Vow Renewal at Ferry Meadows

Vicki and Tanveer have been married ten years and wanted to renew their vows. Their oldest children were present at their wedding in Peterborough all those years ago but their youngest son was not born yet. He wanted to be on the photos! This ceremony was held under a tree at a local favourite place Ferry Meadows.

We worked together to plan the ceremony and create the perfect service for this small group of 5.

“Donna really took the time to get to know us as a family. When she was talking about our story, it felt genuine and not like a stranger who had no idea!”

The weather had been changeable all day but just as we got started a rainbow appeared!

Vicki was kind enough to leave a review:

“I’m so pleased we found Donna. From the moment we made contact Donna helped us achieve and plan our dream ceremony. Donna has taken time to meet us, get to know us, get excited with us! We never would have dreamed we could have something so intimate yet perfect without her help. On the day we had some weather issues but Donna was a dream and was so accommodating! The whole thing just ended up being exactly how we wanted it.”

I snapped a photo of the photographer as the sun was going down. A beautiful day!

A Perfect Blend!

Alex and Jordan held a beautiful outdoor ceremony in the meadow on their land. The sun was out and the sky was as blue as the flashes on Alex’s gorgeous dress. There was an Alice and Wonderland theme throughout the day and to make the ceremony personal to this couple who used to run a tea shop in Cornwall we held a tea blending ceremony. The couple said the guests loved “how unique and personal it was”.

The couple shared such kind words in their review. “Donna is the most calm, caring and thoughtful person. She managed to put both of us at ease and coped well with our emotions through difficult times. Donna created a unique ceremony which reflected us perfectly and truly made our day.”

Sometimes you meet a couple who you feel inspired by and I certainly loved putting this ceremony together for them. Check out the amazing button holes and bouquets!

A Winter Wedding

Lauren and James were married at Sissons Barn in Peterborough in February. They opted to include a Handfasting Ritual to represent them ‘tying the knot’. They chose a handfasting cord with three colours and we tied an eternity knot.

Surrounded by their family and friends this couple made their personal vows to each other and committed top each other forever.

Lauren and James signed a Ceremony Certificate in The Old Forge. They walked off into their new married lives together following this ritual.

Lauren shared these kind words: “I have had so many compliments from our ceremony, one of kind was mentioned multiple times it was absolutely beautiful! Donna also made us feel so special and we were the only ones who mattered!”

Congratulations to the Happy Couple!

Festival Wedding Vibes

Ellie and Simon got married outdoors at Kingsthorpe Lodge Barns. The weather had been warm for weeks and weeks but when we set up that day there was a heavy shower. Luckily the rain clouds cleared and left us to conduct a beautiful ceremony. Simon and his Dad built this beautiful structure for us to stand in front of which was inspired by The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury!

The guests sat on a collection of hay bales, benches, chairs and blankets and gathered together to take part in the ceremony when we conducted a ‘ring warming’ which was a big hit! Ellie and SImon said they enjoyed that section the most and the guests felt it was really unique to them as a couple. Some people chose to call out well wishes to the couple when they held the rings.

“Donna is an incredible celebrant. From start to finish she helped us feel at ease with the process, and using her wealth of experience, helped us create the perfect ceremony for our wedding.”

20 Year Anniversary Vow Renewal

I have known Lisa and Paul for almost as long as they have been married. When they suggested that they may want to renew their vows this year, I was delighted that they chose me to conduct this special ceremony. We worked together to plan the order of service but their daughters and close friends had some secret surprises in and around the planned aspects of this Vow Renewal. They chose a family favourite venue right by the seaside in Hemsby, Norfolk at The Lacon Arms’ LA Lounge. Read Lisa’s testimonial below…

“Knowing Donna personally, I had no doubt that she would do an amazing job and that her attention to detail would perfect, but even then she surpassed all of my expectations and everything was even more incredible then we could ever have dreamed of. I am not the easiest person from which to extract details about our relationship, but Donna persevered with patience and humour and created the most perfect ceremony – complete with some emotional surprises which left us in bits. I cannot thank her enough and I can say that the Vow Renewal for our 20th Anniversary was one of the best days of our lives – even better than our wedding in Cyprus back in 2002 (and we loved that). If you need a celebrant for anything, you need look no further than Donna and Iris Rose Ceremonies – she is the BEST x”

Fun Fiesta Wedding!

Ben and Sam wanted a fabulous, fiesta style wedding and we created a ceremony together that reflected their personalities. There were colourful details in the decorations at the Barn, pop songs sung by the gathering and accompanied by a Mariachi Band and personal vows written to express the love this couple have for each other. The Fire Engine Bar outside was fab!

“Working with Donna was a dream. My husband and I have strong opinions about what we don’t like but we had little clue about what we would really like and appreciate in our ceremony. Donna was knowledgeable and gave ideas without squashing our personalities. Donna was so very patient with us both when we left some things to the last minute and it is a credit to her that she was able to gather so much about us as individuals and as a couple when we had relatively little time to give her due to our work commitments and the general chaos we lived in whilst we created our wedding ourselves.

Donna blew us away with her ceremony script – it felt like she’d known us for the whole of our relationship! She also asked for and accepted feedback on the script, but to be honest there was very little she didn’t get right first time. Donna listened carefully to our views regarding the readings and music we wanted in our ceremony and ensured these were seamlessly incorporated.

On the day before our wedding and on the day, Donna ensured she and everyone necessary knew what they were doing and when and she went out of her way to give her views regarding what would work well. Her conduct of the actual ceremony was pitch perfect. I lost count of the number of people who have told me that the ceremony was the best they had ever attended! The ceremony of our wedding is 100% the best memory we have of our wedding day and that is in huge part due to Donna at Iris Rose Ceremonies.”

Sibson Inn Ceremony

Victoria and Mark chose The Sibson Inn for their ceremony with a white and blue theme full of love and stars! This couple were not keen on being centre of attention but had a beautiful love story to share and it was my pleasure to tell that story on the day.

“From first contacting Donna, we knew we had found the person we wanted to hold our celebration, as she came off a such a nice and easy to talk too lady. With each meeting she reassured us and even encouraged us to include the sand ceremony, which we were a little hesitant about initially. This later turned out to be a highlight and a talking point of our day, and has left us with a memento we can cherish! So we a very grateful to her for that.”

The couple chose a beautiful vessel for their sand ceremony. Spot the before, during and after shots!

“Donna was professional, knowledgeable and friendly and helped to calm nerves and keep the ceremony on track. We feel lucky to have found Donna and are thankful she was a massive part of our day.”

Sand Ceremony at Sissons Barn!

Emma and Jack held their wedding ceremony at Sissons Barn and wanted to include a sand ceremony as part of the service. They have a young daughter and wanted to choose three different coloured sands that matched their theme but also held some meaning for each person. Gold (the colour of wealth), White (the colour of purity) and Pink (the colour of love).

“It is evident from the start that Donna really cares about your experience with her. From start to finish she listens to you and in turn this made our ceremony perfect. I wish we could do it all again because I enjoyed the ceremony so much. Donna made the ceremony amazing and gave us our vows and ceremony script on some beautiful floral card that we have been able to frame so we can always look back on the promises we made to each other.”

“We absolutely loved how personal it was. Our love story that Donna told was written and spoken so well, she really spent the time getting to know us and that was evident during the ceremony. Our guests absolutely loved the sand ceremony, with most saying they had never seen this before! It made our wedding one to remember. We wouldn’t change a thing!”

This was a special day for me too as my husband and I got married on the same date 16 years ago!

I was proud to conduct this ceremony on my anniversary!

1st Anniversary Vow Renewal

Lucy and Tom were married on 24th July 2021 but unfortunately not everyone could attend the ceremony due to Covid.

They wanted to renew their vows on their 1st anniversary and make their vows again.They chose a perfect outdoor venue.

“Where to begin? Donna was absolutely fantastic from the first initial meet right up until the ceremony. My husband is quite a shy person when you first get to know him but Donna made him feel at ease throughout the whole process. At first, we had an initial meeting. This was to get to know my husband & I and what we wanted out of the vow renewal. We had only been married a year but as we were a covid couple, unfortunately some very special people in our lives were not able to attend. This is why we had our vow renewal. We chose to go with Donna because she was very warm and welcoming, right from this meeting it was personal, it was about us and she was genuinely interested in our journey and achievements. We also wanted to renew our vows with some vows that were more personal to us but we were not sure how to word them. Donna very kindly offered to help and we were able to decide on some special vows to read on the day. Not to mention we had a good laugh to begin with. After, that initial meeting, we went away and Donna created the script. She was very quick to send us a draft, asked us to double check it and made sure everything about us as a couple was accurate. She was very clear and concise and seeing us confirmed our choice of Donna. Then, we had our rehearsal…”

“We met in the gardens where we were holding our ceremony. Donna again, was very welcoming and warm. My husband and I instantly felt relaxed and not nervous unlike our original church wedding rehearsal. She clearly guided us through the rehearsal stating what we needed to do at what point and if we were unsure she allowed us to go back and practise again. Even on the rehearsal, we had a good laugh, especially as we couldn’t seem to master the hand fasting but again, Donna took it in her stride, made us feel comfortable and there were lots of smiles during this time. The ceremony itself was beautifully conducted. Donna again, had a warm and welcoming smile for our guests. We opted to not have the microphone and Donna could still be heard clearly amongst us and our guests. Many of our guests said how lovely the service was. They made comment on how well it focused on us as a couple and our achievements. Many of them said it was relaxed and showed us off as a couple perfectly. We really cannot thank Donna enough for all of her hard work and effort she put in throughout the process. We will definitely be using her again for ceremonies in the future whether that’s a naming ceremony or another vow renewal in years to come. I would absolutely recommend this lovely celebrant to anyone considering a special ceremony!”

Chippenham Park Estates

Laura and Mark got married outdoors at the stunning Chippenham Park Estates in Cambridgeshire. Their guests loved the ceremony and liked the personal touches incorporated including this lovely couple’s love story! There were beautiful Irises all around the grounds and the walk to the ceremony space was gorgeous.

“Donna was absolutely amazing, from start to finish her attention to detail, professionalism and genuine lovely personality stood out the most. My husband and I cannot thank her enough for all the work involved to create our beautiful ceremony and would 100% recommend her to anyone.”

A beautiful ceremony on a beautiful day!