Choosing Between a Civil Celebrant and Humanist Celebrant for Your Wedding

Planning a wedding involves many decisions, and one of the most meaningful choices is selecting the right person to officiate your ceremony. Humanist Ceremony or Civil Celebrant Ceremony, What is the Difference?

According to Google, a Humanist ceremony is “entirely secular, focusing on personal, human-centred values rather than faith-based rituals, so what exactly does this mean?

Humanist UK describe Humanists as “non-religious people who believe that life is the only life we have, that the universe is a natural phenomenon with no supernatural side, and that we can live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity.  They place human welfare and happiness at the centre of their ethical decision making”. (https://humanistuk)

Civil celebrants are typically trained to create ceremonies, both funeral and wedding, entirely upon diversity of belief and style, including humanist style ceremonies, without carrying the label “humanist”.

In the UK many humanist celebrants are excellent at crafting personal, non-religious ceremonies but:

• They’re associated with a specific worldview that the ceremony should express humanist philosophy.

• Some couples don’t want that label or philosophical framing, they want a ceremony that’s truly personal, inclusive and tailored to them without anchoring it to humanism per se.

• Some couples like to reflect on loved ones who are no longer with use and who they believe are “watching over us”.   This is not a humanist belief!

• Some couples, even though they are not religious do like a small amount of religion in their ceremony.

A civil Celebrant gives you:

Creative freedom  - Your ceremony can be non-religious (secular), spiritual, symbolic or even lightly       religious if you want,  Your ceremony – your choice all the way.

• Complete neutrality - No philosophical agenda (humanist, religious or otherwise) being woven into the script unless you choose it.

• Inclusivity for all guests - If you have family  and guests from many traditions, a civil celebrant can navigate that without making any group feel “outsiders” to the ceremony.

•  Experienced facilitation - Many civil celebrants are specialists in helping couples craft truly bespoke ceremonies, readings, vows, rituals, symbolic acts, without any doctrinal boundary.

Why this actually matters in the UK

Because, at present, neither humanist nor civil celebrant weddings are legally binding anyway. 

v  You’re choosing based on experience and style, not legal status.

v  That means the best reason to choose one over the other is how well they deliver the kind of ceremony you truly want.

If what you want is a secular, deeply personal, inclusive, bespoke ceremony, without being tied to a specific worldview, a civil celebrant is often a better fit than a humanist celebrant,

The good news is that our ancient wedding laws are being reformed so eventually and hopefully these weddings will be legally binding.

Thank you for reading.