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Wiltshire · Cotswolds · Bath · Bristol · Somerset · Hampshire · London

About Maxine

I’ve always been fascinated by people.

Hello, I’m Maxine.

I’ve always loved hearing people’s stories and finding out what makes people tick. Give me a good conversation and I’ll usually want to know what happened next.

My career has taken me from recruitment and coaching to training, mediation and, eventually, celebrancy. They sound like rather different things, but there is a common thread running through all of them.

People are interesting.

I’ve always wanted to understand them properly, rather than make assumptions about who they are or what matters to them.

That curiosity has turned out to be rather useful as a celebrant.

A little bit about me

When I’m not
working, you’ll
usually find me
with people I love.

I’m happiest when I’m with other people. Friends, family, good food and a table that gets louder and more interesting as the evening goes on.

Cooking is one of my great passions. I love finding an unusual ingredient, working out what to do with it and then having people around to eat the result. There’s something I really love about watching people connect over good food.

I’m equally happy finding a great restaurant, organising a holiday or deciding where we’re going to eat when we get there.

I like walking, pottering in the garden, watching far too much television and, most importantly, spending time with Hugo, the love of my life.

Friendship matters enormously to me. I have some wonderfully good, loyal friends, and I value the sort of friendships where you can pick up a conversation after months apart, laugh until your face hurts and know that they’ll be there when you need them.

And yes, there will probably be a glass of red wine involved.

Why I do this

Why I adore being a celebrant.

I love the conversations, the stories, the writing and the anticipation of a ceremony coming together.

I love sitting with a couple and getting to know them. There is always something unexpected to discover, and I never quite know where a conversation is going to take us.

By the time we get to the ceremony, we’ve spent so much time talking that it can feel as though we’ve known each other for years. That’s one of my favourite parts of the whole process.

Then there is the day itself.

The music starts. Everyone takes their seats. You walk in. And suddenly all those conversations and all those words have become something real, happening in front of the people you love.

I still get a real buzz from that.

After everything I’ve done in my working life, it feels wonderful to have found something that brings together so many things I enjoy: people, stories, words, food, laughter and a very good reason for everyone to get together.

The storyteller

I love what happens when a good story finds the right words.

By the time I start writing your ceremony, I’ve got to know you properly. I’ve heard the stories you’ve told a hundred times, the ones you had forgotten about and probably a few you hadn’t realised were stories at all.

Then I start looking for the golden thread.

The thing that runs through your relationship. The qualities you recognise in each other. The things you share, the things that make you completely different and the little patterns that, taken together, explain why you are the two people standing there.

That’s what turns a collection of memories into a story.

And then comes one of my favourite parts: telling it to the people who know you best.

You might see your oldest friend laughing because they recognise a story immediately. Your mum might suddenly realise that something you’ve always done actually says rather a lot about who you are. Someone might turn to their partner with that “Oh, that’s so them” look. There might be a few knowing smiles, a story being whispered to the person sitting beside them, or a laugh that spreads across the room.

Those reactions are priceless.

They’re the moments when everyone isn’t just hearing your story. They’re recognising you in it.

A personal note

My dad, Ted.

There is a personal story behind how I became a celebrant.

Before he died, Dad and I talked about the fact that I hadn’t yet found my vocation. When he died, I organised his funeral and read at it, although I had no idea at the time that it would lead me here.

Then I discovered celebrancy.

Suddenly, so many of the things I’d spent years doing all made sense.

The curiosity about people. The questions. The storytelling. The writing. The organising.

It all came together.

I think Ted would have been rather pleased.

Experience that comes with me

A rather unusual career has turned out to be useful.

I started out in recruitment, where getting to know someone properly can make the difference between finding them a job and finding them the right job. That taught me to listen carefully, ask good questions and work out what someone is really looking for.

Then came coaching, where I learnt how much can happen when someone has the space to think things through for themselves. Training taught me how to explain things clearly and work with people in very different ways. Mediation has taught me to look at a situation from more than one point of view and to stay curious when two people see things very differently.

I still use all of those things when I’m creating a ceremony.

They mean I can sit with you and really listen to what you’re saying, rather than rushing towards the obvious story. I can help when you can’t quite find the words for something. I can understand that you may remember the same moment differently. I can keep the conversation moving when you get stuck, and I can spot the connections between the things you tell me.

And all that preparation and experience means that when your ceremony comes around, there’s someone at the front who knows you, knows your story and knows exactly what we’ve created together.

That’s the difference it makes.

I’m organised, I like knowing what’s happening and I’m quite happy dealing with all the little things that need to come together before a ceremony.

By the time your wedding day arrives, the preparation has been done, the timings are clear and everyone who needs to know what is happening has been kept in the loop.

That leaves plenty of room for the lovely things that can’t be planned: a moment that takes longer than expected, a laugh that sets everyone off or something unexpected that becomes one of the stories you tell afterwards.

Good preparation leaves room for the day itself.

So, that’s me

So, that’s me.

You probably know rather more about me now than you did when you arrived.

The rest is much easier to discover over a coffee.
Tell me about you, what you’re planning and what you’re looking forward to.

We’ll have a conversation and see where it takes us.

Start the conversation

Common questions

The things couples usually ask.

Is a celebrant ceremony legally binding?

Not in England and Wales, no. Almost every couple I work with completes the legal paperwork separately — usually a short, quiet appointment at a register office before or after the wedding. It takes a few minutes and costs very little. Your celebrant ceremony is then the one your guests attend, the one you plan around, and the one you’ll remember as your wedding.

Most couples book between twelve and eighteen months ahead, particularly for summer Saturdays. That said, I’ve created beautiful ceremonies at a few months’ notice. If your date is close, do ask it’s always worth a conversation.
I’m based in Wiltshire and work regularly across the Cotswolds, Bath, Bristol, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset, Hampshire and London. I also travel further afield across the UK and abroad for destination weddings. Wherever you’re celebrating, do get in touch.
There’s no fixed number. Typically it’s a discovery conversation, one or two longer planning meetings and then as much contact by email, phone or video as you need while we shape the words. Some couples want a great deal of contact; others prefer to send things over and let me get on with it. Both work perfectly well.
Please do. Children can hand over rings, hold ribbons, read something short or simply stand where they can see. Parents and friends can give readings, share memories or take part in a ritual. Nothing needs rehearsing to within an inch of its life — the loveliest moments are often the unscripted ones.
That’s the most common starting point, and honestly the most enjoyable one. You don’t need ideas, structure or a Pinterest board. You just need to be willing to talk about yourselves for a couple of hours. The rest is my job.
Yes, always and warmly. A celebrant ceremony carries no restrictions on who marries whom, and no requirement to include or exclude any faith, culture or tradition. Your ceremony can hold as many of your family’s traditions as you’d like it to, or none at all.
We plan for it. Every outdoor ceremony I create has a wet-weather version worked out in advance with your venue, and I bring sound equipment that copes with both. Couples who’ve moved indoors twenty minutes before the ceremony have still told me afterwards that it was exactly the day they wanted.