Avril Hawthorne, Life Celebrant

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Avril Hawthorne, Life Celebrant

I am a wedding celebrant, accredited by Humanists UK, providing non-religious, legal ceremonies in Northern Ireland.

As a humanist celebrant living close to Belfast and available to travel across Northern Ireland, I offer bespoke, legal wedding ceremonies for all couples.

11/11/2024

What a weekend!

Ellen and Daniel’s day was brilliant craic. I’ve known Ellen since she came in for an interview to be our placement student in 2014 and she has never failed to make me laugh ever since.

Seeing her at the top of the aisle and getting ready to walk down and marry the love of her life really got me in the feels and the first few lines were pretty shaky!

We all had a good gurn and then re-grouped to have a laugh. I’m terrible at selfies but when the bride requests one you give it your best shot - and it gave us all a minute to catch our breath 🥲

My favourite thing about their story, I think, was summing these two up with their first impressions:

‘At first Ellen thought Daniel was shy and quiet. It turned out she was completely wrong.

At first Daniel thought Ellen was loud and straight to the point. It turned out he was completely right.’

Never change you pair, have a blast on your first of several honeymoon’s! 😘

The entertainment was amazing all day with Jamie from for the ceremony, then getting the party started and giving us life after dinner!

It was my first time and I hope I’m back there soon.

You’ll definitely see more of this pair in the future - but courtesy of and 📸 🔥

01/11/2024

💗🏍️ Lisa & Robert 🛥️ 💗

I married this gorgeous pair in October and they aren’t long home from an amazing honeymoon in Mauritius. And one of the first things they did was leave me a lovely Google review!

Thank you so much Mr & Mrs Rainey - can’t wait to meet the new addition 🐶 ❤️

🥰🥰 Avril was so amazing, and really made our ceremony so personal. It was such a joy to get to know her! The ceremony she wrote for us was such a perfect mix of love and laughter. So many people complimented us on the ceremony saying how full of joy it was!

She also helped us with writing vows and all the other wee questions we had, nothing was too much trouble!

I would say everyone needs to get married by avril!!

Thank you so much! 🥰🥰

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

23/10/2024

B E E R ~ B O Y

This had us all in absolute stitches and kicked the day off perfectly.

had her brother lined up and kept it all secret (even from the groom) - only me and startraxdisco knew and it was cracker - I laughed so flipping hard. He was sooooo nervous, but when that first beat of Cardi B dropped and he put those glasses on, he absolutely nailed the assignment.

Maybe you could rent him out 🤔

Every moment captured brilliantly by milliemediani

21/10/2024

👂 Overheard at a recent ceremony….and more than once! 👂

And it’s fair enough - life celebrant, celebrant, humanist celebrant - they haven’t quite made it into our daily vocab as yet, and you only really hear it if you have to plan a wedding, funeral or baby naming.

And it’s quite simple really, I deliver non-religious versions of major life events - creating and delivering personal ceremonies for you or your loved ones.

Might get the Moira-Rose ( ) outfit for halloween…definitely just for Halloween….definitely NOT for practising ceremonies in the mirror 😉

18/10/2024

The Handfasting Cycle:

Step 1: Your celebrant wraps your hands in beautiful ribbons of your choice, whilst you look on skeptically.
Step 2: Not sure what this is but I love 's pose - he's digging the ribbons.
Step 3: I say some cute words and pull some weird faces, it would seem.
Step 4: A doubtful bride () looks on disbelievingly - how does this voodoo magic work!?
Step 5: TRUST THE PROCESS
Step 6: Sheer delight and I do a little dance as it was never in doubt.....😢

Thank you for sharing your gorgeous pictures with me Sarah and Chris, and for having me at your gorgeous Beech Hill Wedding in February.

📸
⛪️
👰‍♀️
🤵

14/10/2024

MEET THE TEAM ➡️

1 + 2 - Frankie and Flo, my constant writing companions. They lie beside me whilst I curate personalised ceremonies and sleep like they’ve worked a 23 hour day. Fun fact: they were actually a present from Laura for being a bridesmaid in her wedding. We were only meant to have one, but I just had to take them both home 🐾 🐾
3. The Wife! Fact checker extraordinaire, cheerleader when my confidence shakes (weekly) and more recently my driver to ceremonies, which I could get used to! She’s been there through all my ideas, and this is us ‘upgrading’ from a civil partnership to marriage last December.
4. My nephew Jed - bringing the cuteness for more than a decade now, he’s taught me patience and empathy beyond measure. He has no filter, so he’s my sartorial advisor - tells me if something is too bright for a funeral or too funeral for a wedding!
5. Our Emily - the resident teenager and keeps me updated on all things Harry Styles. Whether I want to know or not. Shes a dab hand with socials too and has been a great help with some bts shots. Iyky, ty, kk (most of her text replies)

It absolutely takes a village and I’m lucky to have mine!

09/10/2024

Here I am, Avril Hawthorne, in my happy place - about to officiate a wedding at the gorgeous Brookhall Cottages.

I have been a life celebrant for 3 years now, trained and accredited by Humanists UK, writing and conducting non-religious weddings and funerals.

I have conducted over 100 ceremonies, meaning I have the experience to deal with most things a ceremony can throw at you! Rain on your forest wedding or sideways rain for your elopement? No probs. Kids playing with candles mid-love story? Wee buns (lies, I panicked but we handled it). Forgotten paperwork…? completed it mate.

In the run-up I’ll support you in any way I can. My style is to be people-centred so I will adapt to your vibe, mainly being there for you in the background. On the day it’s all about you.

Dates still available for 2025, and 2026 diary is open. So hit me up, let’s have a chat, and see if I’m the celebrant for you.

📸 Rosemary, Brookhall Cottages

07/10/2024

Happy Anniversary .xx_lesleyanne_xx.x and Alan!

Two years, in the blink of an eye.

Here’s to many more with your soulmate, and your gorgeous family ❤️

Enjoy Benidorm! 😘✈️ ☀️ 🌊 🛥️

06/10/2024

Spent the afternoon with our and fiancé Daniel, putting the final touches to their ceremony in November!

Been a couple of years in planning - cannot believe it’s FIVE weeks away 😥 Better start ✍️ (going to make it SUPER soppy 😉)

Looking forward to being your celebrant, and also partying the night away with some familiar faces 🥳

Thanks for lunch you two, see you at the top of the aisle 🫶🏼

01/10/2024

Excited to be welcoming in a new month 🍂

And what a busy one it’s going to be - I have lots of gorgeous couples who have trusted me with their love story and important day.

From an elopement where it will be just me and the photographer, to a full theatre with a choir - I got it allllll goin’ on this month.

Whether it’s a low-key affair, or a full-throttle ceremony, I’ll be there to guide every step of the way.

And I couldn’t be happier about it!

21/09/2024

Andy’s shoes tho 😍

I’ll share the profesh pics from too but I love this one that their maid of honour, good friend, and engagement shooter Lara took.

These two had the coolest most laidback ceremony with gorgeous florals from .co - but the attention to every detail was down to

01/09/2024

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉 I’ve been nominated for the Wedding Help NI Awards as Celebrant of the Year, and I would be so grateful for your support! If I’ve helped make your special day unforgettable, please take a moment to vote for me. Your vote means the world and helps me continue spreading love and joy through the ceremonies I create. 💍💖

Click the link to cast your vote – thank you for being part of this journey with me! 🙏

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JVXZCJ7

30/07/2024

Just pondering life in London Town with this dude for a few days.

It’s boiling and busy, but we are making the most of it! 🏰🌆🛶🍜

26/07/2024

Let’s talk reviews.

Nobody likes a bragger - but as a small business they make a big difference. They help people make a choice, and also help with traction online - so if you have a minute I’d be eternally grateful!

I’ve added the link to my bio, and I’ll put it on my story too.

24/07/2024

I don’t often post about my funerals, but today’s will stay with me. P made such a positive impact on so many people’s lives, mine included.

Especially this song, I’d never listened to ELO before, and they’re now going to feature highly on my 2024 Spotify Wrapped 😂

Neil Diamond, Louis Armstrong and John Denver also all new additions in recent weeks that I’m not annoyed about.

I love tying in people’s music tastes with their stories and I can see the emotion it releases for their families.

It’s such a privilege to be trusted with a loved one’s story, and I will never take it for granted 🩷

20/07/2024

2024 vs 1988 - sure you’d hardly know the difference!

First time back at Magheramourne Estate since I was a bridesmaid as a wean - and it’s still just as beautiful!

Profesh photos of the gorgeousness that was today when I get them!

I’m buzzing and full of love after that one. A memorised poem from the flower girl and a personally written one from a bridesmaid.

Humanist weddings - sure ya couldn’t bate them with a big stick!

16/06/2024

💒 Mr and Mrs Uchida 💒

John and Denise were an absolute delight from our very first email exchange.

Their dream was to travel four and a half thousand miles from Denver to say their ‘I do’s’ in the and it was absolutely beautiful.

I knew this would be an emotional one, the love they have for each other - which has grown over the past seventeen years - is so pure and so deep, that they could have read the phone book to one another and I’d have been in bits.

Of course, it was much better than that and their personal vows were just as gorgeous as they are.

Lovely to see the talented Mr behind the camera along with Sam, and to see Ainsley again from the Culloden team (last time I saw her she was a bridesmaid at another of my weddings! 🥰😍).

10/06/2024

🌟 Happy Post (literally!) 🌟

I probably shouldn’t admit this - but for a long time I was petrified of post, and envelopes. Something about the unknown, the unexpected and no clue what was inside. Usually a credit card bill.

But since being in the role of a celebrant, it’s become thank you cards, and gorgeous portraits of weddings and thoughtful words of gratitude for a service for loved ones.

There’s still the odd unwanted letter (like speeding fines….say no more!) - but the love and gratitude outweighs those x 1,000,000,000.

Soppy post done for the year 🫡 Y’all know who you are, you thoughtful b*stards ❤️❤️

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Opening Hours

Monday	08:00 - 21:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 21:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 21:00
Thursday	08:00 - 21:00
Friday	08:00 - 21:00
Saturday	08:00 - 21:00
Sunday	08:00 - 21:00

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http://www.avrilhawthorne.com/

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