What does a humanist celebrant do? My Speech at the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group

In November 2025, I was so pleased to be asked by Humanists UK to take part in a panel event at the UK Parliament to speak about my role as a humanist celebrant. It was such a privilege to speak on a panel of amazing humanist colleagues and to share my experience with MPs, Peers and Humanists UK members.

Below is a copy of my speech, which covers topics like:

• Why I chose to become a humanist celebrant

• What I love about leading each ceremony type (baby naming ceremonies, weddings and funerals)

• What I enjoy about working with families to create their bespoke ceremony

If you want to know more about what a humanist celebrant does...read on!

All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group Meeting Panel

My Speech for the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group Meeting 12/11/2025

I’m Mair Garland, and I’m a humanist celebrant based in South London. I lead humanist baby naming ceremonies, weddings and funerals, which I find to be an incredibly fulfilling role.

In the same way that no two families are the same, each one of the ceremonies I have the privilege of co-creating with my clients are bespoke, meaningful and completely unique to them.

While I knew for a long time I was an atheist because of my absence of any religious faith, it wasn’t until I started looking into training to become a celebrant that the things I do believe in - science, logic, reason and especially the power of people to do good in the world without religion - that I understood my beliefs aligned strongly with humanism, and I knew it was right for me to train as a humanist celebrant.

This is an experience that’s often shared by the families I work with. Humanist ceremonies are often one of the first ways that people learn about humanism and find that their non-religious beliefs have a label that applies to them. Since more than a million people attend humanist ceremonies each year, they’re a powerful way to demonstrate the value that humanism and humanists provide to our communities up and down the country.   

I started my training first in naming ceremonies online in the midst of the pandemic in 2020. The training provided me with such a positive, joyful and creative outlet during an a universally challenging time. The first ceremonies I led would be for families who showed extraordinary courage in giving birth and raising their babies under extreme restrictions – and these ceremonies would sometimes be the first that time that families would be coming back together after such a long time apart, which was a true privilege to witness.

I caught the celebrant bug, and I went on to train in funerals and weddings. I love leading every type of ceremony, and each for a variety of reasons:

First, naming ceremonies. They aren’t just a good excuse for a party or to wet the baby’s head, as fun as that is! Often, the families I work with have gone through so much already, or thought they’d never be able to build the family they’d dreamt of – be that because of fertility challenges, their sexuality or because they’re doing this alone. Or they’ve experienced birth trauma, premature birth, previous baby loss or neonatal illnesses. For these families, a humanist naming ceremony shows the world just what they’ve already achieved as a unit and how they want to create meaning and build their lives together. And of course, when my husband and I welcomed our son last year, we had a naming ceremony for him, led by one of my lovely humanist celebrant colleagues, Deborah.

Then, funerals. It is truly an honour, and often a challenge (and one that I enjoy!) to try and distil someone’s entire life into a 30-minute crematorium slot. Whoever it is, everyone has an extraordinary story to tell and a legacy that will long outlive them. And not only do I have the privilege of learning about that particular person’s life, but I’m growing to understand the history of the communities to which they’ve contributed so much.

Finally, weddings. One strong motivation for me to train as a humanist celebrant was the longstanding role of humanists in celebrating LGBTQ+ marriages, long before equal marriage became legal in this country. I love the fact that I’ll get to know my couples really well over a period of several months, if not longer – and by the time their big day arrives, I can greet them like old friends at the end of the aisle.

But one important obstacle remains – any couple who wants a humanist wedding ceremony still needs to have a second civil ceremony to make their marriage legal, which poses extra financial and administrative burdens on couples who want to celebrate their love in line with their humanist beliefs.

While it was wonderful to hear the government’s intention last month to legalise humanist marriages in the near future, we still can’t tell our couples exactly when and how this will happen. Government already has the power to lay the order for humanist marriages in parliament now – so why the delay? Let’s make this a reality as soon as possible for our couples.

In summary, being a humanist celebrant for me is a true vocation. I consider myself so lucky to play just a small role in supporting so many wonderful families on the most significant days of their lives.

My colleagues and I across the country show it’s absolutely possible for non-religious people to commemorate life’s big milestones without religion, but with plenty of meaning, love and joy that that will be remembered long after the day itself.

Here I am mid-speech, talking about my role as a humanist celebrant

I hope this gives a little more insight into my role as a humanist celebrant and why I love it so much! If you'd like more information about my services, including: naming ceremonies, weddings, funerals & celebrations of life and bilingual Welsh and French ceremonies, please get in touch - I'd love to hear all about your plans.

Mair Garland is a humanist celebrant based in South London.