From weddings to business launches and career change ceremonies – there’s no event that’s off the table for this Cumbrian celebrant.
Theresa Ribeiro, who lives in Carlisle, first became a celebrant in 2021 and has since gone on to officiate events across the UK and wider world.
While celebrants most commonly host weddings, funerals and baby naming ceremonies, Theresa is charting her own course by offering business leaders a chance to celebrate the humans behind their companies.
She said: “I do a lot of business networking myself and because of that I see a lot of launch events, so I’ve put my name out there to say I officiate them.
“I haven’t really seen a lot of other celebrants doing that! I did an art studio opening in March which was great fun.
“Sometimes with launches there’s a feeling of needing it to be very serious and business-like, but if we can put your personal story into, then people will say hold on, I can really relate with this company.
“So it connects those people who otherwise might not have connected because they now see the humans behind it all with emotions and feelings and it’s a great way to network.
“We’ve seen that on Linkedin in recent years, there’s lots of personal stories on there and people are loving it and interacting more with those people and their businesses.”
Not to be confused with registrars or religious officiants – celebrants first emerged in Australia in the 70s to offer more personalised ceremonies for non-church people.
Theresa said: “Humans love celebration and ceremony and you can have any type of ceremony you want. I’ve not decided to do these different kind of ceremonies on purpose though, it’s just kind of come my way.
“It fits with me as a person, I’ve always kind of done things that are different to the norm anyway, so if people bring unusual ideas forward that fit within my values then I’m definitely willing to say let’s give it a go.
“Later this month I’ll be doing a change of career ceremony and the person I’m doing that for is going from the creative industry to tech, so it’s a good way for her to say goodbye to that career and look to the future.”
In order to officiate a ceremony or event, Theresa builds up a picture of the stories and lives behind the couples, new parents or businesses that she works with and transforms it into a meaningful speech.
A proud feminist who offers ceremonies for everyone, she has also just been nominated as a regional finalist in The 2024 Wedding Industry Awards.
It might seem like a career that’s made for those who are outgoing – but Theresa said that’s far from the truth and credits her varied career history working as essential to her role.
She added: “I think really you can be any kind of person. When clients pick you they’re choosing you because they’re connecting with you in some kind of way.
“One of the key aspects of the role is that you become a friend that knows them. So your personality can be really bubbly or quiet, celebrants can be anything from serious to totally relaxed and witty.
“But I think what you do need is a variety of life experience from speaking with different people or working in different fields that you can use to relate to people in your writing.”
Due to old laws in the UK, celebrants cannot currently carry out the legal aspects of a marriage like a registrar or religious officiant can – but they are able to fully personalise ceremonies, unlike their counterparts.
Theresa said: “There are celebrants that are pushing for change and campaigning but they way I explain it is you don’t register your baby on the same day as a christening – so it’s the same thing.
“Celebrants are becoming more popular as time goes on as there’s more people training. We’re a middle place I think for people who want something that’s a bit different and not just a traditional template of what you expect to hear at a ceremony like a wedding.”
Theresa first decided to train to become a celebrant after hearing about a friend who had decided to become one.
She said: “I’d heard about someone training to become a celebrant and they spoke about how excited she was and how it all worked and I thought it sounded amazing.
“After my granny passed away I did her funeral and that really set it in stone for me. I thought, right, this is what I want to do and two years after that I was able to start my business and I’ve just loved it since then.
“Just learning about other people’s lives and stories is so brilliant to me. Sometimes people tell me they haven’t done anything, but they have, they still have a story, a family life, relationships and friends.
“Helping people find their story and showing them how good it is and fitting that into a ceremony is what I love most about the role.”
Theresa currently officiates weddings, funerals, life celebrations, baby naming’s, vow renewals, business launches and career change ceremonies under her business Ribeiro Ceremonies.
