What is a Celebrant?
In short, a person who performs or officiates ceremonies that suits you.
Writing and conducting these ceremonies is me, Deborah Johnstone.
I am lucky enough to bring a wealth of experience to the ceremonies that I am able to offer you. I am passionate about working on a human level and will listen to what you want and need for your service. From this information I will create an experience that is fully personal and customised. Yadda yadda, you know all this right? What you need to know is I make it ALL about you.
Each life tells a story and I will gently encourage you to open up and share some of your stories so that I can support you in the best way possible. You are the authors, I put the pen to paper (then back it up on the cloud!)
With 21 years of professional life, and relevant personal experiences behind me, (how did that happen?!) I have experience to assist you, and guide you if needs be, to ensure I provide the best and most memorable experiences for you.
There is a small support team behind the scenes who also bring a mixed bag of skill sets to the party: project management, HR, marketing, carpentry (handy for those Pinterest items we may want to create) and counselling.
I like to work with a balance of emotional support and humour for both the traditional and the quirky families.
I look forward to meeting you.
Debs, Embrace
BSc Hons, O.A.Dip, UKSOC Dip
How do I book a celebrant?
We meet each other.
It is important that you think I am the right person to work with for your ceremony. Our first chat is completely no obligation, I just want you to feel comfy with me.
We can initially “meet” over emails or calls and then we meet for a video call or in-person cuppa. Cake is not a problem either!
You book.
Ooh, you like Embrace? Great! Sorry to be a bore but I do have to send you a booking form to sign, then once you autograph it, the date is yours. I will not work on any other ceremony for that date. Your invoice is split into two 50% payments to help spread the cost. If you are booking a funeral just pass my details to your Funeral Director.
We chat. Sometimes a lot.
To start off with, I ask you a lot of questions. Sorry about that! However, your answers really dictate what we include in the ceremony. I need enough information to pull your words together to tell your story and include relevant elements that reflect who the ceremony is about. It requires some chat, but isn’t all in one go.
I appreciate that these chats for funeral and memorial planning can be difficult, please take your time.
I bring your story to life
Based on everything you have told me, your story is bought to life, and your ceremony is customised to tailor who it is for, whether yourself or a loved one.
No two ceremonies are ever the same, they’re created from scratch (genuinely this is one of the main reasons why I love my job).
You read
I do not perform any ceremony without you reading through it. You will receive the final draft 5-10 days before the ceremony date. You need to be happy with everything, so this is your chance to do final tweaks.
If this is a funeral or memorial ceremony you may want another family member to read through it at this stage.
Sometimes we rehearse
If you would like to meet at your venue to rehearse we can do, ideally we will have arranged this at the booking stage to accommodate the rehearsal in the booking form. We do not have to, this is about whether you want to.
If we do not rehearse, I always recommend if you are reading in the ceremony, do rehearse with yourself, outloud, in front of a mirror. Yes, really, trust me!
Your Ceremony takes place
The day arrives. We understand that there will be a lot of emotions involved on the day, whether your ceremony is a happy or a sad one, so we will do our best to keep you calm and manage your ceremony to the nth degree.
You will receive a copy of the ceremony on the day, along with any certificates issued, along with a hug (or elbow bump) and our best wishes.
