Celebrate with Alice

13/08/2024

Brogan and Matt - your love is a splendid thing and I adored writing and delivering your wedding in front of all your tribe. Not one but TWO specially written poems read out in your ceremony!! Simply delightful.

Look at the way you look at each other, pure heart-eyes emojis 😍😍.

06/07/2024

It’s lovely to see the warmth and impeccable vibes of a ceremony shine through in photos - did a beautiful job of capturing Frankie and Jake’s wedding 💒

07/05/2024

First ceremony of 2024 was a belter. Gorgeous sunshine at for and Jake. Their little boy Toby was the ring bearer and was utterly adorable throughout.

📸

02/11/2023

Tom and Sophia are two of the most gorgeous, gregarious and generous people I know. They take having fun VERY seriously and their wildly bohemian Somerset wedding party was the perfect expression of this. Their ceremony was short, sweet and simple - with lots of weeping from their guests - many of whom have watched Sophia and Tom grow and grow UP together for 13 years.

What a treat it was to be part of your day, my loves! Thank you for trusting me with it 🧡

28/09/2022

All the ceremonies I do feel special. But when it is two of your dearest friends…ooof…’special’ doesn’t even come close. Thank you for putting your trust me, and . I love you very much and your wedding was fu***ng AMAZING (read: took me about a week to recover from 💀🌸)

29/07/2022

Gorgeous Anna and Ethan just after their ceremony at in Cheshire today. Lots of laughter, lots of tears. I loved being your celebrant, my darlings 💕. Have fun in Mexico and New York 🍎!

22/07/2022

Posted • *A thank you post for our wedding celebrant*

The best part of our whole wedding day was, without a doubt, our ceremony.

This unique moment was curated by who effortlessly guided us through the process from start to finish.

We first met in the comfort of our own living room with lots of brews and mince pies, where Alice chatted to us as if we had known her forever, drawing out the story of our relationship, what we mean to each other and the reasons we wanted to get married.

She then wove all of this together to create the most beautiful script which she delivered with all of her energy on our wedding day.

The ceremony was fun, filled with love and was genuinely perfect.

The comments from our guests mirrored how we felt including a thank you to Alice by both father of the brides in their speeches!
Most of our family and friends didn't know what to expect from a humanist ceremony but all said afterwards it was the best ceremony they had ever attended. As Kay's cousin Mark said: "Ceremonies are usually something you want to get out of the way but yours was class!"

Alice was with us all of the way. Her genuine warmth and lovely personality ensured the whole process was stress-free, exciting and just a great part of the wedding planning. We loved her so much that we invited her to stay for the whole wedding 🥰

Thank you for a brilliant process and an unforgettable ceremony, Alice Phelps you are amazing!!

Thanks also go to , and who contributed with readings and to who coordinated the music, not to mention all our lovely family and friends who made the run up bearable and the day an absolute ball 💞

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known.” ~Chuck Palahniuk

Music:
~ Vale by Maribou State
~ You Got the Love (Now Voyager Radio Mix) by The Source & Candi Staton
~ We walked out to Brimful of Asha by Cornershop ( Norman Cook Remix) in tribute to and memory of Sophia's Auntie Rose ❤️

Beautiful flowers by and amazing photography by

16/07/2022

🎶For you’ll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle made for twooo 🎶🚲🌈 and were a complete delight. I could not stop smiling all the way through the ceremony. And what a treat to meet another Northwest Celebrant!

07/06/2022

Finally got round to perusing the ’s shot from Kay and Sophia’s wedding back in March. Look at the energy amongst the guests during the ceremony…they were MIGHTY CRAIC, my loves, I’ll tell you that for free.

THIS is the effect a bespoke humanist ceremony can create. Everyone laughing, crying, cheering, fully engaged and ready to share all of that pent up love with you at the reception.

A great ceremony sets the tone for the rest of your wedding day and makes your guests at least 68% more fun.*

*study based on a sample size of 2 weddings.

06/06/2022

Love on 35mm film by 🌞

This is always such a special moment to witness.

05/06/2022

Not a bad spot for a post-ceremony packed lunch courtesy of the caterers. What a treat this work is.

04/06/2022

The BEAUTIFUL Oli and Tara and their gorgeous wedding in West Wales. An absolute pleasure to conduct your ceremony, my darlings 💕🌞🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

22/03/2022

Seal of approval from best mate and bridesmaid, 🦭✔️

To celebrate the marriage of a couple in front of all the people who know and love them the most is a BIG responsibility, so feedback like this means so much.

21/03/2022

No point in adding a caption to this really. Credit to aka the humanist meme-lord 🙌

21/03/2022

‘It looks like you’re getting married TO them’ says a friend. He’s not wrong, and I am here for it.

Sophia and Kay got married on the eve of the spring equinox, when the hours of day and night are equal wherever you are in the world. The weather was perfect, Sophia and Kay looked phenomenal and I got to take my new wedding boots for a spin.

So much warmth and laughter brims over when these two are together. I was struck just how adored they are by their friends and family. I loved working with them to create a fun, relaxed and personal ceremony which would put everyone at ease and in the mood to party 🎉.

19/03/2022

Thank you for coming to observe me marrying Kay and Sophia today at the Klondyke Club in Levenshulme. Wonderful to meet you in 3D and to soak up your wisdom. What a fantastic day. I ❤️ this job.

18/03/2022

Absolute vibes at The Klondyke Club in Levenshulme - wedding prep in full swing. 🌸

18/03/2022

Suns out on Beech Road in Manchester as I read through my script for Kay and Sophia, the wonderful women I am marrying tomorrow, kicking off my weddings of 2022. Bish bash bosh, let’s get this love show on the road!

13/02/2022

This is Charlie. He is a very important cat belonging to one of the lovely couples I am marrying this summer. They are obsessed with him. I am obsessed with him. We should all be obsessed with Charlie.

07/02/2022

Hi Instagram - it’s been a minute!

What better way to return to content-making form than to wish a Happy 70th birthday (for yesterday 🤫) to my wonderful, humanist celebrant mother, Elizabeth. Named after…you guessed it. 💎 🎉 👑

I sometimes feel guilty that I have such an exceptional mother all to myself as I am her only child. However, lots and lots of people benefit from her magnificently maternal energy. She has the ability to give you her full attention, and to make you feel safe. She is kind and dignified, yet sweary, and capable, yet forgetful and basically the best person ever.

I’m aware this is the second post about my mum on this page and I can’t promise it will be the last.

Posts about actual weddings coming soon.

26/06/2021

Another from our Wild Elopement Ceremony Adventure 😍

Photographer-
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Celebrant:
Couple:

21/06/2021

Spent a truly excellent Saturday out in the middle of buttfork nowhere, playing Wild Elopement make-believe for a photoshoot with and

It got me thinking about elopements - their origins and associations, and why people choose them today. If you go into a cold sweat at the thought of being in the spotlight in front of tonnes of people, but love being. adventurous and intrepid, maybe a wild elopement is the thing to do. A glorious ceremony in a beautiful, secluded spot, where you and your loved one can say your vows to each other in privacy. Bring a couple of friends to bear witness, or maybe just a photographer to capture some wedding pictures.


Photographer-
Florals-
Make up:
Celebrant:
Couple:

17/03/2021

Unearthing my diary from 2003-2004 has revealed that 13 year old me was a) a hopeless romantic and b) a massive drama queen.

Plus ça change, some might argue 🤷🏻‍♀️

04/03/2021

Happy World Book Day my darlings! 🌍 📚 🌞🌝

I love stories. I love retreating into old, familiar ones when real life becomes too challenging. There are certain characters from favourite books that now feel like old friends. I love diving into the unknown with a new book and immersing myself in a world, sometimes familiar, sometimes fantastical.

Here is my current top 10, in no particular order. Some of them I read for the first time this year, some I have been reading every year since I was 10. Do any of them feature on your desert island of books? 🏝 📖

When we are gone, we are gone, but what we leave behind are stories. Each one of us contains a narrative as unique as it is universal, and as worthy of being told as any of the classics. This is what are for! Whether it’s celebrating a new life with a naming, joining two lives with a wedding, or remembering a life with a funeral, a humanist celebrant will be your storyteller.

04/03/2021

A slow, sun-soaked morning from earlier in the week 🌞. Bloody grey and blah today unfortunately ☁️. I have been enjoying getting down to some serious doodlage while binge watching Schitt’s Creek on my iPad (I know I know, I’m sooo late to the SC party).

Have been trying to slow down my 🐒 🧠 and make the most of a very quiet few days before about 5 new projects all begin at the same time 🌪. Ahhhh freelancing. That wonderful, healthy lifestyle of absolutely no balance whatsoever 😐.

Have had more time to draw and fiddle around with art supplies this year than at anyone other time in my grown-up life. Hobbies are great, aren’t they?? I would be such a contented retired person. So many evening classes, so little time.

Have any of you picked up or dusted off a hobby over the last year? Haha...that reads like one of those tactics to encourage ‘post engagement’, but I’m genuinely just interested! I’ve got friends who have started making their own clothes, growing veggies, doing crotchet...all sorts of things.

Yup, they all worked in the arts, dudes, and they have had 👏time👏on👏their👏hands!

20/02/2021

Now then...

I am 30 years old. I grew up in Bristol and then Salisbury, went to study music in Leeds in 2008 and accidentally stayed for 10 years before moving to lovely Manchester in 2019.

The North made me the woman I am today, and the West Country still lives in my bones (and my liberal use of the phrase ‘that’s lush’). I now live in Whalley Range with my partner Reece Jacob, who is also a musician. We have been together for 6 years, but have played in bands together for over 12. We reckon we will get married if we have children and of course, we would have a humanist ceremony.

I’m a double bassist, singer, composer and creative practitioner. In my early twenties I also trained as a luthier (a violin restorer). If you're interested I've just put links at the bottom of the post to some of the projects and organisations I work for so this doesn’t end up reading too much like a CV!

I’ve always used music as an excuse to meet and connect with people, which is, fundamentally, the thing I am most interested in. Working as a creative practitioner means I get to make music in all sorts of settings: nursing homes, homeless shelters, refugee centres, mainstream and special needs schools. I love the variety and unpredictability that comes with this job, and it has fostered some useful and surprisingly transferable celebrant skills. I am not easily fazed, can think on my feet in unexpected situations, and I’ve mastered the fine art of commanding the attention of large groups of excitable people.

What else? I love outdoor swimming, wild or otherwise, exploring, audiobooks and radio 4. I am extremely good at lighting fires and making friends with cats that do not belong to me. This last year has, as for so many people, been the hardest of my life. However, we’ll save that story for another time and another post.

(You'll notice I've tried to include pictures of me appearing to do interesting things in different places, not lolling around in my pyjamas watching Dr Who, which would be a much more accurate representation of my life.)
Kaleidoscope Orchestra
Orchestras Live
Redwood River Band
Alice Phelps Violins
Live Music Now
The Villanelles

20/02/2021

20/02/2021

If you book me as your celebrant, part of my job will be to ask you and your partner a LOT of questions, so I can fashion a ceremony that fits you as well as your wedding ring/gloves/bra/dentures (delete as appropriate).

You don’t have to, but you may want to tell me not only about your relationship, but also your families and friends, what you do for work and play, and your hopes and dreams for the future. The more I know, the more personal your ceremony can be.

With this in mind, I thought I’d redress the balance in advance by telling you a bit about myself - something I promise NOT to do at your wedding!

17/02/2021

17/02/2021