Garland Ceremonies Monthly Newsletter June 2026 by Multilingual Celebrant Mair Garland: Joyful June Weddings, New Pre-Planned Funerals Offering & My New Shop!
- Jun 30
- 5 min read
My June As a Multilingual Celebrant
It might only have been a month since the last instalment, but we’ve certainly had all four seasons this June. As a Celt in London, I can’t say I’ve loved the sweat and sleepless nights with the latest heatwaves, but the bilingual weddings I’ve led this month have been HOT HOT HOT (in the best possible way)! More on those below as well as my new online shop, a brand-new offering for funerals plus a shout-out from Josh Widdicombe, no less.
Three Beautifully Bilingual Weddings
I led three weddings in June, two that were bilingual in Welsh/English and one French/English wedding, with two of them being in London and my first ever in Bristol, which is truly the dream month for a multilingual celebrant like me. Congratulations, Llongyfarchiadau and Félicitations to them all!
Lisa & Andrew - Beckenham Place Mansion
At the start of month, we had Lisa & Andrew’s bilingual Welsh/English wedding in Beckenham Place Mansion. With them both coming from Wales, we had plenty of Welsh references throughout - including a Welsh love spoon exchange. The rain we had that day made the Mansion look even more atmospheric than usual and it created a really cosy ceremony vibe. My favourite detail from this wedding were their customised illustrations!
Molly & David - York House, Twickenham
Molly and David, who are also from Wales (and have known each other since primary school!) held their wedding at York House, which is the register office in Twickenham. This is the first time I’ve worked at a register office as a celebrant, but the registrars and I worked really well together, with the registrars leading the legal section followed by my ceremony. David and Molly ended their ceremony by (literally) tying the knot with a hand fasting.
Couples often ask me about ceremonies with both a registrar and celebrant at the same time, and I’m more than happy to answer any questions you might have about how it works in practice.
Melody & Jonny - Berwick Lodge, Bristol
And last, but certainly not least, was Melody and Jonny’s bilingual French/English wedding at the lovely Berwick Lodge in Bristol and also live-streamed to Melody’s family in Guadeloupe! Jonny and Melody first met at choir and so it was only right that they and the choir sang a gorgeous version of All Of Me during the ceremony, which brought us all to tears - as did Jonny delivering his vows in immaculate French!
Looking ahead to July, I’m now busy putting the final touches on some gorgeous baby naming ceremonies, including my first at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill.
I still have a couple of ceremony slots available from this autumn, so please get in touch!
New Funerals Offering: Pre-Planned Funerals & Living Funerals
I’m now offering both Pre-Planned and Living Funerals as part of my wider funerals offering. But what are they, and what’s the difference between them both?
Pre-Planned Funerals
It’s a real misconception that you have to be of a certain age or living with a life-limiting illness to plan for your funeral: anyone can do it. Whether you’ve been thinking actively about the type of funeral you want or you’re coming up with your funeral wishes for the first time, I can help you put pen to paper.
You can include as much (or as little) detail as you want in your funeral wishes - where do you want to have it? What music do you want played? What readings? Who would you like to speak? How do you want people to feel? I can help you firm up your ideas as well as capturing your life story in your own words or even write the whole script for you, if that’s what you’d like.
Living Funerals
I first came across the concept of a Living Funeral in Grayson Perry’s excellent series, Rites of Passage. As the name suggests, a living funeral will take place when the person we’re honouring is still alive. Those who choose to hold a living funeral for themselves will often do so where they’re living with a life-limiting illness and want to say goodbye to the most important people in their lives on their own terms, in their own words and in a place that’s meaningful to them.
The Garland Ceremonies Online Shop is Open!
I’ve cut the figurative ribbon on my brand new online shop, where I have two brand new webinars available to buy, drawing from my experience as a multilingual celebrant:
My intention for both of these workshops is to empower anyone who wishes to hold a part of their ceremony in more than one language to do so (and indeed other celebrants and industry professionals who want to learn more about bilingual ceremonies or want to offer them to their own clients). They both cover questions including: the benefits of a bilingual ceremony; where to include a second language; how to include a second language and case studies of real bilingual ceremonies.
Both webinars are for sale for £22 each or for £35 as a bundle.
While I speak English, Welsh and French, I hope these webinars will be useful to you whatever language you speak and wherever in the world you are.
Garland Ceremonies in the Press
Parenting Hell Podcast Small Business Shoutout!
On the same day I was travelling to Melody and Jonny’s wedding in Bristol, I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts, Parenting Hell, when I heard the one and only Josh Widdicombe give a small business shoutout to Garland Ceremonies and to naming ceremonies especially! I’d written in a few weeks before, and had totally forgotten about it, so it came as a complete surprise as I was stepping onto the train at Paddington. Thank you, Parenting Hell!
In the words of Josh Widdicombe, naming ceremonies really are ‘a great idea!’
Listen to the episode here.
June has been a wonderful month of weddings and still plenty of barbecues in the garden! I’m really looking forward to celebrating lots of lovely new babies with their naming ceremonies in July to start planning some lovely late summer and autumn ceremonies, including a wedding in France! As ever, I’d love your feedback on the newsletter and if you’re thinking of planning a ceremony later this year or in 2027, I’d love to hear from you.
Hwyl am y tro (bye for now!)
Mair x