Humanist Ceremony

aquinn101

Hi All,

Hopefully someone can help me out a little.

I am from Belfast and my partner and I are organising a Humanist Ceremony for our wedding.

We are a same sex couple so at present they can not legally join us together (hopefully things will change in the coming weeks)

Does anyone know if I can do the legal Civil Partnership up North and only have the Humanist ceremony in the South without having to register with HSE?

rainbow kirby

No problem at all with doing the legal bits in NI and just having the ceremony as a totally separate thing. You could also consider hopping over to GB and having a marriage recognised there.

fits

Yes, they can do non legally binding ceremonies also. Shouldnt be a problem.

lazygal

We had a humanist ceremony before they were legal, so we got married in a quickie ceremony the week before our big day. I highly recommend it, we have two anniversaries to celebrate and knowing we were legally married no matter what happened on the big day really took the pressure off. Plus, we had no constraints whatsoever on what we had in the ceremony or where we had it.

pwurple

Yes, you can do legal bit up north, and absolutely any kind of ceremony whatsoever after that. No need to register for anything and you're not restricted to registered celebrants (in fact, it would be much cheaper for you to go for a non-registered one!). World is your oyster.

aquinn101

pwurple wrote: »

Yes, you can do legal bit up north, and absolutely any kind of ceremony whatsoever after that. No need to register for anything and you're not restricted to registered celebrants (in fact, it would be much cheaper for you to go for a non-registered one!). World is your oyster.

Were do I find information about non-registered celebrants?

Currently working out around 800Euro to get the legal bit in the north and the Humanist in the South. Does this sound reasonable?

rainbow kirby

aquinn101 wrote: »

Were do I find information about non-registered celebrants?

Currently working out around 800Euro to get the legal bit in the north and the Humanist in the South. Does this sound reasonable?

How much of that is the legal bit up north? Civil ceremonies can be done for as little as £50 in my borough (Islington) in London on certain weekdays.

pwurple

Were do I find information about non-registered celebrants?

It depends where you are having your ceremony.

If it's a hotel, phone them and ask them to recommend someone.

Or if you have family or friends who are public speakers, ask them to recommend someone with some experience. There isn't going to be a list of unregistered celebrants, because it can be absolutely anyone at all. You just want to find someone with a bit of experience.

Mrs OBumble

If the legal stuff is being done up north, then you just need any old master of ceremonies who can do a "ceremony" down here.

Don't waste your money and the Humanist celebrant's time using them - they're in high demand. Just get someone who can put on a good show - maybe an out-of-work actor who's play the role of marriage celebrant somewhere along they way.