I meet couples for a 90-minute Writing & Editorial Meeting to write the first draft of their bespoke Humanist wedding ceremony.
Seven benefits for you from the Writing and Editorial Meeting:
- Your almost fully completed personal, bespoke wedding script written and edited by a professional author and editor
- Your first draft of your personal wedding script emailed to you soon after the meeting – a tangible product of the meeting
- Your lived experiential appreciation not only of the structure but more importantly the emotional feel and flow of your ceremony. (Don’t be surprised if some emotion – maybe even a moist eye – manifests!)
- Your comprehensive approximately 90-minute encounter with your Humanist celebrant and solemniser
- Your opportunity to ask any questions that you may have
- Your knowledge of, confirmation and reassurance about what you must do to ensure that your marriage is legally valid
- Your reassurance that your wedding date will be held for you until the agreed date for the Writing and Editorial Meeting, and for three weeks after it if you need time to consider, and your confidence that so long as you’re both freely choosing to marry and you both want a Humanist/secular/non-religious ceremony that I would be happy to be your celebrant.
Some Feedback from the Writing & Editorial Meeting (all feedback reproduced with permission of the couples):
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Hi Joe, We both really enjoyed the writing and editorial meeting. We found it fun, became excited about our wedding following meeting with you, and found that you made it easy as you had lots of options, were very well prepared and took the stress out of it. Thank you so much.
-Sarah & Michael, Writing & Editorial Meeting 29 May 2018
Hi Joe,
We loved our meeting with you last Monday! We are very excited for our ceremony and delighted to have you as our celebrant. Nick is away with work this week, but we’ll try to make headway on our bits and bobs next week.
Aoife & Nick, Writing & Editorial Meeting, 16 April 2018
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Hi Joe
The W&E meeting was very informative and it is good that we know how our ceremony will pan out. It was also good to get to know you and get a feel for your personality as we then knew you were definitely the celebrant for us It was enjoyable and fun and got us excited for our ceremony.
-Kelly & Daniel, Writing & Editorial Meeting, 22 March 2018
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Hi Joe, Lovely to meet you last night. Yes, I was very impressed last night with your writing and editorial meeting. I must be truthful and say that I was there originally only going along with whatever Linda wanted as I felt it is Linda’s big day and more for her than for me…But, when you started going through the ceremony and the things that we would be doing and the involvement of the wedding congregation taking an active role in the ceremony I was very impressed.
I’d heard of this humanist wedding thing before and really didn’t know what to expect. Now, I really feel very happy about it and I know that Linda does too. (I think Linda is more happy knowing that I am happy after talking to you.) I found the meeting was very helpful and productive and very informative. I felt relaxed and really started to enjoy the planning of it all.
I thought I was going to meet some boring old fart, and actually ya weren’t that bad!!! Hahaha…Seriously Joe, I think you explained things very well was very open and honest as to what you are willing to say and do at the ceremony. I think you will be great craic officiating at our wedding and I am very glad that Linda got in touch with you. We are both very much looking forward to tying the knot (not before time as Linda keeps telling me) and we both agreed on the drive home last night that you were a great choice and we feel that the wedding party will also agree.
– Dave (& Linda), Writing & Editorial Meeting, 14 March 2018
Joe, I believe Dave sent you a rather extensive email yesterday. I read it, cried and agree with every word. You are an extremely charismatic man and it was a pleasure to sit and share our stories with you. You listened intently without interruption thus encouraging us to chat even further…Thank you for helping us make this journey so exciting. We cannot wait for the day to come when you join us as man and wife and are so very thankful that it is you who is marrying us.
– Linda (& Dave), Writing & Editorial Meeting, 14 March 2018
Hi Joe, Thanks for meeting us on Sunday. It’s left us with a clear picture of how the day will pan out, and we can’t wait! It’s great that the ceremony can be tailored to be meaningful to us, and your suggestions will make a special day all the better. The informality, guest participation, and personalisation are the key things we were hoping for, so we’ve got peace of mind there.
-Linda & Emmet, Writing & Editorial Meeting 25 February 2018
Hi Joe, It was great to meet you yesterday for the writing and editorial meeting. It was very enjoyable, we learned a lot and we were delighted with the draft. We are so looking forward to you being our celebrant in October.
Niall and Denise, W&E Meeting, 22 February 2018
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Hi Joe, It was great to meet you and to get a feel for the whole ceremony, and to get to know you a bit! It was definitely helpful, and a fun experience! We have a bit of direction now with how to put our stamp on it. And you have it all ready to go basically so it’s stress free for us too! The meeting made us look forward to the ceremony even more so thank you!
– Fiona & Leo, Writing & Editorial Meeting, 30 January 2018
Hi Joe, Just wanted to come back to you with our positive feedback on the writing and editorial meeting. Overall, we really enjoyed the experience. It was very relaxed and we both felt that any questions we had were clearly answered. We were impressed with your level of detail and how clear everything was made for us. From being in a position to not knowing how the ceremony would flow at the beginning of the meeting, to leaving the meeting with the majority of the ceremony sorted was very reassuring and really reinforced our opinion that we made in right choice in choosing you for our ceremony. We appreciate the level of work involved in putting a document like that together. What we particularly appreciated was the fact that we didn’t feel pressured into doing anything we were unsure about. Barbara and I wanted a simple ceremony and what you are providing us with really hits the nail on the head in that respect. Thanks again for your help…
-Mark & Barbara, W&E Meeting, 9 November 2017
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Hi Joe, It was lovely meeting you. We found the session very informative, engaging and really loved your ideas and input for the ceremony. We are delighted to have you as part of our big day.
-Sarah & Peter, W&E Meeting, 7 November 2017
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Hi Joe, A huge thanks to you for yesterday. We are delighted and very excited for our big day after talking to you. You put us both at ease and we’re so happy with the service and all the personal details you helped us to add…hence why we wanted a humanist service so we could have it our way..And of course you yourself put us both at ease and we know you will go above and beyond to give us the best day ever. Thank you so much
-Jannette and Padhraic, W&E Meeting 29 October 2017
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Hi Joe, We both came away feeling like a good bit of the pressure had lifted after meeting yourself. The process of going through the script line by line has given us confidence that we have captured everything and put us at ease. It was both very informative and productive and want to thank you for your time last Wednesday evening.
Alma & Philip, W&E, 11 October 2017
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Hi Joe, The Writing and Editorial Meeting was brilliant. It was a pleasure to meet you. As we said before you came highly recommended by Lucy Kavanagh and meeting you was confirmation that we had made a good choice. The Headfort Arms was a great suggestion as a meeting place and thank you for creating such a relaxed atmosphere. It was great fun creating the ceremony with you. The way you had all the prep done was brilliant. We were a bit nervous going to the meeting because we were unsure what was ahead of us but your relaxed informative approach put us at ease. We came away from the meeting very happy as we now could imagine what our ceremony will be like and with our choice in rituals decided thanks to your help. It was a great experience.
Hi Joe, I thought the Writing and Editorial Meeting was really helpful, very relaxed, fun and made us both feel very excited about the day! It’s great having a structure in place and I like that you have so much experience in doing this and so many good suggestions/ideas.
-Emma & Patrick, W&E Meeting on 14 September 2017
Hi Joe, We had such a lovely time last night. You really put us at ease. Our main priority was to find a celebrant who was personable and fun, someone we could speak openly with and who would ensure that we were relaxed and above all else someone who would ensure that the ceremony was totally reflective of who we are and what we value in life. We are over the moon that you will conduct our ceremony. From the moment I looked at your website I knew you were the one and I’m delighted with how it has turned out 🙂
– Sonya & Darragh, W&E Meeting on 23 August 2017
Hi Joe, The Writing & Editorial Meeting was exceptionally helpful and I don’t think that without it, it wouldn’t be possible to have a ceremony with which we are comfortable. I found it especially helpful to have all the small details and individual small rituals laid out clearly so they could be properly considered.
-Sinead & Adam, W&E Meeting on 20 August 2017
‘Hi Joe, thanks for your efficiency in emailing over the draft and the links for readings etc. We very much enjoyed meeting you for the Writing and Editorial Meeting. It was a great opportunity to discuss the ceremony to give us a feel for how the day would go. It was lovely to spend time with you so that our first encounter wasn’t on the actual day itself. Your humour and wit made the W&E meeting fun and upbeat. It was very informative and I thought it was great that you discussed with us the different rituals we could put into the ceremony. It has made the ceremony planning going forward much easier and has left us with the fun stuff left to do, pick readings and music etc !! So very productive meeting all round. I respect your experience and your talent and your time and commitment to providing a personal and meaningful ceremony on the day. Thanks very much again from an excited bride to be.’
‘Hi Joe, We really enjoyed the meeting. It was so good to flesh out the ceremony and see what it will entail and how it will look on the day. I found it exciting and it made everything feel real! Wish it was closer now!! We loved getting to meet you and get a feel for your personality and how you will conduct the ceremony. I think we were probably both a bit nervous as to what to expect but you quite quickly put those nerves at ease and made us feel very relaxed which is important to us. We both went into the meeting with very few ideas of what way we wanted the ceremony to look but your guidance really helped us identify some really meaningful and beautiful aspects to choose for our day. I would feel it was well worth it and I’m delighted we got to meet you so far in advance as we got a feel for how our day will look!
– Sarah & Keith W&E Meeting 13 June 2017
We found the Writing & Editorial Meeting fantastic. It was a very enjoyable meeting with plenty of LOL’s and we got a nice takeaway in Shercock to celebrate on our way down the road. Thanks for everything.
– Siobhan & Martin, W&E Meeting 8 June 2017
Sending Alice and Conor their personalised script after their W&E meeting at which an eye had moistened unexpectedly, I commented to the couple, ‘Glad that we proved conclusively that tears are a good thing!’ They responded:
Hi Joe, Thanks for sending the various attachments, they have been very helpful. We really enjoyed the Writing and Editorial meeting as it gave us a good understanding of how the pre-ceremony / ceremony will flow on the day. It also gave us an understanding of the structure of the ceremony and the number of readings and music pieces that we can have and has focused our attention on choosing these in the coming months well in advance of the wedding. Overall we found the meeting to be informative, very well structured and fun.
– Clive & Carla, W&E Meeting, 16 May 2017
‘Hi Joe! Thanks so much for meeting us yesterday- we are both super excited about the ceremony now that we have met you!’
– Louise and Katie, W&E Meeting, 14 May 2017
Just getting some time to give you some feedback on the Writing and Editorial meeting. It was a very enjoyable experience for both myself and Niamh. It was very relaxed and comfortable to speak to you from the off . I found the information to be very useful at the beginning of the meeting and clearly pointed out all of our responsibilities for the wedding day! Going through the whole process was seamless and it was very easy to decide what rituals we would like to include or not include in our ceremony! It was a bit of craic too so that is always helpful! I suppose the main benefits we got from the whole experience was that we got a sense of who will be conducting our wedding and we can feel comfortable around you on the day. The information you provided was perfect to ease the mind on worrying too much about things and having the ceremony planned out knowing what we can expect is a very nice feeling! For both me and Niamh it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and we both wish you well in all your future ceremonies!’
‘Hi Joe, Lovely to speak to you last night, and thanks for staying up so late with us! As you can tell I’m a wee bit of a nervous ball of energy when it comes to the ceremony. But your chat was lovely and informal last night and also very well organised, which is just what we wanted. So thank you, we’re delighted.’
‘Hi Joe, Thank you for such a wonderful experience this evening, I knew I wanted a humanist wedding in my head but now I know I want it in my heart! The Writing & Editorial Meeting was enjoyable, relaxed and fun. It was helpful to run through the ceremony from start to finish and to have the opportunity to ask questions and contribute to what is said and done on the day. Although it was on our list as “another job to be done”, it ended up being the most enjoyable experience of planning our wedding thus far and brought us back to what it is all about, marrying someone you love in front of the people you love.’
– Kayde and Damien, W&E Meeting, 4 April 2017
Hi Joe, Thank you very much for a very enjoyable meeting this evening in Kells. It was lovely to meet you and we are really looking forward to having a wonderful ceremony with you!
– Jennifer & Kenneth, W&E Meeting 3 April 2017
‘Hi Joe, We really enjoyed the meeting. We feel that your approach, personality and humour is exactly what we would love for our ceremony. The meeting was extremely informative. Whilst we were confident that we wanted a Humanist ceremony, we were unsure of everything that was involved. We are delighted that the rituals for our ceremony that you helped us pick are so related to us and our relationship. It was really lovely to reflect on different parts of our relationship and the people important to us. Having looked through our ceremony script today, we both commented on the amount of preparation work you had carried out before the Writing and Editorial meeting and the amount we worked through during the meeting. ‘
– Jenny and Padraic, W&E Meeting 28 March 2017
The writing and editorial meeting was very useful to us, especially as an introduction to a Humanist service. We’d both be more familiar with church services but were sure that a religious service wasn’t for us. Having you there to talk us through all of the options was very helpful. The meeting itself was enjoyable, especially as it was our first step down the road to marriage, the little touch with the “I do’s” was particularly nice! More importantly it was great for us all to meet in person and to establish that personal connection. It was very relaxed and informal but businesslike and to the point at the same time, no time was wasted. Sharing of a few anecdotes etc. for the ceremony reassured us that there will be that personal touch and also some fun to the ceremony. We really did enjoy it so you’re doing a great job! ‘
– Siobhán & Graham, W&E Meeting, 21 March 2017
– Sarah and Charlie, W&E meeting 16 March 2017
‘Thanks a million for last night, we both thoroughly enjoyed talking to you and found it very reassuring to see exactly how the ceremony will proceed. It made it all feel very ‘real’ (in a good way!) and has only added to our excitement about the big day now. Thank you for all your time and enthusiasm, we really appreciate it.’
– Maeve and Bertie, W&E meeting 13 March 2017
‘We really enjoyed our evening!’
– Laura and Andew, W&E meeting 7 March 2017
‘We found the writing and editorial very helpful. We were delighted to know what was going to be happening on our big day and be involved. It was great to chat to you and we really enjoyed it.’
– Sinead and John-Paul, W&E meeting 27 February 2017
‘We thought it was an extremely useful session where we came away from it with a much clearer understanding of how our wedding will unfold. We really liked your writing style and your approach to eliciting the information from us. We found it a very enjoyable experience and would have no hesitation in recommending it so thank you very much! We can’t wait for the big day.’
– Eimear and Daniel, W&E Meeting 24 February 2017
Thank you so much…We think it’s fair to say that we hit it off straight away and shared the same values. We can see that your great online reputation is well deserved, and it would be our pleasure to have you as the face and voice of our wedding. We really enjoyed the meeting and thought it was extremely helpful as we now know the layout of our wedding. You made us feel very relaxed and you went through everything in just the right detail and we left with no unanswered questions. Keep up the great work.’
– Jenai & Paul, W&E meeting also 23 February 2017.
‘It was a pleasure to meet you and we are very happy to have you as our celebrant. We found the meeting a very enjoyable one but more so informative, we really hadn’t a clue. We now have a clear picture of what we need to do and the time frame to do it, so a big thanks for all your help.’
– Donal and Loretta, W&E meeting 23 Feb 2017.
‘Thank you for last night. You really put us at ease and it’s made it all the more real and exciting!’ And, some days later they added: ‘Your conversation and ceremony draft has become nearly therapeutic for us during all the madness of wedding planning! I can’t help but revert back to it as a mental reminder of why we are doing this! All the bells and whistles of the day are just fluff, this is what really matters!’
– Hazel & Andy, W&E meeting 8 Feb 2017
‘It was great meeting you on Monday. You made us both feel so comfortable with everything.’
– Jack and Louise, W&E meeting 6 February 2017
‘Thanks for meeting us last week. We’re both very excited about the ceremony.’
– Daniel & Ana, W&E meeting 2 February 2017
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