Tim Kelly - Marriage Celebrant + MC

Tim Kelly - Marriage Celebrant + MC

Hi there Bride (or, rather, mother of).

I've read replies from other Celebrants and they cast quite a dark, pessimistic shadow over the whole affair.

The answer is yes, honey. It is definitely do-able. Either in a class room or, like me, online, because there were no physical courses in my region. Took me 7 months, whilst working part-time and experiencing some pretty heavy personal trauma. I'm neurodivergent, hun (ADHD if we must use labels??), and if I did it, well....

Approach any local Celebrants and see if they require witnesses from time to time. I often get couples who elope without anyone to witness, and that is the perfect way to see a ceremony that is about love and commitment and not about bling.

I hope this helps. It will be such a special day for your daughter if you do it, and you can carry on doing it afterwards. It's a lovely excuse to get out of the house on a sunny Saturday afternoon to, literally, be surrounded by nothing but love and laughter. It's also a fun way to put a little extra in the bank for rainy days and holidays and create beautiful memories for people while you do it

Tim Kelly - Marriage Celebrant + MC

You can have two ceremonies, but only one will be allowed to be the legal one. You could have the 'Katb al kitab' as the legal ceremony out of respect for your partner's religion and have the second as a commitment ceremony. Multi-faith relationships can be challenging in this regard, so it is essential that you find a balance that you, and your future mother-in-law, are all happy with. You mention that on the day of the reception you will have a civil ceremony but there is no mention of a Catholic ceremony. A Muslim wedding is obviously recognised as a legal union so my suggestion would be to have the religious ceremony as the legal one and have a commitment ceremony on the day of the reception. This is obvioulsy causing you more than a little concern and I hope that my advice helps.

Tim Kelly - Marriage Celebrant + MC

Hello. The majority of my couples do say their own vows, though I do have a selection of vows that they can choose form if they do not feel confident penning their. Having said that, I do encourage my couples to write their own vows and offer to give them advice. Using a vow book is a great way to cover up trembling hands, but if your hands tremble, does that really matter? It's an emotionally loaded moment, after all. It is usually the groom who is nervous about the vows but my advice to anyone who is concerned is simple. Your vows do not need to sound like they were written by Shakespeare. The strongest words are the simplest, spoken from the heart. They are for the ears of one person and one person only, the person you are about to marry. I suugest that my couples open a Word document and make bullet points, keeping it simple. Reasons why you love your partner followed by the promises you want to make to them. Remove the bullet points and presto, you have your vows.

I alos print the couples vows myself and present them to the groom before the ceremony. Hope this helps.