Humanist wedding Barrington Hall

Sarah and Joe’s Humanist wedding at Barrington Hall was everything we hoped and planned it would be.

It was well prepared. The weather was gorgeous. The trees provided shade. The timing was perfect. The bride looked stunning. So did the groom! The setting was perfect.

Often people ask me – ‘how do you prepare a wedding ceremony’? The answer? With care and with lots of detail. Sarah and Joe and I met in London at the Leonardo at St Paul’s, which is my usual place for meeting couples in London. They came with loads of ideas and information and at that first meeting we asked one another loads of questions. That’s where the fun starts!

Building a wedding ceremony gains momentum over the weeks – the couple tell me loads of stuff about themselves, their families, their dreams, their holidays, their pets, their little quirks, why they love one another, why this wedding and why now? This gives me lots of ideas about how to write the ceremony. We email and Skype or Facetime regularly.

Because every ceremony is written from scratch, my aim is to reach the ‘essence’ of the couple – so that their guests recognise who I’m talking about! It’s not a made-up fairy story. It’s about real people, with real lives, who met, fell in love and planned this beautiful day. The ceremony should encapsulate who they are – my ceremonies are never an ‘off the shelf’ script.

And so it was with Joe and Sarah. We wrote the ceremony that included a gorgeous nephew singing “Can’t help falling in love” (which had us all reaching for the tissues) and readings from family and friends, and vows written by the couple, and music that meant something to them. Barrington Hall in Cambridgeshire was a perfect venue. The bride’s dress was by Lara B Bridal Couture, Flowers by Willow and Wolf, hair by Sasha Wren and Photography by Binky Nixon. Jana Barnard at Barrington Hall kept everything running with smoothly and with amazing humour!