant to tell your story and that you have a connection with the person conducting the ceremony. There is no hard sell, and you will know when you have found the right celebrant (a bit like finding THE dress).
Connect with Samantha on her website, facebook or instagram.
