Nat Raybould – Humanist Wedding Celebrant
Nat Raybould is a wedding celebrant who will inject a healthy dose of fun into your ceremony proceedings. Her dry sense of humour, love of dodgy dad jokes and quick wit never fail to entertain at weddings. However, Nat also takes your wedding incredibly seriously and works hard to create vows that are personal, moving and unique to you. She manages this by really investing time in getting to know you, discovering your journey to becoming newlyweds-to-be and finding out all of the little things that make you so wonderful. Click the link in my stories to find out Nat’s thoughts on love, her musical talents, and how celebrants bring authenticity to your day.
Get to know Nat…
Every wedding I do is memorable to me: they are all so different and so joyful and so emotional.
Tell me your celebrant story – how did life lead you to becoming a wedding celebrant?
The very first humanist wedding ceremony I ever saw was my own! I married in 2012 in a ceremony written for us by Zena Birch, and it is the most vivid and wonderful single moment of the day. Not only that, but all our guests couldn’t stop talking about how personal, emotional and authentic it was: “the best wedding ever!” At the time I was an opera singer, but the idea that I could help other couples get the feeling and the ceremony that I had nagged at me for years, going from a “I would love to do that” to a “I can’t NOT do that!”. I went out for a glass of wine with Zena, asked if she would mentor me through Humanists UK training, and the rest is history!
What does ‘love’ mean to you?
Love is in everything, in every way. From huge efforts of thoughtfulness taking months of planning, to the unasked-for cup of tea, to giving your partner space when they need it. It is also about loving your own self too: RuPaul wasn’t wrong…!
What do you bring to the role of a wedding celebrant that noone else does?
WOW – that’s a tough one for a Brit! Ha! Well, to be all pageant queen about it: every single celebrant brings their unique selves to their job, so I bring my unique self to my couples. That is literally impossible for any other celebrant to do. I am not gonna list skill-sets for you here though, because the couple/celebrant “click” is far more nuanced than that. Like in many matters: when you know, you know.
Why do you recommend that couples have a celebrant-led ceremony?
Authenticity. On one of the most important days of your life, you want to believe every word you say and every word you hear, don’t you? And not just believe in it, but REVEL in it too!
My most memorable wedding ceremony to date is…
Am I going to have to be a pageant queen here too? LOL Every wedding I do is memorable to me: they are all so different and so joyful and so emotional – they don’t stack up in a list of more to less memorable. Sorry for the boring answer pickle.
If I wasn’t a celebrant I’d probably…
Well I am still an opera singer, so I would be doing that full time. But I can’t ever imagine doing that now. I don’t hustle for singing gigs any more – if and when they come my way I will do them if I fancy it. But I am 96% celebrant 4% soprano nowadays…
Tell us something no one knows about you…
I can sing the Countdown timer music in exactly 30 seconds, every time, without fail.
Comnect with Nat