Wow! What an amazing year 2017 turned out to be for Weddings, Naming Ceremonies, Handfastings and Reaffirmations of Vows. My first wedding, of the year, was on 1st January and my last will be on 29th December.

I was delighted to be nominated for two awards during 2017. I won 'Best Wedding Celebrant in North West England', in The Lux Wedding Awards and I will find out about the other award early next year. A huge thank you to everyone who nominated and voted for me.

This year, the very talented Becky, from Hawthorne & Ivory, designed the new Liverpool Celebrant logo - complete with a Liverbird, a heart, and a four-leaf clover.

I was extremely pleased to be invited to join The Celebrant Directory, a one-stop shop for all things Celebranty (if that isn't a word it should be!). If you haven't looked already, check it out. As well as the directory, it has stacks of real ceremonies, ideas, advice, and wisdom, shared by highly experienced Celebrants, from all around the world (including me).

I am very proud of my Liverpool roots and this year I had many emotional, and memorable, moments, at ceremonies, in my hometown. There were far too many to mention but two highlights were singing the Beatles: All you need is love, on stage, at the Cavern, and conducting the first rooftop wedding at the Shankly Hotel. The groom was the grandson of the late, great, Bill Shankly; the world famous Liverbirds watched, approvingly, from a distance.

in 2017, the majority of my couples, and families, lived in England, Scotland or Wales, but there was also a strong international contingent. Most often, there was a local connection and the couples travelled, to the UK, to celebrate their marriage, anniversary, or to welcome a new arrival, with family and friends.

For one Irish couple their only connection, with the area, was that they supported Liverpool Football Club and they, and their whole wedding party, flew over for a fantastic day, and evening, at Anfield. A great time was had by all and Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool's manager) even left them a personal message.

Many of the ceremonies, in 2017, were held in and around Liverpool, but a fair proportion were held outside Merseyside. This was particularly the case for WedFests, where the wedding ceremony was part of a glamping extravaganza, often including live music and held over a couple of days.

As much as I love being in Liverpool, it was great to get out and about and visit new places. The outside ceremonies were all brilliant. We were windswept, and challenged by the weather in various ways, but every single ceremony went ahead as planned - extreme/wet weather contingency plans were in place, but, fortunately, not required.

Some Stats (because I'm a bit nerdy!)

Brides and grooms travelled from all over the UK and from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Dubai, France, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, the Philippines Qatar and Singapore.

This year the longest time, between booking and the ceremony, was just under two years and the shortest was 17 days. On average, ceremonies were booked a little over 11 months, in advance. For weddings, on average, it was more than a year.

77% of couples chose to tell, at least a part of, their love story during their wedding ceremony.

We had one, 'down on one knee', proposal during a wedding ceremony (which went down a storm) and we had one wedding ceremony that included the Best Man's and Father of the Bride speeches (a great idea and it worked extremely well!)

23% of ceremonies were held outside. Some were at home, in the garden, others were on farms, or in the grounds of more traditional venues.

Ceremonies varied in size. The smallest was for three people and the largest was for over 300. Every ceremony was written especially for that couple, or family.

Most couples chose to make personal vows (sometimes with a little help from me). The shortest was a deeply profound 4 words (written by a groom) and the longest was a detailed, sincere and witty 417 words (written by a bride).

Reaffirmation of Vows ceremonies were most often booked to celebrate 10 years of marriage (the Tin, or Aluminium, Anniversary). The least number of years, was 2 (Cotton Anniversary) and the greatest was 60 (Diamond: this was part of a surprise party, arranged by the couple's children).

The furthest parents travelled, for their child's Liverpool Celebrant Naming ceremony, was 11,000 miles (from Sydney, Australia); the shortest distance was about 11 metres (to their garden!)

Looking forward...

2017 was fantastic and it looks like 2018 will be just as good, if not better.

Naming Ceremonies were very popular this year and, judging by my diary, it looks like this is a growing trend. If you are unsure what a Naming Ceremony, is click here.

If you are planning a wedding, or renewal of vows, and would like to know what a Celebrant could do to make your Big Day unique and memorable, check out this article, or get in touch, for more information.

Statistically, most marriage proposals take place between Christmas Eve and Valentines Day. This year I received the highest proportion of enquiries, and bookings, in February and March.

I conducted weddings in each month of 2017. However, the most popular months, for Liverpool Celebrant weddings are still: July, August, September and December. Most Saturdays, for these months in 2018, have already been booked, but there is still some availability.

Don't leave it too late, and be disappointed. Contact me now for further information, or to check availability (you can book up to three years in advance).

A huge thank you to everyone that I have met this year and I wish you all a wonderful 2018...

Hi, I am Lorraine Hull, an award-winning Celebrant, based in Liverpool.

I am most usually asked to conduct ceremonies in North-West England and North Wales but I am happy to travel anywhere within the U.K. or abroad.

At the risk of shouting (and sounding extremely cheesy) "I LOVE MY JOB!".

I really love getting to know the couples and families that ask me to be part of their special celebration, whether that is for a Wedding/Civil Partnership, Renewal/Reaffirmation of Vows, Naming/Welcoming, or Celebration of Life/Funeral

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I love hearing, writing and telling love and life stories (and also finding out about hopes and dreams - which are the stories of the future!)

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I love to create and conduct unique, meaningful ceremonies that are perfect for each couple, individual, and/or family.

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I love helping to create and celebrate happy and poignant moments, which form memories that will last a lifetime (that also includes the memories that I get to keep too - what's not to love?)

I believe that ALL people (and animals) should all be treated kindly, fairly and with respect.

I think for myself and act for others. I advocate anti-racism, the appreciation and celebration of diversity, dignity, justice, equity and equality for ALL through everything that I say and do: Love is Love, Family is Family, Life is Life.

You may like to know that I was trained to the highest level as a Celebrant and have continued my professional development. I hold Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance. I adhere to a strict code of conduct and I am committed to identifying, developing and sharing best practice with my Celebrant colleagues, so that we can all be the best Celebrants that we can possibly be.

To contact me please email: lorraine@liverpoolcelebrant.co.uk or call: 0744 932 3988