‘We were clear from the beginning that we wanted our ceremony to honour our queerness, our beliefs, and feel authentic to us.’
Having A as our wedding celebrant was a pleasure and a privilege. As two perfectionist producers and passionate hosts, who often delve into over-dissecting, over-caring and over-sharing, choosing A was one of the easiest decisions we’ve ever made. In fact, she was the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 celebrant we invited into our story, as within seconds of meeting, we both knew we wanted her to guide us through this immensely meaningful chapter of our lives. As we shut the laptop on our first ‘𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘭’ video call, we both beamed at each other, blurting “YES!”
We were clear from the beginning that we wanted our ceremony to honour our queerness, our beliefs, and feel authentic to us. We didn’t want, at any point, to feel as though we were getting married for anyone else but ourselves.
A held our hands throughout the entire process, making us feel happy, safe and free to curate a ceremony that reflected us as individuals and a couple. At no point were we scared, nervous or overwhelmed – we had our fairy wed-mother on the case.
A holds space with confidence, patience, grace and kindness. She captured our loved ones’ attention and imagination, and took them on a journey, valuing each person present.
A has a grounding, gentle, respectful, maternal presence, that still – post-wedding – soothes and inspires us. She gets us, and she feels like a friend now.
We wouldn’t simply recommend that you choose A as your celebrant; we actively 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 you to.
J + L, June 2022
‘The support I had was far and above my expectations and helped me organise a ‘one off’ celebration, absolutely perfectly suited to my beloved Linda.’
Right from my first point of contact when A responded so swiftly to my email, I felt I was being looked after at a very emotional time in my life.
A came to my home and met with my sister-in-law and me. We just chatted and reminisced, crying and laughing. A’s journalistic background was a huge asset as she quietly took notes and was able to send me a basic ‘script’ of her part in the proceedings by the following week.
As the event was taking shape and we were filling in the details of poems, music and contributions, I felt more and more confident that despite the non-conformist nature of the event, we were putting together a great celebration.
A encouraged me to share my thoughts and ideas whether in person, video call or electronically. I never felt in any way that I was putting Anne out, despite passing on messages in every format imaginable!
A further ‘home visit’ the week before was fantastic, as we could finalise so much more as everything was falling into place.
I feel so fortunate to have found A to act as celebrant at ‘Linda’s Do’.
Having ideas whirling around my head for the past two and a half years and unable to host a Celebration of Life due to the pandemic and life-and-death ups and downs, it was such a relief to have a calm and gentle presence on hand.
The support I had from A was far and above my expectations and helped me organise a ‘one off’ celebration, absolutely perfectly suited to my beloved Linda.
C Gault, August 2022
‘We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Agnostic Scotland to anyone looking for the perfect celebrant for their big day’
We can’t thank A enough for conducting our ceremony, it was just brilliant!
A worked carefully with us to incorporate everything we wanted to include, and we felt at ease to make suggestions and edits as we went through the process. We also felt free to ask questions of the team at Agnostic Scotland thought, and their advice really helped us to create the perfect day together.
The little snippets that A included from our questionnaires were all lovely to hear for the first time on the day, and really elevated the whole ceremony for us.
Not to mention A saving the day when we realised our handfasting kit was missing a piece of fabric the night before the wedding!
We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Agnostic Scotland to anyone looking for the perfect celebrant for their big day, and we’re so happy that we got to be a part of A’s first wedding!
G + C, July 2022
‘A understood our desire to introduce a degree of spirituality to the ceremony that would make guests of all faiths and beliefs feel welcome, while creating a ceremony that was authentic to us and our values.’
A shines with a special energy that can’t easily be articulated. She consistently brought this energy to our meetings – virtual and in-person – in the months and weeks that preceded our wedding, helping to shape our ceremony in an unobtrusive and supportive way. These planning sessions with her and the love homework that she gave us are some of our favourite memories of the entire process. On the wedding day itself A’s energy shone brightest holding us in a ceremony full of laughter, depth, and beauty. The ceremony being the first ‘event’ of the day, this truly set the bar for what was the most fantastic, memorable day we could ever have hoped for— several friends even commented that they would like A to do their ceremony when they get married!
A was incredibly helpful and supportive providing the right amount of structure and advice to help us co-create the ceremony, while providing flexibility and space to make it our own. She understood our desire to introduce a degree of spirituality to the ceremony that would make guests of all faiths and beliefs feel welcome, while creating a ceremony that was authentic to us and our values. A was even willing to help us play the music for the ceremony on her phone when our previously agreed arrangement did not work out. When we asked A if we could incorporate a ritual with one of Annelise’s family heirlooms, the “arras”, A took the time to research the tradition and shared ideas on how best to weave it into the ceremony so it all flowed. We feel lucky to have been able to create our ceremony with a person with such vibrancy, humour, openness, and thoughtfulness as A and to have gotten to know her in this process.”
Laurence and Annelise, October 2021
‘We cannot imagine a better person to have been part of our day, and would love other couples to have the same magical experience we did.’
A’s ability to weave our stories together, and then relay these words in an engaging, loving and funny way really made our ceremony truly special. We are really thankful for the support and kindness she offered through the whole process. This is turn made the planning of the ceremony a joyous activity. Through her delivery and inviting, friendly nature she created a ceremony filled with love, happiness and more than a few tears. We can honestly say it was not just us that felt the palpable ‘love in the air’, but our guests also thought she was amazing. We cannot imagine a better person to have been part of our day, and would love other couples to have the same magical experience we did.
Scott and Thorolfur, October 2021
“We both would recommend Agnostic Scotland unreservedly to anyone wanting to celebrate the life of a loved one for the humanity and warmth A brought to their memory”
“We had already met A to discuss a celebration of our father’s life when our mother sadly passed. At short notice Andrea turned a beautiful single eulogy into a life story of a couple, recognising both their individuality and the ties that bound them lovingly together.
In the initial, and subsequent meetings, A took the time to explore with us our parents’ personalities, likes and loves and the relationships they built over the years with family, friends and colleagues. This culminated in the most soulful and thoughtful tribute, delivered warmly and clearly to a gathering of friends and family. Perhaps the highest praise was when a family friend asked how long Andrea had known our parents!
We both would recommend Agnostic Scotland unreservedly to anyone wanting to celebrate the life of a loved one for the humanity and warmth A brought to their memory”
Jane Arnot and Robert Shuttleworth, September 2021
“My partner and I had struggled to find someone who would allow us to truly personalise our wedding (which seems mad now); including religious elements from both of our families faith backgrounds and at the same time, making it an inclusive space where all were welcome.”
Andrea has the most amazing approach to her role as a celebrant. We were clueless about the entire process but she was there as the most excellent guide, supporting us with open mindedness and encouragement as we explored ideas and crafted our ceremony together.
My partner and I had struggled to find someone who would allow us to truly personalise our wedding (which seems mad now); including religious elements from both of our families faith backgrounds and at the same time, making it an inclusive space where all were welcome. Andrea provided exactly that, an entirely bespoke, meaningful and memorable experience that truly reflected us as a couple. Thanks to Andrea, we really did have the perfect ceremony for us, and family and friends on the day agreed. She is a beautiful soul with a unique talent to nurture and bring to life all the bits that matter to you and ensure your ceremony is one of a kind.
Nicola and Anish, Timberyard, July 2021
Emma and Chris’ Marriage Ceremony at Gullane Beach, Summer 2021
When we were planning our wedding the ceremony was one of the most important elements to us. As we were creating the wedding we wanted, we also wanted our ceremony to reflect us as a couple and what we believed in. The beauty of it was that we added our own special elements, rituals and traditions just as we had hoped and Andrea guided us through the whole process. I would highly recommend Agnostic Scotland and Andrea to anyone who wants a ceremony that is unique, one of a kind and beautifully tailored to the individuals who are getting married. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect wedding and celebrant.
Emma and Chris August 2021
Lucy and Natalie’s Wedding Ceremony, Newhall Estate in Carlops
“Onie is simply a wonder, and we could not recommend her companionship on the road to marriage more highly. One of our family members asked us after our ceremony “when did your close friend become a wedding celebrant”? She was so taken by the intimacy, love and care shown by Onie during our ceremony that she believed it could only come from the closest of friends. This is the unique presence Onie brings to your journey with her. From the very first meeting, we knew we had met an extraordinary soul who would hold us close and help us plan our perfect day. Onie’s ability to quickly and deeply understand us made for such a joyous experience. She dispelled our nerves and crafted a ceremony that was simply perfect for us. Her readiness to flex and respond to the tumult of 2020 was exceptional, and we are grateful to her for helping us roll with the changes without losing any of the joy or excitement of our day. So special was our experience with Onie that we are commissioning her again to do a celebration service for us with our original guest list in 2021.”
Like so many in 2020 our wedding plans were usurped, reshaped and moulded into something brand new. Our original plan had been a 100 person ceremony with family and friends followed by a weekend of celebrations, however, that was not to be. What replaced this original plan was something more intimate and special, as Andrea likes to call it – A Micro Wedding where the focus moved from the celebration to the ceremony. With barely a couple of week’s notice we had to put our plan in motion. Andrea took all of this in her stride and at short notice was able to adapt and create a ceremony that was unique and memorable for us.
Before the dreaded COVID-19 came into all of our lives, we had already started the process of planning our ceremony with Andrea. The creative tasks that she gave us really helped us to tap into how we wanted our ceremony to look and feel. From exercises for us to complete both separately and together to ideas of rituals or additions to our ceremony that would never have crossed our minds – it was clear from the start that our ceremony was going to be something that truly represented us and our story. Nothing was off the table when it came to how we wanted our ceremony to look and this really made it feel like our own, this was not just an adaptation of a wedding ceremony but a personal ritual that between us had been created solely for us.
When we decided that an intimate, ‘micro’ celebration was what we wanted to move forward with, Andrea adapted beautifully and made herself available for us at any time to ensure we felt prepared and comfortable with our new ceremony plan. One thing that sets Andrea apart in her work is her insistence on getting to spend time with and know you – both together as a couple but also individually. This truly came into focus when we had only two weeks to finish preparing our ceremony.
Andrea’s work is not only about the words that represent your union on the day, but also how you want the physical space to feel. The symbolic thought behind so many of Andrea’s ideas and thoughts make your ceremony feel even more special as there is meaning behind things that no one else there will see. An intimacy to the day that is reserved just for you.
There is no other word to use for our day apart from magical and so much of this is down to Andrea’s input. We truly couldn’t have envisioned anyone else marry us. Thank you Andrea for your thoughtfulness, wisdom and most of all for being a part of our day.
K&C
Andrea was the celebrant at my father’s funeral in October, a service that had to take place during tight restrictions caused by Covid 19. Despite restrictions, Andrea supported us in creating a personal service in which my Dad’s friends and family felt included.
Fiona
I would highly recommend Andrea as a celebrant. At all times we felt engaged in the process and encouraged to be creative in how we celebrated Dad’s life. We will be eternally grateful for that experience.
Thank you Andrea soooo much!!
We would like to THANK Andrea from the bottom of our hearts for the amazing service she put together which made our marriage ceremony so very individual and personal.
We just loved and enjoyed every minute of what was our very special day.
Andrea’s attention to detail was ‘second to none’ the amount of love, time and effort she put in to making our service PERFECT was astonishing and was so much appreciated.
Our friends who shared our day with us also thought she was just AMAZING!!!
Thank you Andrea soooo much!!
Mr and Mrs Kent, married 21st August 2020 after 37 years and 7 months together
“Andrea’s ceremony was so beautiful, it really made our day!”
We cannot recommend Andrea enough.
Robbie & Audrey Bowie Cameron, married 25th July 2020.
When we originally got in touch with Andrea we didn’t know too much about Agnostic Scotland. Andrea took the time to explain to us what Agnostic Scotland stood for, and more importantly openly discussed with us whether it was right for us as a couple.
Once we had agreed to have Andrea as our celebrant we arranged an initial face-to-face meeting in Glasgow. (The distant days before lockdown!). From the very start Andrea made us feel both calm, relaxed and welcome.
We shared some of our story about how we met and our expectations from the wedding. Andrea was engaged and interested to hear our story, listening attentively and intrigued to hear how we fell in love.
As the plans for our wedding developed, we met up with Andrea a few more times and shared more of our story and opened up about what was important to us as a couple and our expectations of married life. We always looked forward to our meetings with Andrea.
Just before lockdown kicked in Andrea also came out to visit our wedding venue in Glasgow. This was a wonderfully personal touch and it showed us how invested Andrea was in creating the most special ceremony that she could for us on our special day.
Then lockdown started…..
Our wedding plans, originally having over 100 guests in June 2020, was no longer possible.
We kept an ongoing dialogue with Andrea during this time over video calls, discussing our options. More importantly though, Andrea was always on hand to remind of us that we have each other and we were already in such a privileged position.
We decided that we didn’t want to wait to get married, so we agreed to have a small ceremony on the 25th July 2020, in line with the Scottish Government guidelines.
The ceremony was an intimate affair with both of our immediate families attending.
Andrea had listened carefully during all of our meetings, and had taken in all the aspects of our relationship from before we met to getting engaged and beyond. Not only that, she had taken time to speak to our family members to capture the nuances of our personalities. Her attention to detail was second to none and that came shining through in her ceremony.
What Andrea delivered was truly special. Both Audrey and I felt that the ceremony truly captured who we are as a couple and she presented our story and our vows and future aspirations in the most truly beautiful way.
As we embark on the next stages of our life as a married couple we will keep in touch with Andrea, as she was such a big part of the most special day of our lives.
Onie was the celebrant for my daughter’s naming day and I could not have been happier. Onie was able to articulate my thoughts and my requests in such a wonderful way and the day could not have gone better. I thoroughly recommend Onie. I just wish we could do it all again!!
Kate – Rio’s Naming Ceremony
Paying tribute to our mum – Andy and Eric Watson
Andrea spent time with the family several days before my 98-year-old Mum’s funeral. She captured memories from all of us, some happy, some sad and delivered a beautiful ceremony on the day. She really did capture the essence of my Mum and it was very comforting to hear her wonderful words. Andrea really made a difference for my family at a very difficult time for us emotionally
Andy and Eric Watson
Paying tribute to our mum – Pam, Shirley, Robert, Jeremy, Jade, Alex and Jodie
As a family we cannot thank Andrea enough. Our mum was a very determined feisty lady who most definitely did not want a religious send off but she had a keen spiritual side. Together with Andreas perfect respectful guidance we put together a wonderful tribute. There was love laughter tears reflection and thanks. Andrea’s delivery was professional and soulful, we really couldn’t have asked for more.
Pam, Shirley, Robert, Jeremy, Jade, Alex and Jodie
Leanne and Alex’s Elopement Vow Renewal Ceremony, February 2020
Without Onie’s input we wouldn’t have had such a special experience and wouldn’t have shared the words together that we did. We knew that we wanted to make our 10th anniversary something more than just a nice trip, but how we were to celebrate it was something we needed guidance on. We contacted Onie and it was lovely to chat with her. After the call we had been given a variety of ideas to do during the ceremony and possible locations. Onie created a beautiful ceremony for us which included our unique stories and quotes, she also prompted us to give secret parts that we wouldn’t share with each other until the ceremony. We are so grateful for all of the work Onie put into the ceremony to make the day really special for us. On the day of our anniversary we travelled to Edinburgh, to the Botanic Gardens, where we met Onie in person for the first time. She made us feel at ease, the location she had suggested was perfect and we felt relaxed to laugh, and cry with joy, as we revealed some of things we had never said to one another before. Thank you so much for everything that you did to create our ceremony, Onie, it really was nothing without you and it is a day we will always cherish.
Bo’s Naming Day at Tyninghame Town Hall, 19th October 2019
Onie wonderfully helped make our baby Bo’s naming ceremony the perfect event to welcome him in to the world. We so enjoyed working with Onie who helped us weave a ceremony together which included contributions from spiritual guardians, music, group singing, poetry, readings and blessings. Onie is very intuitive and sensitively translated our wishes and ideas in to a perfectly created ceremony. Onie has a beautiful calmness and tenderness which made the whole ceremony relaxed but very special on the day where she held a sacred space for us with a perfect balance of allowing for all emotions but with an overriding sense of joy which we felt she genuinely shared with us. We hope to remain friends with Onie as she has been a key guide/mentor for us during our wonderful and profound birth journey.
Elsie’s Naming Day Ceremony at home in Edinburgh, 29th September 2019
Onie led a truly beautiful ceremony for our 3rd daughter in our garden surrounded by friends and family. It was fun and relaxed and full of love and smiles and was exactly as we wanted it to be. Onie helped and guided us right from the beginning; making sure that all our different ideas were included in the ceremony and helping us with choosing the right readings and giving opportunities for friends/family to be included too. It was a truly beautiful day and will give us many happy memories for the future. Thank you Onie for supporting us.
Esther and John Life Partnership Ceremony in Kinghorn, Fife, 31st August 2019
Onie helped us produce exactly the celebration we wanted: informal enough to set everyone at ease but poignant enough to highlight the importance of the day for us. She spent a lot of time beforehand talking to us and giving us ideas about the shape the ceremony could take but was always careful to give us the last word. This took a lot of the anxiety out of it and made it fun to do. The ceremony itself was everything we wanted, it was joyous and there was hardly a dry eye in the house as well. Thank you, Onie.
Andrea, you were a lovely calm presence giving us some much needed peace to reflect in the middle of the storm, we couldn’t have done it without you. You offered invaluable help and support which made our little ceremony for Isadora so personal. A brilliant celebrant and we won’t hesitate to recommend you to others.
The good news is that getting Linda to conduct your ceremony will be one of the best decisions you ever make. The bad news is that you’ll be sad when working with her comes to an end.
We found Linda through the EGG page. When so many women recommended her we suspected she’d bribed them all 😉. It turns out she was every bit as wonderful to work with as they said she would be.
Linda helped us create, from a blank canvas, the most beautiful, moving, personal naming ceremony for our two children. Our guests were blown away by the ceremony and every single guest remarked on how super Linda was. She took time to understand us and what we wanted to achieve and made it happen.We loved loved loved working together and wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone wishing to have a ceremony full of heart and soul. She will not disappoint.
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Photo by Duncan Ireland Photography
So many people commented that it was the best ceremony they have been to and how beautiful, unique and personal it was. A lot of people thought Onie was a friend of the family as she spoke with such familiarity. Thank you for all the hard work you put into it and the beautiful ceremony cards you presented at the end!! For anyone looking for a celebrant, we couldn’t recommend Onie enough. She is kind, eloquent, thoughtful and will really add something extra to make your special day, even that bit more special.
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Photo by Clare Juliet Paton
What can I say, Linda, you are a truly beautiful person! On our wedding day Linda brought our story to life, her detail in our love story was so personal and perfect, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room! She was so warm and friendly everyone felt so comfortable once she started. I’ve been told it was the nicest ceremony our guests have ever been to, that meant a lot as we wanted our ceremony to be really personal and romantic. And it was that, everyone left in our love bubble, and ready to start the party with such positive vibes! If you are looking to have anyone do your ceremony I wouldn’t have anyone else other than Linda, truthfully she brightens up any room with her warmth, her smile and her amazing sense of humour ❤️”
Linda you are so kind and understanding and I couldn’t of picked anyone else to do this for us we love you loads! When we were feeling stressed about meeting all the people about the wedding and getting everything organised we would meet with you and suddenly remember what it was actually all about! To actually talk about what marriage means to us and our love.
My mum says your whole service was amazing and couldn’t of wanted anyone else to marry us so thank you xxxxxxxx
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Photo by Annie Lovett Photography
Our wedding ceremony is one we will forever treasure. We are so fortunate to have found Onie – she is truly gifted with her words and is one of the most genuine people you’ll ever encounter. You can meet her for a short period of time and feel like you’ve known her for ages. She worked diligently with us to craft a ceremony that we loved down to the last detail; she offered many reading suggestions to inspire us, and she presided over a ceremony that flowed brilliantly and touched the hearts of all our guests. We couldn’t recommend her more!
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Onie, I shall always be grateful for your support, expertise and kindness over this entire period. All the hours you put into the ceremony. Your care and attention to detail. All your hard work resulted in a beautiful culmination of the complex person that my husband was…there really are not the words for me to express adequately how grateful I am.
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Photo by Seth McAnespie
“Working with Linda on planning our ceremony was a joy from beginning to end… Linda allowed us to celebrate our feelings and describe them in our own words and then used this to create the most beautiful ceremony. Throughout she was professional, friendly and joyous – nothing was too much trouble and she really took off the pressure as we knew she would be brilliant on the day which, of course, she was. Thank you Linda for making our special day just perfect.”
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Onie helped us create the most beautiful, personal ceremony for our wedding. It was everything we could ever have wished for! Thank you again x
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Photo by Sean Bell Photography and Justyna Maria Photography
Onie was all Adam and I could have hoped for in a celebrant. She is very responsive, knowledgeable, prepared, and thoughtful. Her calming and friendly energy is so warm and made us feel very comfortable navigating this unfamiliar process. She was so helpful through e-mail and phone calls when we were planning our ceremony with her from Thailand.
The day of the ceremony Onie came early to familiarise herself with the space. She was thoughtful about so many small details. She printed and bound our ceremony beautifully for us. The wording was perfect and made us both emotional.
We so appreciate all the energy and effort Onie put in to make our day perfect. I highly recommend Onie and I can only say to anyone looking for a celebrant that you won’t find a more genuine and wonderful person!
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Photo by Anna Dunlop
We had a beautiful day and this was largely down to a perfect start with our ceremony. Linda touched everyone’s hearts with her personalised words, not only were both of us brides sobbing, but so were most of our throng! Linda had put so much care into picking out of our stories, the essence of what was most significant factors of our relationship and giving just the right level of detail, delivered in her just right manner of warmth, humour, friendship and still the gravity that befits the occasion. Everyone loved our ceremony and that made us feel so glad and so happy on the day. Great start to our wedding and to our married life.
Onie was amazing from the word go. We met and discussed the type of ceremony we were looking for – a service with hymns, Buddhist readings, songs, vows from the godparents, blessings and also to involve the children. Onie helped guide us into creating a very personal and meaningful service, answering our questions quickly and always really calm and friendly. The day was beautiful. Onie led the service with ease and made everyone feel so relaxed. My friends and family enjoyed having her around. She was a real asset to the whole event as well as being a joyful celebrant for Leo’s Naming Ceremony.
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Onie beautifully captured the family’s memories of our father and presented them at his memorial service with a wonderful warmth, dignity and compassion. We were very pleased with the service Onie provided.
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Photo by Natalie Holt
Aaaah Linda! We could not have found a better person to tell our story and lead us through our wedding. From the first meeting, Julie and I were so excited about the process and working with Linda. When we got our first piece of “homework” it was really refreshing to see that all kinds of individuals, couples and families would feel represented in the way everything was worded. Linda realises that each couple and each story is unique and takes the time to really personalise the experience… The process of designing the ceremony with Linda and the energy she created while performing was so full of love, commitment, joy and truth. So many of our guests commented on what an amazing ceremony it had been and how it fit us as a couple so well. It felt like having a friend up there who knew us and cared about our love. Linda kept the excitement and importance of the occasion while still making sure we were relaxed and knew what was happening when. We can’t wait to have babies so Linda can do their naming ceremonies.
It was a uniquely special day, full of colour and happiness. One that we are very glad we had and which we will always treasure. Onie worked with us to develop a wonderful ceremony that made sense to us and our family. She helped us understand what might work and suggested ways to fill the ceremony with personal ideas and touches. She then bought her distinctive lightness and joy to the ceremony, guiding it and engaging friends and family. Thank you.”
Family Celebration and Naming Ceremony for Thea, Aggie and Flo Cooke-Neale at their home in Musselburgh
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Onie was Celebrant at our Independent Wedding Ceremony on Inchcolm Island. At our first meeting we immediately felt comfortable with Onie. We had the feeling that she was the right person for our wedding because she would invest herself in our ceremony. And we were right! When our wedding day came, the ceremony was beyond all our expectations. Onie had set the perfect tone to make it incredibly deep and meaningful. We are so grateful for the hard work she put into our ceremony, the result was absolutely beautiful. Our families and guests all greatly appreciated Onie’s service as well and we heard compliments about her great work all day long. Her structuring, writing of the ceremony was great, each section went smoothly with the next and it created a meaningful poetic whole. Onie never pressured us to write sections of the ceremony. We were completely free to write some and let her write the rest. She also provided us with poetry and material to help us be inspired and have more ideas about what we wanted. We are absolutely delighted that she was our Independent Celebrant and that we shared our wedding day with such a friendly and open-minded person.
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Linda- thank you so so much for creating the most beautiful, personalised and honest ceremony for our wedding day. We are so grateful that we chose you as our celebrant as our ceremony was everything we ever wanted and more. We appreciate the time you took to get to know us and the way you made us feel.
Onie guided us through and inspired us to create a truly personal ceremony. Many of the guests have since commented on how beautiful and unique a ceremony it was. Onie presented us with a handmade copy of our ceremony, which is one of our most treasured wedding gifts. We feel honoured and blessed to have had Onie as part of our day.
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Onie was the celebrant for our wedding and family ceremony. We had a rough idea of the kind of ceremony we wanted, but no idea how to make it happen or even what to include in it. We knew that we wanted to celebrate our connections to each other as a family, and Ed and I wanted to celebrate our connection to each other through marriage (we had completed the legal ceremony the day before). We also wanted to weave through the ceremony a celebration of our connection to the earth. Onie spent time with us beforehand ensuring that she was tuned into our thinking and used her intuition, gentleness and inherent kindness to help guide us and shape our ceremony into something wonderful. She was creative whilst also fully respecting our ideas and values. Her ideas were very respectful and very much in accordance with our family and what was important to us.
On the day, she held space for us in the most lovely way that I could ever have imagined. She helped out with what needed to be done as well as holding our ceremony for us. It felt very much like she was the thread that was holding, and weaving all of the pieces of what we wanted together to create a magical and memorable day for us. It was a unique day and everyone who attended spoke afterwards about the peaceful energy of the ceremony and how much they enjoyed it – it was totally unique. Onie was a very important person in helping create this and holding it for us. We will remember it forever.
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Photo by Jamie Fraser
To our celebrant and fellow EGG, Linda Keys THANK-YOU! You were everything we wanted and more, taking the time to visit our house on several occasions, interested in our story, helping us with vows, helping us remain calm and helping us remember all the reasons we fell in love – very useful in the run-up to a wedding! :-))
Onie was a wonderful and unreplaceable part of our wedding. I cannot imagine it without her. Onie was patient, thoughtful, loving and the perfect person to perform the ceremony. Onie took the time to go through my vows with me, helping me write them and construct a ceremony from scratch, to suit us as individuals. She was a calming positive influence both in the lead-up and during the day. I highly recommend Onie as a celebrant, and am so thankful to have had her with me on my wedding celebration!
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Onie wrote and delivered the most perfect naming ceremony for our son. It was a complex mix of beliefs, families and religions so we opted for an ‘Onie Ceremony’. It was thoughtful, poignant, the perfect combination of serious and light, struck all the right tones. We were all absolutely delighted. Even the most sceptical were totally won over – even the Catholic priest says every time we meet – it was the nicest, most inclusive and warm ceremony he has ever been to – and that was the sentiment we have heard over and over again since the day. We are currently planning a church wedding but are discussing doing a follow-up ceremony to renew our vows in a year just so we can ask Onie again!
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Onie was amazing as our celebrant – she guided us through the process and helped us capture some of our ideas into a very unique wedding celebration. What we appreciated most was that she helped us think through how to write our ceremony. We had a few very vague ideas of what we would like – but after a few conversations, and some useful tips that she sent our way, she helped guide us to personalise our ceremony, write our vows, and think through how to include friends and family in the process. It was also great fun using the process of writing our vows and think through our ceremony to reflect on our relationship and how we work well together. We can’t thank her enough for helping us pull together this day!
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We believe in putting you at the heart of your ceremony. 