Marilyn Jackson - Humanist Celebrant

04/10/2026

A wedding in a brewery? Why not! Carrie and Rob chose to marry at Balmalcolm in the Howe Brewery, with their reception next door in the Eden Café, both super venues.
Guests were encouraged to arrive early with the promise of tea, coffee and donuts (yum!) and their ceremony was one of the most unique and heartfelt that I have had the privilege to conduct. No poetry or symbolic gestures, other than to request that each table write a future-anniversary card. The ceremony was made very special with their wonderfully personal vows, their thoughts on marriage, three of the things they love about each other and, of course, their story. Lots of laughter and happy tears, including me with a lump in my throat as I pronounced them Mr & Mrs Wilson.
Heartfelt congratulations to you both and warmest wishes for many many happy years together.

13/09/2026

Alice and Sam chose the beautiful Borthwick Castle for their wedding venue because it looked like something out of a fantasy novel!
Alice entered to “The Kiss” by Phildel. The readings were the lyrics of the song “The Greatest Adventure, A Hobbit’s Tale” by Jules Bass; and “An Invitation to Love” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.
They exchanged their legal declarations in a handfasting, using a scarf that belonged to Alice’s Ouma to represent her love for Sam and one that belonged to Sam’s Gran to represent his love for Alice.
The new Mr & Mrs Hodson walked back up the aisle to “Hardly News” by Declan Welsh.
We wish them luck for the future and hope that they continue to find joy in each other.

28/03/2026

Elliott, from Ireland, and Valentina, from Chile, both came to study at Edinburgh University, meeting briefly in 2018 and getting together in 2020. They now live in London but returned to Edinburgh, the beautiful library of the Royal College of Physicians, for their wedding on Thursday. Family and friends came from Ireland, Chile, Canada, Brazil, and many more places.
They involved a LOT of their guests which is always lovely. Valentina’s sister and three of their friends did readings; her other sister sang and her daughters were the two pretty flower girls; her Nanny held a ring for her; and a friend welcomed guests in Spanish. Elliott’s brother was his best man and two of his friends played the music. Their parents were thanked for their love and support, with Valentina’s father escorting her down the aisle and their mothers acting as their witnesses. Great stuff!
They ended the ceremony with a drink from a quaich – a mixture of Pisco and Irish Wh**ky, not sure how that would taste!!
Warmest wishes to the newly weds!

07/02/2026

I was delighted to marry Emma and Hamish at Cornhill Castle Hotel yesterday – REALLY delighted as I have known Hamish as a friend of my son for nearly 20 years!
Emma entered to “Take on the World” by Piano Lounge; Hamish’s brother Euan read “The Key to Love” by an unknown author; during the signing we heard “Heather on the Hill” by Nathan Evans, “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” from Hercules and “Life with You” by The Proclaimers; they shared a drink of vodka and Irn Bru from a quaich; and went up the aisle to “Belong Together” by Mark Amber. All great choices!
Many congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Brown and best wishes for a long and happy married life.

09/11/2025

Belinda and Harvey had a lovely intimate wedding yesterday in The Register Club at the Cheval Grand. They and their 16 guests, all stylishly dressed in black, travelled up from Devon for the occasion.
Belinda and Harvey met shortly before lockdown and spent hours on video calls, doing quizzes, watching films and having dinner together - in their separate houses - before they could meet in person – outdoors and socially distanced. It was all incredibly challenging but they came through it with a strong and supportive relationship.
Belinda entered to an instrumental of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars”; they signed the marriage schedule to “Body Paint” by The Arctic Monkeys; and exited to “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish. Harvey’s father read a poem; they exchanged beautiful personal vows; and ended the ceremony by drinking from a quaich to welcome each other in marriage.
Here’s to a long and happy lifetime together for the new Mr and Mrs Ridgeway!

26/08/2025

What is humanism, anyway?

Well, it's this 👇

08/07/2025

It's a wonderful time of year for a naming ceremony!☀️

Celebrate a child joining your family in a way that’s full of love, laughter, and meaning with a naming ceremony led by a highly trained humanist celebrant. 💛

A delightful, non-religious way to gather your community together, a humanist naming ceremony allows you to share your hopes and dreams for your child’s future, and officially introduce them to your family and friends.

There can be personal promises to the child, funny stories, happy tears, and it can then be followed by a party!🍓

06/07/2025

Two firsts yesterday – my first ceremony at The Old Dr Bells Baths (super venue) and my first Civil Partnership …. Sara and Tommaso met in 2018 while studying at Pisa University and have now made their home in Edinburgh, bringing family and friends from Spain, France, Austria and Luxembourg together to celebrate with a very personal and unique ceremony.

They lit two candles to symbolise their separate lives before their formal union as a couple, also representing the light they have brought into each other’s lives; the reading was an extract from “The Beatrice Letters” by Lemony Snicket, which Sara believed, as a bookish 10-year-old to be the most romantic declaration of love ever written; they exchanged very special family rings; and made their vows in a handfasting of tartan ribbons.

Here is the reading, which I adore and hope another couple asks me to read!

I will love you no matter how many mistakes I make when trying to reduce fractions, and no matter how difficult it is to memorize the periodic table (…). I will love you as the pesto loves the fetuccini and as the horseradish loves the miyagi, as the tempura loves the ikura and the pepperoni loves the pizza(...) I will love you as the doctor loves his sickest patient and a lake loves its thirstiest swimmer. I will love you as a child loves to overhear the conversations of its parents. I will love you as a taxi loves the muddy splash of a puddle and as a library loves the patient tick of a clock. I will love you as a drawer loves a secret compartment, and as a secret compartment loves a secret, and as a secret loves to make a person gasp, and as a gasping person loves a glass of brandy to calm their nerves, and as a glass of brandy loves to shatter on the floor, and as the noise of glass shattering loves to make someone else gasp, and as someone else gasping loves a nearby desk to lean against, even if leaning against it presses a lever that loves to open a drawer and reveal a secret compartment. I will love you until all such compartments are discovered and opened, and until all the secrets have gone gasping into the world. I will love you until all the codes and hearts have been broken and until every anagram and egg has been unscrambled. I will love you until every fire is extinguished and until every home is rebuilt form the handsomest and most susceptible of woods(...) I will love you as we grow older, which has just happened, and has happened again, and will continue to happen as the spinning hands of every clock and the flipping pages of every calendar mark the passage of time, except for the clocks that people have forgotten to wind and the calendars that people have forgotten to place in a highly visible area. That is how I will love you even as the world goes on its wicked way.

And here is to your happy ever after, Sara and Tomasso!

Humanist Society Scotland Ceremonies
The Old Dr Bells Baths

22/06/2025

It all began with a swipe right on Tinder. Gabrielle and Mark met in London in 2015 and over the next seven tears built their lives together. Early on in their relationship they discovered they shared a big dream: living in Australia – and in 2022 they moved to Melbourne. They have travelled more widely than any other couple I’ve met and came to Edinburgh to marry yesterday, at the Cheval Grand.
Readings were one written and read by Groomsman Fraser and “An Incomplete List of Relationship Goals” by Molly Burford chosen and read by Maid of Honour Mhairi. Gabrielle and Mark made their legal declarations in a handfasting of yellow and lilac ribbons and ended the ceremony by drinking from a quaich to symbolise their commitment to share all that the future may bring.
Warmest wishes to Gabrielle and Mark - enjoy your fabulous honeymoon and live happily ever after!

Humanist Society Scotland Ceremonies
Cheval The Edinburgh Grand

18/06/2025