Georgia Brooker Humanist Celebrant

25/01/2025

Lang may yer lums reek! Happy Burns nicht, abody!

Guid Burns Nicht to you all!

To those that celebrate, wherever you are in the world, have a cracker, and lang may your lum reek!

Here's a tweet from the inestimable Jackie Kay, a poet who's done so much for humanist ethics and culture in Scotland, updating Burns's humanism for our age.

And while we're at it, a snap of Jackie helping us launch our last strategy Our Humanist Future back in 2020.

06/01/2025

06/01/2025

Happy New Year wonderful folks! Wishing you all the very best for your exciting plans for 2025 - wedding related or otherwise! What an absolute pleasure it's been to be part of so many joyful days from 2024. Thank you all sincerely for inviting me to share a little of the magic, and here's to the many amazing experiences and adventures yet to come... 🥰

30/12/2024

I might be a wee bit biased in favour of Scottish weddings…

24/12/2024

Wishing you all the very merriest of everything, and a joyful New Year 🥰✨🎄💚

21/12/2024

Moments of solstice stillness on the way home from a sincerely special winter wedding in the highlands today. Wishing a joyful, peaceful and restful night to all 💚

29/10/2024

I’d probably need to say something. Eventually…😜🐻

15/10/2024

“You've been amazing from beginning to end and the words to describe how grateful we are don't exist yet. Thank you. “

20/09/2024

It’s been a month full of adventures, and it’s only now that I’m sitting down for a long train ride that I realise I’ve not yet posted in celebration of the wonderful wedding of Ashley and Iain on 24th August: their paths crossed through their work for the railway, and they chose famous train names for their table themes, so this was the perfect reminder!

When I opened the gorgeous photo Ashley sent, my two year old daughter told me “that’s mummy and a princess!” 💗 👑 (Sorry Iain, you didn’t get a mention 😉) They clearly adore each other, and it’s a joy to wish them both many more adventures along their journey into happily ever after…❤️🚊🛤

09/08/2024

Rachael and Aylwyn's wonderful wedding last Saturday at the gorgeous Glasgow University Memorial Chapel was a extra special one for lots of reasons, not least because Rachael is my very lovely sister-in-law!

Officiating their ceremony was an incredible honour. Usually I go home shortly after the ceremony so it was especially amazing to stay for the whole celebration to see them experience the rest of their joyful day, and to fully appreciate all the efforts of so many family members teaming up to support them behind the scenes. Also for my three adorable (yes, I'm biased!), and energetic, daughters to have such fun times dancing themselves dizzy as flower-girls! Huge congratulations to the happy couple, and here's to a lifetime of love together!

Image credit to the very talented Harrison Reid at PhotographEverything https://photographeverything.net/a-b-o-u-t-c-o-n-t-a-c-t

17/06/2024

“Georgia, sending our heartfelt thanks for Saturday. Everyone has commented on how beautiful the ceremony was. Thank you so much for all your hard work. We loved the process of working with you and it was just all so special on the day. 🤍”:

This kind and thoughtful message from bride Caitlin absolutely made my day! Putting together a ceremony which felt right for her and Matty was such a joy, especially with wonderful support from the fantastic team at The Knowes Hotel & Restaurant in Banff.

I wish I had taken a picture of them and their gorgeous wee boy (who stole the show with his perfect comedy timing and cheeky smiles!) Luckily, the lovely Tanya from Tanya ST Photography will have captured all the special moments of laughter, smiles, and gloriously bright and beautiful flowers much better than I ever could!

01/06/2024

I’m proud to be part of an organisation which has pioneered marriage equality. Love is love 🏳️‍🌈

Today marks the beginning of ! An opportunity to celebrate diversity within our ceremonies, community and the shared values of humanism and the pride movement.

This year is particularly special as marks ten years of equal marriage in Scotland! Humanist Society Scotland campaigned for Scotland to legalise same-sex marriage. In 2014 the Marriage and Civil Partnership Act was passed, marking a huge milestone of equality in Scotland.

We are proud to continue to support equality for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community 🏳️‍🌈

What does pride mean to you? How will you be celebrating?

28/05/2024

I love all the creativity that goes into making tying the knot even more meaningful 🪢

We've got some more wedding tips from a humanist celebrant this Georgia Brooker Humanist Celebrant gives some ideas for personalising the popular ancient Celtic handfasting ritual so you can make it your own as part of your wedding ceremony.

“Tartan is most traditional for handfasting but I’ve also helped couples to tie their knot with all kinds of cords and fabrics most meaningful to them: from climbing ropes, stitched-together rugby shirts, artfully crafted Celtic knot macramé creations, locally woven tweeds, or heirlooms like lace from mum’s old wedding dress. Tradition with a twist can feel so special when you make it your own.

Also, if you are looking to go for a more traditional handfasting tie, so many charities now have their own specially-created tartans: if you're keen to include something special with a Scottish accent in your ceremony and want to show solidarity with important causes. The Scottish Register of Tartans has a great site with more details on charity tartans."

Read more hints and tips for rituals you can include in your wedding ceremony in the latest edition of Your Scottish Wedding and on our ceremonies blog: https://buff.ly/4bzE7A7

📸 Photo from Mia and Paul's elopement by Eilidh Preston Photography

21/05/2024

BREAKING: Scotland is a non-religious majority country for the first time!

New figures released by the National Records of Scotland this morning show that 51.1% of people in the 2022 Scottish census identified as non-religious, up from 36.7% in 2011. "No religion" was the most common response across 30 of Scotland's 32 local authorities. For people under the age of 50, the percentage of non-religious people rose to over 60%.

These results call into question the privileged place that Christianity still holds in certain public services in Scotland such as education. Unelected religious representatives continue to enjoy voting rights on local education committees across a large majority of councils in Scotland, while religious observance in Scottish schools remains compulsory without parental optout.

We'll share more data from the census results over the coming days...

19/05/2024

Amazing to reflect on steps so far towards a secular, humane and tolerant society for Scotland and all who live here.

The Scottish Parliament held its first debate on 18 May 1999, 25 years ago almost to the day. And the question of humanism was central to the first debate, on whether daily prayers should be held. John McAllion MSP pointed out that people of no faith "have every right to hold that principle and to have their views respected. Later that year, MSPs established a non-denominational "Time for Reflection" in place of prayer.

Since then, we've seen Scotland become a more secular, tolerant, and humane country. The repeal of Section 2A that banned the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools in 2000. The extension of fostering and adoption rights to same-sex couples in 2009. The introduction of civil partnerships and, later, full marriage equality for LGBT+ people in 2014. These are all significant milestones.

But there's still so much more to be done to build on the promise of our humanist parliament. Women and pregnant people continue to face harassment and intimidation from anti-abortion protesters when exercising their right to healthcare. And the LGBT+ community still has no legal or civic protection against harmful attempts to ‘cure’ them of their sexuality or gender identity. These are the issues we’ll be asking MSPs to reflect on as they look forward to the next 25 years of the Scottish Parliament.

19/05/2024

I hereby solemnly promise not to burst into song in your wedding ceremony unless expressly requested (but… “Don’t stop me now, I’m having such a good time, I’m having a ball!…”🎶. We’re almost ready for our big concert on Sunday! All support for the fantastic charity Voluntary Service Aberdeen gratefully received!

Not long to go till we take part in Sing Sing Sing! Just one more rehearsal to go! 🎤 🎼🎶 🎵
We’re getting very excited 🤩 We hope you can come along and join us 🥳