Get in touch ...
Shortlist ...
Southville Celebrant
reviews (3) - leave a review
Hi, I'm John
I’m John, the Southville Celebrant, a calm, creative and eloquent celebrant who creates truly memorable wedding ceremonies.
I’ve lived in South Bristol for 25 years, and while I specialise in Bristol and CUBA – the County that Used to Be Avon – I’m very happy to travel within the West Country and beyond.
I’ve conducted grand ceremonies in country-house hotels in Devon and simple ceremonies on top of Cornish clifftops, so can more than likely cope with everything in between.
What's my ceremony style?
Getting to know each couple, so that we can create a ceremony to truly reflect who you are, is the best part of my job. There are so many ways to involve family and guests, and I love exploring weddings traditions and suggesting elements so that you have a ceremony to remember. Eastern European bread and salt ceremony – yep. Cornish tartan in the handfasting braids – lovely. Bit of RuPaul for the grooms to sashay away – absolutely.
Let’s have some fun together!
Prices From
£675 - 10% discount for NHS staff
Highlight
Circle of Life
In April 2022 I was celebrant for Ellie, the daughter of an old university friend.
When I got married back in 1994 Ellie was at our wedding, as a tiny 8 week old babe in arms, so to be involved in her wedding nearly 30 years later was an absolute privilege.
I suspect that will likely take some beating.
Why choose John?
Let’s work together to create your big day, exactly the way you want it!
You may have some firm ideas, you may want guidance and suggestions, either way I’ll work with you to help create an unforgettable ceremony
This will be one of those days in life when the world really does revolve around you. I’d love to be the wedding celebrant helping you make the most of it.
What do I offer?
Weddings
I think the best ceremonies are collaborative affairs – the couple will have ideas, and I can use my knowledge and experience to contribute suggestions to help reflect their personalities and stories. And don’t forget the venue itself will help shape the format of the day too, so let’s make best use of that too, can’t beat a grand entrance or maybe take the guests by surprise.
You’re a biker? Hey let’s throw in the Harley!
We’ll meet to compare notes and ideas, talk about family members or friends you might like to play an active part in the ceremony. We will talk about elements you’d like to include, and I can offer advice and guidance on readings, poems, the vows and any traditional rituals such as hand-fasting or ring blessing ceremonies.
From there I’ll draft the initial ceremony and running order, which you’ll have at least six weeks before the big day. This gives us plenty of time to fine tune things so that you have your ideal ceremony.
Prices From
£675 - 10% discount for NHS staff
Why choose John for your wedding?
“Well, who would have guessed just how invaluable and fun a wedding celebrant who really knows their stuff could be?
His calm and humorous eloquence tied everything together beautifully and we are still buzzing.
John, you crafted a very special, personal and memorable day for us, thank you so much.”
Mike and Kristina
Unfortunately Southville Celebrant is not available for Naming Ceremonies.
Unfortunately Southville Celebrant is not available for Renewal of Vows
Unfortunately Southville Celebrant is not available for Funerals.
Reviews for Southville Celebrant
Total Reviews: 3
Average Rating: 5
reviews (3)
Best wedding ever!
John really took the time to get to know us as individuals and as a couple.
He creatively incorporated a host of symbolic elements that were important to us, our families and our friends – staying true to our sense of humour balanced with the right amount of love
Collective feedback from our guests –
Best Wedding Ever !
A very special, personal and memorable day
Well, who would have guessed just how invaluable and fun a wedding celebrant who really knows their stuff could be?
Ours was an unusual setting (clifftop) and a very small (just 8 of us) but multicultural group (English, Lithuanian, Romanian and Spanish) but John’s research into various national wedding customs meant everyone had a meaningful part to play and gave our celebration such a personalised touch. His calm and humorous eloquence tied everything together beautifully and we are still buzzing and, when looking at the videos, getting moist eyed at how magical it all was on the day.
Actually, even before the day we quickly came to appreciate just how much pre wedding stress was averted by having such a capable and knowledgeable celebrant to research and suggest various formats, leaving us to enjoy organising the other essentials.
John, you crafted a very special, personal and memorable day for us, thank you so much,
Mike & Kristina
Personal, relaxed and exactly what we’d hoped for
John recently conducted our marriage ceremony and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend his service to others.
From the start, John was full of ideas and options to make our ceremony as personal as possible. We were already leaning towards the inclusion of something different from the traditional religious wedding, but unsure on where to start. With his guidance, we opted for a hand-fasting to officially “tie the knot” (with our mothers assisting) and a ring blessing too.
It was really important to us that our family was involved, so we loved that the rings could be passed around the guests to be blessed by everyone close to us before returning in time for the vows. We also wanted to include a little nod to my heritage and chose to use some Cornish tartan in our hand-fasting braids.
John was very accommodating with all the requests and questions we had, and nothing was too much trouble for him. He also summarised our relationship brilliantly in the ceremony script using little details from the questionnaires we’d filled out separately about each other, and provided perfect vows for us too.
Our ceremony was personal, relaxed and exactly what we’d hoped for. Thank you so much John!!
