When we first make contact, what happens?

Most importantly I will always talk to you about what we are planning and how we are going to do it.

When you make your enquiry, your date will be provisionally held for 14 days, pending receipt of your booking fee. I will send you a booking enquiry form to gather a small amount of information to check my availability and to check I am able to meet your needs. I will then send a booking form and contract. No work from me will commence until a signed copy of the booking form is received, together with your Booking Fee Payment which shall be deemed as an acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

The Fee for your Ceremony is broken down into three staged payments as follows:

BOOKING FEE PAYMENT: A non-refundable booking fee of 30% is required to secure your date and time for your ceremony. By paying the booking fee you are acknowledging that you have read, understood and accept these terms and conditions. I will then guarantee not to take on another booking for the same day as yours. The 14-day cancellation period starts the day after the contract has been signed. Upon receipt of the Booking Fee I will send you a Ceremony Questionnaire to be completed by each of you. The information given will be used to construct the story of your relationship into the ceremony, so please ensure you ONLY share what you are happy for your friends and family to learn about. If you prefer to do this by phone, I am happy to arrange a convenient time (approx. 20 - 30 minutes).

If you have asked David to start work on the ceremony, and he has done so, you can still change your mind within the 14 days, but you will need to pay for any work done in that period. The celebrant can charge for any work done up to the point of cancellation.

DRAFT STAGE PAYMENT: I will contact you to arrange a meeting to discuss your ceremony. This may be in person or if you prefer by a remote electronic format. This is to collect all the information I will need to write a draft script. Once the first draft of the script has been created, I will request a first draft payment as agreed and documented (usually 30% of total fee). This will need to be paid in full before your draft script is sent to you. This payment ensures that I am paid for the hours of work I will have undertaken to write the first draft of your ceremony. It is fully expected from me that there may be revisions required to this draft and there is no limit to how many revisions may be required. Afterwards, this payment will be non-refundable.

FINAL PAYMENT: The outstanding balance will need to be paid seven (7) days before your ceremony date. I will confirm receipt of all payments as soon as they are received into my account.

CHANGES AND CANCELLATIONS: Changes to your booking dates and times must be notified in writing and will be accommodated wherever possible but cannot be guaranteed. A change of venue location will be permitted if logistically possible. Any cancellations must be received in writing. Once the booking fee and draft script has been issued to you; no refund of any monies paid is due back to you. If a cancellation occurs within seven (7) days of your event the final payment is still due.

In the event that I have to cancel due to circumstances outside of my control (and these circumstances would have to be significant) I will in the first instance attempt to secure another Celebrant from the Association of Independent Celebrants to conduct the ceremony as we have written it, and I will make a payment to that celebrant without any additional costs being incurred by you. In the event that I am unable to secure another Association of Independent Celebrants Celebrant, I will refund the Balance of payment to you to enable you to either have a friend or other trusted person to conduct the ceremony from our agreed script, or find another Celebrant to conduct your ceremony.

In the event that you should want to cancel my services, the following will need to be considered: None of the staged payments are refunded. I may have turned down other work to save the date exclusively for you. If the draft has been written and is in your possession, then I have the right and expectation to have been paid for the work. If the cancellation is made no later than up to 7 days before the ceremony is to take place, then the balance of payment will not be due. Cancellations by you later than this will mean forfeiture of any monies paid.

REFUND POLICY: It is extremely unlikely that David Allbutt Celebrant would ever cancel a ceremony. However, I will use my best endeavours to find a substitute Celebrant to provide this service in my place. Only if no substitute Celebrant can be found will you be entitled to a refund.

LEGALITY OF CEREMONIES: You acknowledge that the wedding ceremony will not be legally recognised in England and Wales. To formalise the legal requirements, you must attend a Registry Office (if you desire legal recognition) as outlined in the ceremonies page. You will have the option of signing a commemorative certificate during your ceremony. This certificate is intended to be a memento of this occasion and has no legal status.

CONFIDENTIALITY: All ceremony scripts and correspondence are owned by David Allbutt, trading as David Allbutt Celebrant. The copying, distribution, or circulation of scripts by clients is not permitted, and all wording remains my property. Scripts cannot be copied or forwarded to wedding planners, friends or family members without our express written consent.

Your personal information will always be respected and never shared with third parties.

USE OF IMAGERY/TESTIMONIALS: Please advise if you would prefer NOT to have any of your ceremony photographs used in print, or electronically. Images will only be used to illustrate and promote the services provided by David Allbutt Celebrant.

The price quoted is based on information available at the time of quotation. Later changes to your requirements (i.e. a change of ceremony location etc) may incur additional costs to me and will be discussed with you and any increases in the price will be agreed with you, and invoiced at the time of change.

Where timescales permit, ideally your ceremony script should be completed and ready to print no later than 14 days prior to the ceremony taking place. In order for this to happen we each agree to respond to information requests in a timely manner, where a response to an email message or phone message is not received within 48 hours, it is the messenger’s responsibility to follow up the contact with a friendly reminder.

My writing style is unique to me and will be completely different to how you or anyone else may phrase sentences and sayings. This should be taken into consideration when reading or editing your ceremony and it should not be considered a failure on my part if you do not like how I have phrased my words. I will work closely with you to ensure you are completely happy with the ceremony and see the ceremony as a collaboration between all of us.

All of my services include contact via phone and email.

Important to note! – I am a celebrant and NOT a registrar, therefore for your marriage to be recognised by law, you must complete the legal formalities at a registry office before the ceremony – This is usually done by couples earlier the same day of the wedding ceremony, or the day before.

Write your text here...