Garland Ceremonies Monthly Newsletter: July 2026 by Experienced Celebrant Mair Garland
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
My July
A summery summary for another busy month! As well as my ceremonies, I also squeezed in a couple of days in Boulogne-Sur-Mer in northern France with my family - my little boy loved the aquarium and I drove on the right side of the road for the first time with zero disasters!
Celebrating 50 Babies Named & Gorgeous July Naming Ceremonies
I was so pleased when I noticed I’ve now named more than 50 babies since starting as a naming ceremonies celebrant back in 2020. It’s been such a treat to work with all my wonderful families to welcome their new additions into the world and I can’t quite believe that some of those babies are now in school!
And this July was full of wholesome family moments - these included my first ever ceremony at the Horniman Museum for brothers C &C, as well as two garden ceremonies for L and T. There’s always something so meaningful about holding a baby’s naming ceremony in their first home and of course we didn’t need to be at all concerned about the rain spoiling our plans!
And next month, I’ve been promised a fire juggling guidefather at a naming ceremony - a first time for everything, I’ll try and get some photos!
If you're thinking of holding a naming ceremony for your baby or child with an experienced celebrant, please get in touch.
Baby Name Fever - and a quote in HuffPost UK!
And speaking of babies and baby names, this month the Office for National Statistics released the top 100 baby names in England and Wales for 2025. As an unashamed baby name geek, I wrote up an analysis of some of the trends I’m seeing, which you can read here.
I was also delighted to be quoted by HuffPost UK for their piece on this story too, which you can read here.
What are your favourite names from the new top 100? Personally I love the girls’ name Eliana, which is a new entry to the top 100 at number 62.
Wedding Law Reform Consultation Announced: Legal Humanist Wedding Ceremonies Are On Their Way!
Just before schools broke out for summer (and just before Burnham became PM), the Government dropped a new consultation on wedding law reform. Very excitingly, it’s supporting making humanist wedding ceremonies legal for the first time, which means couples would no longer have to have a second civil ceremony as well as well as a few other positive changes, like opening up where couples can get married.
The consultation is open until 24th September and anyone can respond to it.
And here’s my blog on this subject from a few weeks ago and a link for a blog I wrote for The Wed Collective on the key differences between celebrants and registrars is here.
Get Ahead of Being Dead Book Launch
On the funerals side, I had a great time at one of Evie King’s events for her brilliant new book, ‘Get Ahead of Being Dead’ at Poetic Endings in South-East London. If you’re thinking of writing a will or your funeral wishes and don’t know how to go about it, Evie’s book is a brilliant place to start - and unexpectedly hilarious for a book about death!
And if you are thinking of talking through or formalising your own funeral wishes (and it’s never too early), I’d be more than happy to help.
Award Nominations As An Experienced Celebrant
I’ve been nominated for not one, but two awards this month - how exciting!
The Wedding Industry Awards
If I’ve married you since October last year, I’d love for you to consider voting for me. (Only recent couples are allowed to vote for nominees) My link to vote is here.
The Good Funeral Awards
I’m so touched to have been nominated for the Good Funeral Awards this year. Anyone who has seen me lead a funeral service or a celebration of life is eligible to submit another nomination for me, which helps strengthen my original nomination. If you’d like to nominate me, please fill out the form here.
So that was July - another gloriously sunny month of ceremonies! I’m looking forward to more garden ceremonies in August and I’ve been speaking this week with some lovely couples and families about their ceremonies in September and beyond. Is anyone else excited for autumn already?! But before that, I’m heading back to Wales for a few days for the Eisteddfod (a brilliant arts festival taking place in Pembrokeshire this year).
As ever, I’d love your feedback on the newsletter and if you’re thinking of planning a ceremony later this year (I still have some availability in November especially!) or in 2027, I’d love to hear from you.
Hwyl am y tro (bye for now!)
Mair x
Mair Garland is an experienced humanist celebrant based in London, leading weddings, baby naming ceremonies, funerals and celebration of life ceremonies in London, the South East and beyond. Mair specialises in bilingual ceremonies in Welsh and French.
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