Candice Dillen - Humanist Celebrant

06/01/2025

I’ve featured Emily & Connor already but I’m doing it again because their wedding was THE BEST.

I love animals, they love animals. So Edinburgh Zoo was the perfect setting for us all. They were especially excited about feeding the giraffes as newlyweds and didn’t capture it perfectly!

They sent me some of their gorgeous photos, plus the kindest review which included:

“It was everything we could have hoped for and more. Candice has such a kind, caring and calming energy. Our ceremony will forever hold the most special place in our heart and for that Candice, we can’t thank you enough.”

These two really are wonderful humans and I know that not only will they have the happiest life together, they will also make the lives of everyone around them happier too ♥️

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28/12/2024

What a gorgeous winter wedding this was!

28/12/2024

Engaged? Congratulations! 🥂

The very first thing you'll probably do to kickstart your wedding planning is find your wedding venue. This then ties down your wedding date. The next priority? To choose someone to marry you.

Humanist Society Scotland is the largest provider of humanist ceremonies. We’ve been delivering legal humanist ceremonies for 20 years and have over 130 humanist celebrants across Scotland. So with us, your ceremony is in safe hands.

To secure your date with us follow these three simple steps…

1️⃣ Head to our website https://buff.ly/3Pd0aDf

2️⃣ Give us the deets
Sign up using our simple “secure your date” booking form, sharing the date and location of your ceremony. Now your wedding date is secure and you’re guaranteed a Humanist Society Scotland celebrant, yus!

OR if you’d prefer to browse celebrants first, just head to “find a celebrant” instead!

3️⃣ Choose your celebrant!
Choose from our available celebrants by looking at their celebrant profiles online, you can even contact a few for a chat before deciding.

With a network of over 130 celebrants we can offer a wide range of styles and personalities to make sure you find someone who is the perfect fit to tell your love story.

Happy wedding planning! 🥰

17/12/2024

B & F’s wee wedding took place at Seapink Cottage on the East Lothian coast. The day was perfect; gorgeous soft light, vibrant colours, joyful guests and the best team of local creatives from ⁣
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Though they met many years ago, and most definitely fancied each other LOTS, whenever they crossed paths the timing was never quite right. Until 3 years ago, when they finally decided to take that leap of faith. They have never looked back. ⁣
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Choosing to marry in a small private ceremony, with just their besties present, we heard poetry as they were handfasted and their wedding rings were warmed. Unusually they chose not to speak their vows aloud and instead kept them private, sharing them only with each other, as they swapped books containing the personal handwritten promises they wished to make. ⁣
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Elopements & teeny weddings have such a unique magic and intimacy. A life changing moment in time, undivided attention and a completely engaged presence, witnessed by those integral to your life. All rounded off with a huge round of applause 💕⁣
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02/12/2024

A & C first met at work, a local community television station, a bit like Wayne’s World! 12 years later, they eloped to Edinburgh, before enjoying their Scottish honeymoon.

It was important to be able to make their lifelong commitment, in a way that felt right to them but that didn’t mean their loved ones couldn’t be involved. We shared messages in their ceremony, sent by both families, who were proud that they had stayed true to their hearts. Messages of love, welcome and wishes for their future, along with a brilliant ‘punderful’ recipe - “Chorizo Your Own Adventure burger” written especially for them because of their love of watching the TV show Bob’s Burgers!

Vows were spoken whilst handfasted, a handfast made of three coloured cords - red for passion and love, blue for honesty and loyalty and gold for happiness and joy. Colours to represent the values and aspirations for their marriage.

And so, under the Scottish sky, surrounded by the peace and beauty of Dunsapie Loch, with the swans gliding by and the gorse bushes in bloom, they started a new chapter of their lives.

All beautifully captured by the inimitable Raini and Dave

25/11/2024

Emily’s motto for life is “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

Connor loves that about her. He says she is the colour in his black-and-white.

They married at Edinburgh Zoo, their happy place. A place they’ve visited often over the years since they first met in high school.

Their lovely ceremony included a message from Emily‘s grandparents who have been married for 65 years. It pointed out that 65 years will see Emily & Connor to 2089!

After the ceremony the newly weds headed for their confetti run.

Then they went to feed the giraffes! 🦒

Loved marrying these two sweethearts 💕

Ceremony chums 🙌🏼
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18/11/2024

Throwback to the fabulous wedding of G & C! ⁣
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How should you approach your very first married kiss? A tentative polite peck… or a full-on snog? ⁣
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G & C went for the latter. And they practically skipped down the aisle afterwards ♥️
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Theirs is stored in the gallery of ‘candicethehumanist wedding highlights’. And they sent me a lovely review afterwards 🙏🏼
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“Candice was recommended to us by another lovely humanist we know Rona Burstow. She couldn’t have made our ceremony more perfect. She absolutely perfected the intimate personal, humorous ceremony we wanted and we couldn’t have asked for more. It was just what we wanted and a day we will remember forever. We would highly recommend Candice to anyone who wants a kind, caring, lovely person to deliver their ceremony.“⁣
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Thanks so much for that recommendation and thank you to G & C for inviting me to be their celebrant all those months ago! ⁣
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05/11/2024

When J & JB renewed their vows, after 10 years of marriage, they chose to symbolise the strength of their love and their family with a handfasting. ⁣
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This very special ceremony took place in the majestic Edinburgh Castle, with loved ones travelling from France, to a country J & JB love and where they married back in 2014. ⁣
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It also took place with the three most cherished achievements of their relationship, their beautiful children.⁣
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And so, for their handfasting, they used 5 ribbons, representing each of them, made from fabrics meaningful to them.⁣
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It was a day for romance, for embracing the warmth of loved ones and for celebrating the rich tapestry of life. ⁣
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It was La vie en rose 🩷⁣
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📷 by the lovely Alysa

01/11/2024

J is obsessed with the Back to the Future movies. In their 10 years together he and A have met Christopher Lloyd and acquired LOTS of random merchandise. So his one request for the wedding was…. a De Lorean! ⁣⁣
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Here they are, with said De Lorean, looking stunning as very newly married people, in the grounds of the beautiful Dalmahoy hotel. ⁣⁣
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Incidentally, on our family holiday in California this year we did the WB studio tour in LA. Saw a De Lorean there too, outside the clock tower set used in the ACTUAL films (see final photo)
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We’re Back to the future geeks too…⁣
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The real bona fide De Lorean is in the Automotive museum in LA. We didn’t have time to see it when we were there but A & J might…..as they’ll be in LA during their honeymoon! ⁣⁣🎉
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Have the best time lovelies and huge congratulations to you both! 🥳 ⁣⁣
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25/10/2024

“I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again… I’ll be looking for you…every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you… We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams… And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we’ll be joined so tight.”⁣
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I & J chose to include this lovely excerpt from The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, in their beautiful ceremony. They love books so decided to marry surrounded by thousands of them, in the exquisite New library at Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh. And a literary reading was perfect.
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They also chose to read their own, very moving, vows, written in beautiful leather bound books. 📚 ⁣
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Many Congratulations to the happy couple ♥️⁣
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12/10/2024

M & N brought a big crowd of Irish & Scots together for their wedding and you can bet the party was something to behold! ⁣
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Together for 7 years, it was a delight to tell their story and witness their love and adoration for each other. And you can tell they just have SO much fun together! ⁣
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Their ring bearer was Gus. The canine love of their lives. Needless to say, he stole the show! 🐾⁣
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Congratulations to the lovely M & N ♥️⁣
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07/10/2024

J & C started creeping on each other on Twitter back in 2013. It was a slow-burn; a tweet here, a wee reply there, the occasional retweet….. ⁣
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This went on for a while. ⁣
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But then, when C decided to get rid of his R2D2 bobble head figure, J just happened to be in her Star Wars phase.⁣
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A colourful story ensued. A story of rag doll kittens, convenience store roulette in Tokyo (they never knew what was in their sandwich) and Elder Emo gig season. ⁣
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They got engaged on a random Tuesday and married on a random Saturday. ⁣
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Add .tower and into the mix and it all added up to a pretty epic day. ⁣
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I’ve stuck a Tokyo filter on this photo of the very newly married lovelies because Japan is their favourite place and they’ll be heading back there on honeymoon.⁣
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And I’ve chosen The Cure track because I’m too old for Emo but The Cure were pretty much a precursor weren’t they? And I’m not too old for them! ⁣
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Huge congratulations J & C, it was a pleasure to be part of your day ♥️⁣
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03/10/2024

Roddy went down on one knee on the very first date when he slipped spectacularly on an icy pavement in Glasgow’s southside. Who’d have known then, that two years later he’d be back down on one knee, this time on purpose, asking Rebecca to marry him. ⁣
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Since then life has had both loud moments and quiet spells. Holidays, wild nights out, evenings on the sofa and lazy Sunday mornings. The delighted cheers from their loved ones when I pronounced them married was perhaps the loudest moment of all! ⁣🎉
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It’s always a treat to conduct a wedding at beautiful Netherbyres House, even more so when it’s for a couple as lovely as these two. And great to be in the excellent company of who captured the love perfectly, as you can see in these photos. 👌🏼⁣
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I was very touched to receive this review from the lovely new Mr & Mrs: ⁣
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“Candice made us feel at ease from the moment we met her on zoom to the big day. We couldn’t have asked for better direction on how to create our ceremony and both feel she caught the best of us and our story from her questions and our ‘homework’ which was such a joy to complete. So many guests told us the ceremony was relaxed, personal and caught our personalities and we couldn’t have asked for a more special telling of our relationship. On the day, she was calming and encouraging - We can’t thank you enough Candice!“

22/09/2024

The Mazer - the new Quaich? ⁣
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Drinking from a Quaich is very popular in Scottish wedding ceremonies. But yesterday’s bride studied medieval history and could only find references in medieval texts to cups such as mazers that had ceremonial significance. ⁣
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So during their ceremony J & P chose not to drink from a Quaich but instead from a lovely mazer, which they had made especially for the occasion. ⁣
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Traditionally mazers are given names and so they named theirs ‘The Black Linn Cup’, after the place where they first declared their love for each other. ❤️⁣
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Cute! ⁣
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What would your mazer be called? ⁣
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Mine would be much less romantic, ‘The Bannermans Cup’ because & I first crossed paths in the grime of Edinburgh’s Cowgate music bar! 😃⁣
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11/09/2024

25 YEARS! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⁣⁣
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I was 25 when I first came to Scotland in September 1999 to do my MSc at Edinburgh Uni. And this month marks 25 years of living in Edinburgh, which means I’ve now spent half of my life here. I guess I’m an Honorary Scot! ⁣⁣
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My wedding work means I know all about Celtic ceremonial gestures and my funeral work has given me so much knowledge about life in old Edinburgh & Leith. I have a wide repertoire of Scottish slang, know ‘Sunshine on Leith’ off by heart (It’s probably the no 1 song played at Edinburgh funerals!) and now call it a ‘fish supper’ not fish and chips. ⁣⁣
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Before moving to Scotland I lived in Leeds for 5 years. Before that I grew up in NE England (though spent much of my early childhood at sea as my dad was in the Merchant Navy) ⁣⁣
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My dad was Indian/Portugese and my mum English/Irish. I am one of the very few mixed race celebrants in Scotland. ⁣⁣
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I love Scotland and England. I have a beautiful country to live in and still have a not bad football team to support. 😉 ⁣⁣
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My husband & kids are Edinburgh born, my dog is Dundee born, the cat came from Dalkeith!
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So pretty eclectic. I think that’s what I love about my job most of all - the diversity and the new experiences, yet seeing the common humanity we all share, no matter who we are, or where we are from. ⁣
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Humanists believe there is more to unite than divide us. As the old Scottish phrase says, ⁣
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“We’re all Jock Tamson’s Bairns!”

10/09/2024

“Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. In 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now, how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.”⁣
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L&M included the fantastic reading ‘Wear Sunscreen’ by Mary Schmich in their joyful ceremony. Very apt. They do have so much possibility before them and they really do look fabulous. ⁣
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They married under the silver birch in the beautiful sunny courtyard of Edinburgh’s Timberyard restaurant, symbolising a new beginning as husband and wife. He promised to always cook her favourite pork and apple sausages, she promised to pretend to like climbing Munros even though she really just enjoys the gin at the end. ⁣
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It was all kinds of wonderful. ♥️⁣

06/09/2024

♥️

26/08/2024

“– in fact it’s very natural to go through grief”. It is, she says, not natural “to squish [grief] down and pretend it’s not there and say: ‘Death is nothing at all, just have a bottle of wine and smile.’” The funeral is part of that: “If we get it right, I think it avoids all sorts of problems later on”

Shift reflects change in how people are talking and thinking about death amid climate crisis and increasing secularism