About
Celebrant
My heart beats a little faster when my feet are connected to the earth, when my toes are being tickled by the sand or the waves, and when I feel the warmth of the sun or coolness of the breeze on my face – does yours? I love to be up on the hills with a panoramic view, in the coolness of a woodland Combe dappled by the sun, or by the sea with air replenishing my lungs, which is why I have chosen to specialise in magical outdoor ceremonies. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have spiritual beliefs rooted in the landscape, but if you do, you will find we share a similar reverence and respect for it. I can create a beautiful handfasting ceremony in the landscape that you feel most connected to.
I decided to start Wild Heart Ceremonies after I semi-retired from my work as a mental health professional after many in the NHS and in private practice; This was a role I was passionate about. However, I had been thinking about becoming a celebrant for some years after having the most wonderful handfasting ceremony in the woods.
People still talk about it and how beautiful it was. The planning with my husband and deciding what was important in terms of the symbolism we wished to include that expressed our love and commitment to each other was a part of our lives we frequently returned to and brings a smile and a warm glow.
To be part of the excitement and share the joy of creating a ceremony that will remain an important, central part of peoples’ lives, or to help a family to say goodbye in a way that is personal and meaningful, is such a privilege that makes my heart swell.
I live in Exeter, Devon, in the South West of England, where we have so many wonderful settings and venues that are just perfect for celebration; however, I love to travel so I would be happy to travel to wherever you need me to be.
Well thats more than enough of me…..why don’t you come and tell me about you and lets’ start planning the ceremony you dream of.
Why choose Wild Heart Ceremonies?
I understand how important it is to you to get it right, for your ceremony to be personal, unique and meaningful. My ability to listen and draw people out, to help them to tell and shape their story enables me to create that special ceremony with and for you. Described as friendly and approachable, fun, creative and intuitive, I’m easy to work with; at the heart of it is my desire to create and deliver a ceremony that reflects you, filled with love, hope and joy.
I am able to put you and your guests at ease. Being flexible and adaptable means that I can respond to the unexpected. I am Inclusive, respectful of your beliefs, and will seek to weave them through your ceremony as you wish. I celebrate diversity and reject discrimination in any form, so be assured that you will be truly celebrated with respect.
Whilst life events are profound moments in our time, they can be as formal or as relaxed as you wish. It’s about you, not me; you set the style, the tone and the vibe., I translate that through your ceremony. My role is to draw out your vision, create it, and deliver it and thats so exciting for me as we are all so different and so every ceremony and celebration is different. It will be truly as unique as you are.
Rituals are an important part of our day and help to ground us in the moment and connect us to the event or activity we are undertaking. They set the scene and set intention. They are symbolic acts, which help us to communicate our inner feelings and wishes. They remind us of what is important by marking key life events they give meaning, and help us to transition through important life events whether sad or joyous. Rituals can express much more than is spoken, be they traditional or modern.
I have a strong respect for the value of rituals in ceremony; I could list popular rituals that people may use in ceremonies, some call them mini ceremonies, but everyone has different needs and wishes and I would much prefer to discuss these with you in order to help you to decide what is right for you, and then plan how we weave them into the whole ceremony. We may well create new rituals just for you.
Testimonials
Donna was our celebrant at our wedding and did a beautiful job with a personalised ceremony. On the lead up to our wedding, Donna worked with us to create a script and ceremony that was special to us and included everything we wished to share and say. You could tell that Donna really wanted to get it right for us and everyone was really impressed with the way she led the ceremony and interacted with the guests. Thank you Donna.
R & D Facebook review
Donna did such an amazing job with my brothers send off. She was really understanding about the situation and super helpful with extra ideas we would never have thought about in that rough time. Donna held such a beautiful send off for my brother and put our words before her own, so we managed to say everything we wanted to and more. Donna took the time to help the people struggling to get their words out and they couldn’t be more grateful for having Donna to help with speeches and going above and beyond. Thank you, Donna, you did an amazing job.
JW Google review
I would highly recommend Ritual & Ceremony (previous name) after using Donna’s service for my wedding ceremony. It was really important to me that whoever I asked, helped create memories of a lifetime, and this was very much the case. Donna really helped us to work through what was special and meaningful to us as individuals as well as a couple, and helped us think about the rituals we wanted to include in our ceremony. The process was great fun and exciting and really helped bring us together as a couple and enjoy the planning of our big day together.
S & N Google review
Thank you for what you did for my brother, you got it just right and me and the rest of the family really appreciate it.
DB
Thank you, Donna, I can’t believe what you did for my uncle *, It was as though you knew him. Perfect, he would have really liked it.
SB
Thank you, Donna, for the service you did for mum, it was so much nicer than I imagined, and I feel like we gave her a really good send off.