Your Wedding, Your Way

from Wokingham Local Magazine Issue 9 September 2022

Steady Consulting

Live your Dream Wedding

A wedding at The Casa Hotel combines award winning cuisine and excellent, personal service to ensure your day goes without a hitch.

Walk down the aisle at The Casa Hotel, amidst 17th century architecture and summer gardens. Earn lifetime bragging rights with a wedding menu put together by our Head Chef. We offer end-to-end services, keeping you on track. Our team of creative planners and reliable suppliers are at your disposal. In short, we offer hassle-free, stress-free events for our couples. Have all this and more, live your dream wedding, without blowing your savings!

AutumnWeddings

YOUR WEDDING, YOUR WAY

When we think weddings we tend to automatically conjure up images of glorious summer days in flower-filled gardens, floaty dresses and the great outdoors. Summer weddings can of course be beautiful but Autumn weddings are fast becoming a popular option for couples wanting to take advantage of seasonal discounts, the amazing colours that nature has to offer and increasingly good weather.

These days almost 80% of couples opt for a nonchurch wedding. Couples want choice, and that includes having a say over their wedding officiant and an input to the content of their wedding ceremony. Essentially, many couple are deciding that they want something a bit different on their big day – they simply do not want the same wedding ceremony as everyone else. So it’s goodbye to dull, boring weddings and hello to wedding celebrants! An independent celebrant creates and officiates a totally bespoke wedding ceremony for you, telling your story, your way.

If you want a wedding ceremony that truly reflects who you are, read on to discover how a celebrant-led wedding ceremony can make all the difference to your autumn wedding:

Your wedding – your way Whether you want your ceremony to be luxuriously lavish, simple and stylish or completely original, your celebrant will get to know you, listen to you and work with you to ensure that your ceremony matches your personalities, wishes and personal style.

Your story – your day Your love story is unique and your celebrant will tell the tale of how and when you met, the proposal, memorable moments in your lives so far and your hopes and dreams for the future. Your guests will wonder how long your celebrant has known you for (it happens a lot!) and on the day you will feel that your celebrant is a trusted friend standing by your side.

Throw away the rule book There are no silly rules or regulations in a celebrantled wedding and it is completely unrestricted in style, content and structure. It is not yet a legallybinding ceremony in England and Wales so the legal part needs to be completed at some point before or after your wedding ceremony, at a registry office. This entails a 10 minute statutory ceremony for around £50, after which you are free to have the wedding ceremony of your dreams, officiated by your celebrant.

If you want your dogs as ring bearers, go for it! If you hold religious beliefs and wish to include prayers or religious readings within your ceremony, that’s absolutely fine.

Want to dance down the aisle? Be my guest. Group singalongs are becoming very popular in celebrant weddings. One particularly moving ceremony featured a gospel choir singing ‘Oh Happy Day’ and the guests (and myself) couldn’t help but join in. It was a truly joyous and uplifting occasion.

Of course, you may prefer a more understated ceremony, and symbolic elements can add a really personal touch whilst providing an opportunity for some of your guests and family members to join in.

Many couples opt for a fairly traditional wedding ceremony with a contemporary twist – they write their own vows, include their children, and choose readings that they have a meaningful connection with.

Why have the same wedding ceremony as everyone else? You are unique, so opt for a celebrant-led autumn wedding and have a bespoke ceremony with a touch of sparkle!