Author: Clare

  • Beltane Women’s Circle

    Beltane Women’s Circle

    Click here to book or for more info

    Hello! Thank you for your interest in joining. My name is Clare and I am a facilitator of ceremony, ritual and celebration. If you have any questions about this event please feel free to email me on idodeclareuk@gmail.com. To learn more about me please visit www.idodeclare.co.uk. Or feel free to call, my number is 07405 115908.

    As we arrive at Beltane, we step into one of the most vibrant and life-affirming points on the Wheel of the Year. The days stretch longer, the evenings soften into golden light, and the sun’s presence grows strong and invigorating. The earth is alive with warmth and possibility—an invitation for us to awaken, create, and celebrate the vitality within and around us.

    Beltane carries the energy of fire, passion, and joyful expression. It calls us to honour our desires, embrace what is ready to bloom, and say yes to life with openness and courage.

    Coming together in women’s circle at this time is a powerful act of connection. In sisterhood, we gather to honour the light within each of us, to be witnessed, and to weave our intentions together. This circle offers a space to celebrate what is blossoming in your life and to step into the months ahead supported, seen, and uplifted by like-minded women walking a similar path.

    Practicalities: Please try to arrive on time and expect to stay for the full duration. We will be sitting on cushions on the floor for most of the session so please wear comfortable clothing . If this will not work for you please don’t worry! Let me know in the ‘mobility’ section of this form and we will find a way to keep you comfortable.

    Click here to book or for more info

  • Invite Nature to Your Wedding or Handfasting

    Invite Nature to Your Wedding or Handfasting

    Bringing Nature Into Your Ceremony

    More and more couples are choosing to bring elements of nature into their wedding ceremony — and as a wedding celebrant, it’s one of my favourite things to help create. Whether you’re planning a full outdoor celebration or simply want to weave natural symbolism into an indoor venue, there are many beautiful ways to honour the natural world during your handfasting or wedding.

    A Tree Planting Ritual

    Nature-based rituals can be simple, meaningful, and deeply personal. One couple I worked with had a potted tree that symbolised their relationship. During the ceremony they invited their guests to come forward and water it, creating a shared moment that represented the love and support surrounding their union.

    Blessings from Your Guests

    Another couple gave ribbons to their guests and asked them to imbue each ribbon with good wishes and blessings. The ribbons were then tied onto a tree on the family’s land, forming a colourful, living symbol of the community gathered around them.

    Connecting Directly with the Land

    Sometimes the connection to nature is even more direct. I have married numerous couples where all three of us — the couple and their celebrant — were barefoot, grounding ourselves in the earth during the ceremony itself.

    For couples who feel spiritually connected to the land, I’m also very happy to acknowledge the place where the ceremony is being held. Shortly before the ceremony begins, I can take a quiet moment of meditation to offer thanks and request blessings from the land itself.

    Nature and Celebrant-Led Weddings

    As a celebrant in Bristol, I’ve found that nature is always there waiting for us to notice it and interact with it. Including small rituals or symbolic gestures can bring a sense of grounding, connection, and calm to your ceremony — whether you’re planning a relaxed outdoor wedding or an joyful handfasting surrounded by family and friends.


    To find out more about my celebrant services click here or feel free send me a message click here

  • Spring Equinox Women’s Circle

    Spring Equinox Women’s Circle

  • Celebrating Winter Solstice

    Celebrating Winter Solstice

  • Four Funerals and a Wedding

    Four Funerals and a Wedding

    People often assume that, as a celebrant, I spend all my time surrounded by flowers, confetti, and love stories — and most of the time, that’s true! I adore helping couples celebrate one of the happiest days of their lives. But recently, something a little unexpected happened in that I was asked to facilitate four funerals in a row, before heading straight into my next wedding.

    It was quite a shift — from grief to joy, from reflection to celebration — and it reminded me why I love this work so deeply. Every ceremony, whether it’s a farewell or a beginning, is about honouring life. The tone may change, but the heart of it is the same: helping people find meaning in the moment, words that feel true, and a ceremony that feels right.

    Those four funerals reminded me that every goodbye deserves the same care and authenticity as a wedding day. Each person had a story to tell, and it was a privilege to help their families tell it. I learned about lives well-lived, love shared, quirks and humour, and the small, beautiful details that make someone unforgettable.

    My next clients were a couple getting ready to say “I do” — and it struck me again how closely love and loss sit together. Both bring people together, both ask us to pause and reflect, both are moments of transformation.

    So while most people know me for weddings, I also offer funeral and memorial ceremonies — crafted with the same warmth, care, and personal touch.

    If you’re looking for someone to help tell a life story — with honesty, understanding and respect, I’d be honoured to help.

    I am a funeral celebrant in Bristol who specialises in personal handcrafted ceremonies, find out more here about funeral celebrants and what I can offer.

  • Halloween Woman’s Circle

    Halloween Woman’s Circle

  • Should we have a Humanist Wedding?

    Should we have a Humanist Wedding?


    A lot of people when they start thinking about their wedding know straight away that they don’t want to get married in a church. They start thinking about alternatives and many have heard about humanist weddings and humanist celebrants. Although I do marry humanist couples, I am not a member of the humanist society, because I would never pass their very rigorous screening process! Primarily because I am not at all fixed on the idea of there being a God or not a God. 

    As I wrote to a potential client recently, “I am usually quite private about how [God/Spirit/Magick] manifests for me as I do see it as deeply personal and experiential”. There’s no way I could articulate how I arrived at the complex set of beliefs and philosophy that shapes who I am today, let alone expect anyone else to take these on as their own! 

    Humanists are generally sure that there is no God, and prefer to rationalise away any experiences one might have that could lead towards a spiritual belief. I prefer the openness of agnosticism as it allows me to lean into the rituals and ceremonial aspects of my life that work so well to ground me and connect me to the great unknown. 

    If rationalism and logic don’t always work for you you are probably not a humanist. Consider instead creating a bespoke wedding ceremony with an independent celebrant (like me!) who will work with you to create something with depth, meaning, and maybe even a little bit of the mystic!


    To find out more about my celebrant services click here or feel free send me a message click here

  • Clare Celebrates 10 Years of Marriage

    Clare Celebrates 10 Years of Marriage

    I was together with my partner Martin for 2 years before we got hitched. He was very serious about me from the start but I was a whimsical singleton at the time and was, for the large part, bemused by Martin’s steadfast intentions! And here we are 12 years on and still holding hands in the supermarket.

    The best thing about my marriage is the sense of camaraderie that we have between us. We are mostly on the same page and moving in the same direction, and that is reaffirming and joyful.

    10 years ago we stood at the front of all the people who love us and declared our vows. We said these special, once-in-a-lifetime words to each other. Words that were risky, and that made us vulnerable. Why ever would we do that? Well I know now, why vows are so important and dare I say, sacred. They validate everything that has come before, the intensity of connection, the development of deep love, the passion, the butterflies. Because over time, when those things become less intense we might wonder if it ever happened, or if it really mattered. 

    The ritual creates a point of reference. Particularly in this throw-away culture, with divorce rates higher than ever and young people struggling to find real connections in their dating experiences. Marriage structures love and creates a holding space for us to grow, not just as an individual, but as a person among other persons.

    With this in mind it might just be time to start the next part of your journey. If your partner is kind and reliable, and your friends and family love them too, I would say you’ve found a keeper! 

    I talk more about the value of ceremony in this section of my website. 


    And of course if you are looking for a celebrant to hold your wedding ceremony then you have found me, please do get in touch!

  • Navigating the not so Christmassy

    Navigating the not so Christmassy

    Do you get the Christmas cheer or the Christmas fear?!

    Christmas is such a lovely holiday but it can also be so stressful! How many of us end up spending time with people that we would usually only tolerate in small doses throughout the rest of the year? In most cases there is an element of obligation involved over the festive season. We buy a gift for our grumpy stepdad and participate in the office secret santa!

    As a celebrant I spend a lot of time thinking about relationships and the dynamics between people. This Christmas if you have to spend time with people that you don’t always gel with, how about balancing out some of your time and energy?

    While the obligation to spend time with family is often that- an obligation and therefore unavoidable, make sure you also plan to spend plenty of time with friends and other like-minded people. It will make the difficult bit more tolerable if you know you have some control over the rest of your time. You could bookend Christmas day with seeing friends on Christmas Eve and spending time doing something for yourself on Boxing Day. Don’t feel guilty about planning it like this; it’s very normal to need time out from the intensity of (what is apparently) the biggest event of the year.

    Christmas for me often feels over-inflated, and like a sort of collective madness has taken over the country! I balance it out by also celebrating Winter Solstice with my friends, which for me holds much more meaning. As much as you can, just opt into the elements of Christmas you actually like, such as having some time off work! Resist the hype if it stresses you out and you too can avoid the Christmas Fear!

    Season’s Greetings to you all XXXXX

    For some people, the difficulties faced at Christmas are no joking matter. If you need support during Christmas but just don’t have it, please reach out to the professionals, help is out there and you can get through it.

  • Clare talks to BBC Radio Bristol!

    Clare talks to BBC Radio Bristol!

    I was declared a Local Expert by John Dervall from BBC Bristol! We talked about the history and origins of the expression ‘tie the knot’.

    Honestly, I really didn’t need much encouragement to chat about one of my favourite subjects! There was so much more I could have said, (but isn’t that just always the way?)

    If you don’t want to (or can’t)  listen to my melodious voice on the radio (what?) then read on as some of my favourite moments are transcribed below.

    BBC Radio Bristol John Darvall with Clare of I Do Declare Celebrant


    Where does this whole ‘tying the knot thing come from?

    “It comes from a different kind of wedding ceremony, less commonly known, called a handfasting. The couple’s hands are tied together with a selected cord or ribbon as a symbol of their love and commitment, and the knot that is tied becomes representative of their union.”


    “I have heard that some couples back in the day stayed tied together for the rest of the day, which I think sounds quite fun, a bit like a three legged race but with hands and less racing!”


    “In parts of India they also use the phrase tie the knot, it’s not just in Europe. It’s common in India during a wedding ceremony for the groom to tie a thread around the neck of the bride as a necklace and later the thread is exchanged for a gold necklace.”

    “A knot lends itself really well as a visual symbol of a commitment, something’s been agreed upon, and you can go back and see that it was so.”

    “I do a lot of very interesting, very unique weddings… The couples I work with really find their own path through the ceremony structure and really make it their own.”


    “Thank you so much for joining us, Clare Smith, Independent Celebrant of ‘I Do Declare’ (Love that!) Clare, thank you very much for being our expert!”

    Photo: “Handfasting using a braided cord 2012“
    by Susan L. Craig,
    licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
    via Wikimedia Commons.