Long Distance, Low Stress: Tips for Planning a UK Ceremony from Overseas

Are you looking to plan a ceremony in the UK from abroad, then read on!

In this blog, I’ll explore some top tips that will make planning your humanist ceremony (a naming ceremony, wedding or memorial ceremony) from outside the UK a little easier – from using trusted friends and pros to working with, and not against, those pesky time zones.

As a humanist celebrant based in London, I’ve been lucky enough to work with brilliant clients from all over the world to create their bespoke ceremony and help make the process as stress-free as possible – from a naming ceremony in Surrey to a family based in the Middle East to a London wedding for a couple from Hong Kong.

Here are some of my top tips below, and I’d love to hear your views too!

1.        Find a Friend

It’s definitely worth asking a friend or family member you trust to be your eyes and ears on the ground, who can help with the more practical elements of your day that might be too hard for you to do from a distance. Have you had your eye on your dream venue online? Ask someone to video call you to give you a virtual tour on FaceTime.

And of course, do make sure you include them in your thank-yous on the day to recognise their efforts!

2.        Your Dream Team: Building the Right Supplier Crew

Having the right team of suppliers is crucial for any event, but even more so when you’re organising your ceremony from another country. For weddings, a planner with international experience will be worth their weight in gold and will help you bring all the jigsaw pieces together for you, and for funerals, making sure you have the right funeral director on side will be enormously helpful. Take a look at their reviews and testimonials to see examples of their work with international clients.

And of course, I’d strongly recommend working with a celebrant with experience of working with clients based outside of the UK. If you’re looking for a celebrant who can speak a specific language, you can find this on the Humanists UK Celebrant finder (shameless plug, I speak Welsh and French!) There’s more information on planning a bilingual ceremony in a previous blog post here.

If you’re in the country for a few days or weeks before the ceremony, do take the time to look around your venue, and your suppliers will always be happy to meet with you in person before the day, which might help calm any last-minute nerves.

3.        Beat the Clock: Make Tech Work for You

Whoever you choose to help plan your day, make sure you can connect with them as often as you want to. For the suppliers you’ll speak to most, it might be helpful to carve out the same time every week that works in both time zones – a tool like World Time Buddy can help you find the best possible time for you both.

Of course these days, it’s easy to keep in touch with video conference call services like Zoom and to keep track of progress through collaborative tools like Google Drive, Trello or even a Whatsapp Group to keep track of documents and keep up to date with logistics.

4.        Celebrating Your Global Story

When it comes to your ceremony, why not add elements from your new home into the ceremony – from using some words and phrases from the language to discovering any ceremony traditions that are less common in the UK. This is a great way of giving an insight into your life outside the country with your guests.

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So, to sum up, if you’re thinking of planning a ceremony in the UK from abroad, it doesn’t need to be stressful - especially if you have the right team and tech on your side.

If you’re looking for a celebrant with international experience for a naming ceremony, wedding, funeral or memorial ceremony – please get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.

Mair Garland is a humanist celebrant based in south-east London, leading ceremonies across London, the South-East, Wales, France and beyond.