Sue Walder - Humanist Celebrant

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Sue Walder - Humanist Celebrant

Humanist wedding, naming and funeral celebrant, accredited by Humanists UK. I conduct bespoke, personal ceremonies in London and surrounding counties.

02/07/2025

👶🎈🍰 Appointing guide parents in a naming ceremony 🍰🎈👶

One of the great things about naming ceremonies is that they can be as formal or informal as you like and you can hold them just about anywhere

Sarah and Neil decided to hold Erin's ceremony underneath a group of trees outside their house. It was a fun, relaxed and heartfelt ceremony

This photo captures me appointing Erin's guide parents (that's the non-religious equivalent of godparents)

As well as making collective promises to support Erin, they each wrote and read out some personal words - as did Neil & Sarah

I'm sure Erin will treasure reading these words in her keepsake ceremony script as she grows up

Knowing just how much you were wanted and loved - what a gift 🎁

01/07/2025

💕🥂 From New Zealand to York to Melbourne 🥂💕

What a delight to conduct Josie & Lucas's wedding in the gorgeous grounds of in York

Josie .grigio first met Lucas in Australia on her gap year travels and then again on a working holiday down under. Their connection proved too strong to be undone by the tyranny of distance and ultimately Josie was drawn back to Australia to start a life with Lucas

They moved to New Zealand a few years ago and now have a gorgeous baby boy

As Josie grew up in York, they returned for an intimate wedding before moving to Melbourne for a new adventure

Josie & Lucas - I wish you and Lennie all the very best for a life filled with love and adventure!

26/06/2025

🎉🙌💃 Kind words, gratefully received 💃🙌🎉

So happy to hear that Logan's parents were happy with the naming ceremony we conducted last weekend

They entered into the process in a generous, open and wholehearted way. It was a joy to work with them

And what a great community of family and friends they have who will now also be a loving presence in Logan's life

If you're thinking of celebrating a new arrival to the family then get in touch (see bio for info). I'm always happy to have a no-obligation chat 😊

25/06/2025

🏕️ 🎉💕 Bringing the glamour 💕🎉🏕️

What better way to celebrate the Summer Solstice than by conducting a woodland wedding in Yorkshire for this pair of humans?

Mel and Alexander certainly brought the glamour to a ceremony that was packed full of love and laughter as I told their personal story

I've known Mel's dad since we were at university together. So to see Vince walk Mel down the 'aisle' was extra special

Great to work with Kerry and the team at in Bedale. A shout out too to Melvin Zakers who played steel pans, and Vonley Smith, our photographer for the day

22/06/2025

🍰🍰🍰 A sweet thank you 🍰🍰🍰

What a lovely thank you from Jessica and Ross after their son Logan's naming ceremony today at The Bridge Hotel & Spa Walshford Wetherby Yorkshire

It was a pleasure to meet a great bunch of supportive family and friends and to lead a special ceremony that included a sand blending ritual and a sing-along

I'm now about to make a brew, put my feet up and tuck into one of these gorgeous fondant fancies from - yum!

21/06/2025

🖤🍻 A celebration of life for a pub landlord 🍻🖤

Yesterday I had the privilege of guiding a celebration of life ceremony to honor and remember Sara-Jo

Originally from Huddersfield, she travelled the world producing conferences and presentations before returning to West Yorkshire to fulfil her dream of opening a pub

She had the vision to transform an old joinery factory in Sowerby Bridge into what is now a cherished pub and community space offering real ale

In 2006, within a year of opening, she was presented with a CAMRA award for Best Pub Conversion

She was a force of nature - strong willed, hard working and amazingly kind and generous

She also loved to sing and dance and performed in many productions every New Year's Eve at the pub which raised money for the Mother & Baby unit at Calderdale Hospital

To end the ceremony it seemed only right to give her a loud and heartfelt standing ovation

19/06/2025

🎈🌟🎈A naming day time capsule 🎈🌟🎈

As part of the celebrations for Logan's naming ceremony this weekend, everyone has been asked to bring something for a special time capsule

The idea is for Logan to open the capsule on his 18th birthday in 2042. Hopefully he'll find the exercise fascinating

I've bought the August issue of music magazine MOJO, which comes with a free CD Wonder if he'll be able to play it

And this issue (weirdly) has The Beatles on the front - a real throwback

What would you put in a time capsule?

06/06/2025

♥️🎉♥️ First wedding of the season! ♥️🎉♥️

What a great start to the wedding season. An outdoor wedding (complete with sunshine) in the Potager Garden at in York

Josie (from Yorkshire) & Lucas (from Melbourne, Australia) flew over from New Zealand with their lovely little boy to celebrate with a small group of special close friends and family

Great to work with Julia and the team at Middlethorpe Hall and Josie's friend Hayley who was on photography duty

Think it might be wine o'clock now! I'm going to raise a glass to toast all the couples, celebrants, wedding suppliers and venues busy prepping for the wedding season ahead 🥂🥂🥂

25/05/2025

🥳💐🥳 A Family Celebration 🥳💐🥳

(And yes, I realise now that I should've ditched the bag!)

What a wonderful day I had yesterday at the tipi The New Inn, Pen*stone helping The Markham family with their 'Family Blessing'

This combined a renewal of vows for Lucy and Tom with a naming ceremony for their two gorgeous little boys Quinn and Laurence

The idea was born out of a desire to finally have the wedding they had originally planned but never got to experience thanks to the pandemic

Wanting to push on with their lives and start their family, Tom & Lucy got married at a register office in May 2020

After their second child arrived last year they began to plan a special event which would involve their special group of close family and friends

Lucy recreated the backdrop of paper lanterns and origami cranes which she'd kept since 2020, when the original wedding was cancelled, which made it very special

Against this backdrop there was a heartfelt exchange of personal vows (Lucy wearing the wedding dress she'd made but never got to wear), the appointment of four guide parents, a big brother pledge, and a communal welcoming of the boys. Everyone left their fingerprints on the Markham family tree as a lovely keepsake of the day

To finish the celebration, Grandad Singsong (Tom's dad) picked up his guitar and we all sang along to Wild Mountain Thyme...

🧡 All in all, a fabulous celebration of family and friendship 🧡

24/04/2025

🎈🥳🎈 Naming ceremony season is here 🎈🥳🎈

As the days lengthen and spring does its thing, I find myself working on three naming ceremonies for families. Three families, four children and a host of happy, supportive family and friends - what's not to love?

You can hold a naming ceremony at any time, of course, but the spring and summer tend to be more popular

You can also hold them anywhere you like. I've conducted naming ceremonies in family homes, back gardens, pubs, cafes, community centres and village halls

If you're not religious, a naming ceremony is the perfect way to mark and celebrate the latest addition to your family. There won't be any hymns or prayers but there will be lots of love, kindness and respect

This photo captures me with little Mahli Rae and her proud mum & dad back in the spring of 2018 - my very first naming ceremony. To celebrate her Jamaican heritage we finished the ceremony by chanting her name accompanied by a Rastafarian drummer - a very special moment

Here's to many more unique magical moments 🎈🥳🎈

17/04/2025

Looking forward to this one-day gathering at Natural Endings in Todmorden to discover more about the creative, participatory and meaningful ways people can express their loss and say goodbye at a funeral or a memorial...

26/03/2025

🎉🎉 Keeping it in the family 🎉🎉

All the dates of my wedding ceremonies this year are important but this one is the most special

Why? Well - on 4th October I get to conduct the wedding of Siobhán and Oliver at

So what makes it so special and noteworthy? Well, Siobhán just happens to be my daughter...

Excuse me while I do a happy dance! 💃😍💃

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Website

https://humanist.org.uk/suewalder/

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Bespoke, personal ceremonies

Hello,

If you’re reading this you are probably planning a wedding or a naming ceremony and have landed on my page. Welcome!

I am a humanist celebrant and I’m proud to be one of the 400+ celebrants trained and accredited by Humanists UK.

Humanist ceremonies help people mark major life events in a way that is personal, sincere, and honest but without the need for prayers or hymns.

My job is to work with couples and families to create meaningful and memorable weddings, vow renewals, and naming and welcoming ceremonies. You can read a bit more about me and the ceremonies I perform on my webpage here.

It’s a pretty wonderful job and I love meeting and working with so many lovely people. It’s both a pleasure and a privilege to be so closely involved in such intimate family moments.

You can read some testimonials about my work here.

It’s important that you find the right celebrant to work with so I recommend we have a no-obligation chat first to see if I’d be a good fit for the ceremony you’re planning. If I’m not right for you, I’m always happy to recommend other celebrants in the Humanist UK network.

Telephone: 0796 9272235

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @Humanist_Sue

Twitter: @celebrantsue1

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