Algarve Celebrants
Professional Celebrants for The Algarve
"For it is in loving, as well as being loved, that we become most truly ourselves."
Celebrant Services
What to Expect
Once you have appointed us as your Celebrants, we work with you in the months leading up to your wedding to create a personalised wedding ceremony, which can include your love story should you wish and/or the things you love most about each other, marriage promises, vows, exchange of rings or gifts, signing of a certificate and discuss the importance of music choices to be played during different parts of your ceremony.
Additionally, if you wish, we can incorporate within your ceremony readings and poems, as well as joining rituals such as hand binding, ring warming, sand blending, lighting of a marriage candle, the giving of a rose, wine sharing, love letter time capsule locked box, and much more. ..
We open the ceremony with welcoming words and a warm smile once the bride has been escorted down the aisle – you may have chosen for the escort to be asked a formal or sometime informal question! At this time we would also take the opportunity to thank your guests for travelling to the Algarve to share your special day with you.
We then continue with the introduction of the ceremony and reach a point to hand over to the Civil Registrar (if this is the style you have chosen) who will carry out all the legal requirements of your marriage. This part is usually spoken in Portuguese; therefore an authorised translator will be required. The Civil Registrar is fulfilling the requirement of the law, confirming names, ages, place of birth, residence, passport details etc. Once this has been completed the ceremony returns to us as Celebrants to continue with the blessing of your marriage, where we will fully conduct the ceremony that we have created together, through to signing of the certificate, that all important kiss and, you now married, walking back down the aisle.
As part of our commitment to you we offer a final meeting prior to the "Big Day" where we all have the opportunity to ask and answer any last minute questions.
On your wedding day we are there to support the groom prior to the bride arriving and make sure that everything is set up as has been agreed with you regarding the ceremony and liaise with whomever you have chosen to provide music for your ceremony.
We are of course happy working alongside your chosen wedding planner; just ask if you would like our recommendations, we can also offer suggestions regarding other suppliers!
Ceremonies in other languages
Ceremonies are generally conducted in English; however we can now offer Portuguese as well!
Also, when required, we can liaise with translators so that your ceremony can be carried out not just in English, but in another language too! This happens when partners and/or guests have a mix of languages. Recent examples are Lithuanian, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian and French.
Weddings
We believe the service we provide and the ceremonies we write make your wedding personal to you and means much more than just fulfilling legal requirements. This style of ceremony gives you more opportunity to create the wedding you want.
As Celebrants, we conduct many wedding ceremonies where couples have already taken care of the legalities in their home country.
Of course if you prefer we can include your appointed Civil Registrar and translator into your ceremony here in Portugal. This provides the richness and flexibility which a Celebrant led ceremony offers, alongside the necessary legalities of a marriage, which still enables you to have the personally created ceremony you want.
Vow Renewals
You may be looking to renew your vows or have your marriage blessed. Many of our couples have been married for a long time and for one reason or another find it important to renew their vows, express their love for each other and to remind themselves of the commitment they made at their wedding ceremony. This brings a new exuberance and beginning to a relationship.
This special day can be celebrated just by the two of you in an intimate private way or alternatively shared with those family and friends who have been with you all through your journey together; it can also now include new friends and family members too!
The ceremony can be as simple or as creative as you wish. You can once again exchange your existing wedding rings, although some couples do purchase new rings or give gifts to one another. You may like to include one of our many popular Unity Ceremonies, perhaps a special reading or two, a poignant piece of music and maybe you have some words that you would like to form part of your vows, linked to moments, memories and significant times in your life. All of this enables us to write and deliver a unique ceremony, just for you.
Same Sex Ceremonies
We have the pleasure of officiating at a large number of same sex ceremonies, which are written to reflect you both and the preferences you have for your special day - for example couples often wish to walk down the aisle together, or each partner has their own escort and follow each other along the aisle, to where the ceremony is going to commence, some couples dispose with the idea of an aisle altogether, whilst others have 2 separate aisles – the choice is yours! As is the rest of your ceremony, you can create something entirely to your own requirements or be as traditional as you wish!
Member of the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants