Garland Ceremonies Monthly Newsletter: September 2026 by London Celebrant Mair Garland
Featuring some lovely ceremonies, beautiful venue visits and this London celebrant's first time to Norwich. Since my birthday’s on the 1st, September is always one of my favourite months!
Sunny September Ceremonies
Naming Ceremonies for F & F
I led two naming ceremonies for a baby boy and a baby girl this month, whose first names both start with F! Did you know there’s one boy’s name starting with F and two girls’ names starting with F in the current top 10 list for England and Wales? (And if you’re a baby name geek like me, here’s some more analysis on this year’s list here.)
Baby Boy F’s naming ceremony was a joint celebration for his first birthday at the Walthamstow Toy Library in North London. His whole family got stuck in, with grandparents on both sides sharing their family history and his uncle wrote and played an original song just for him!
Check out my post about it on my Instagram page below:
And Baby Girl F’s ceremony was held in the beautiful Ripley Arts Centre in Bromley, which is a very local venue to me. It was originally a venue for musicians to play their recitals, and the main Music Room and gardens are absolutely stunning. For F’s ceremony, we had promises from her parents and guideparents as well as as a unity candle ceremony to symbolise her parents’ joint commitment to her.
Remembering K: a humanist funeral service honouring Greek Cypriot roots
This month, we also said goodbye to K at his funeral ceremony in Gunnersbury Cemetery Chapel in West London. K was a Londoner who was extremely proud of his Greek Cypriot roots and we celebrated his heritage in many ways, including:
-A beautiful bilingual tribute by K’s brother and sister-in-law in Greek and English
-Greek music (including Kokkino Garifallo by Giannis Parios & Haris Alexiou and Mana Mob Ke Panagia by Grigoris Bithikostis)
-Parigoria (refreshments) after the service, including Greek sweet wine and halloumi and olive breads
And there just so happened to be lots of olive trees dotted around the cemetery, which felt like a gentle nod to him.
Lovely Venue Site Visits: a Very Happy London Celebrant!
As part of my work as a London celebrant, I always like to look into potential venues that could work for weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals and celebrations of life. This month, I visited two venues in London, which I think are perfect for any occasion!
Brockwell Hall (Herne Hill, South London)
Tucked up the hill in Brockwell Park is Brockwell Hall, the recently restored Georgian Mansion house, which is surrounded by greenery and has an incredible view over the city - perfect for those wedding photos! The team showed me around the building, which has lots of great ceremony rooms depending on how many people you have attending. I was also impressed with how accessible it was and it has an internal lift. I’m not at all surprised that they’ve had a busy summer of weddings and I can see it working really well for other ceremony types too. As this venue is just a couple of stops away from me on the train, I’d love to work here in the near future as your London celebrant!
The Amadeus - Maida Vale (North London)
When I first saw The Amadeus on my Instagram feed, I knew I had to visit. Located in Maida Vale (within walking distance of Paddington station), it was originally a Welsh Presbyterian chapel for the Welsh speaking community of North-West London in the 19th Century.
As a Welsh speaking London celebrant, I know The Amadeus will really appeal to my wedding couples and families with connections to Wales. As it’s so close to Paddington, it’s in a really handy spot if you have family in Cardiff, Swansea or further west.
While it’s been thoroughly modernised inside for celebrations today, it’s so lovely to see a lot of the original features inside, including the imposing organ pipes on the top floor!
Aha! A Field Trip to Norwich
One of the best things about being a Humanist Ceremonies celebrant is the support we still get after training and the lovely network of humanist celebrants across the country. As part of our accreditation, we’re all required to have a peer review at least every three years to make sure our standards are high for our clients and to learn from each other.
When one of my celebrant colleagues approached me to observe her at a wedding ceremony she was leading for a couple at Dunston Hall just outside Norwich, I jumped at the chance (especially as a massive Alan Partridge fan!) and turned it into a mini holiday with my husband and son.
The wedding was beautiful, where we had a very moving ring warming (where the rings get passed around the guests to share their best wishes to the couple) and an epic book arch for this book-loving couple!
After the wedding, I took the time to do some sight-seeing in Norwich - my two year old son was obsessed with the castle!The food scene in Norwich is also amazing and we had a lovely relaxed dinner at Yalm (inside the art deco arcade) and brunch at No 33 cafe - I really recommend the Eton Mess French toast!
This September has felt like a real ‘back to school’ season and I’m excited for what’s to come in the autumn months. First on my list is packing my case for I & A’s wedding at Château de Cazenac in France this weekend! I’ll keep you posted on that as well as my next lovely ceremonies in October.
Hwyl am y tro (bye for now!)
Mair x
Mair Garland is an experienced London celebrant, 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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