As the popularity of Humanist marriage ceremonies grows it is becoming clear to us that in some areas demand far outstrips supply. This is especially true of areas like Edinburgh and Glasgow where, even though we have a lot of celebrants in place, they still find themselves having to ask celebrants from further afield to travel so that couples can have the ceremony that they want. Of course, if you think about the logistics of it all, most couples want to get married on a Saturday in Summer so that is 12 or maybe 13 Saturdays to choose from. Add in May and that gives us another 4 dates. It really is a pretty small window of opportunity.
The point about all of this is that if you want a Humanist marriage ceremony on a summer Saturday, then my advice is to book as far ahead as possible. Some of my colleagues already have bookings for 2013 so there is no such thing as too soon!
The other thing to think about is that if you aren't tied to a Saturday, think about a Friday, a Sunday or a midweek booking. An added advantage of this is that most venues will offer you a really good deal for any day but Saturday and it could cut costs considerably!
Up here in the Highlands and Islands we are also finding that on certain dates all 11 of us are booked and it is really awful to have to disappoint couples. There is always the option for us to do two ceremonies in one day but that depends on the timings and distances involved and quite often, being a fairly rural area it means that the distance between venues means that this isn't an option.
Weddings outside the high season can be beautiful - just think of a winter wonderland or a sunset ceremony as the leaves are starting to change colour in the autumn and you get the picture. Another advantage to off season weddings in public locations like beaches or castles is that there will be far fewer tourists around, accommodation will be easier and cheaper to find and last but not least - you won't have to contend with the dreaded midgies!
So, the moral of the story is 'book early or be prepared to be flexible about days and/or times'
