Two prominent members of the local LGBTQ+ community are to be sworn in as wedding celebrants today.
Ellie Jones, CEO of Liberate and Oli Bailey-Davis, Tin Whistle Productions (and Channel Islands Pride host) will become Guernsey’s first LGBTQ+ wedding celebrants under the umbrella of ‘Queerly Beloved’.
Celebrant-led ceremonies have risen in popularity hugely since the introduction of a new marriage law in Guernsey which allows couples more choices of where and how they can get married. Many couples now consider these wedding ceremonies as an alternative to a traditional religious ceremony or a civil marriage at the Greffe, especially couples who maybe looking for something a little bit different and away from the traditional.
Ellie explained: “The point of any ceremony is to celebrate the partnership and to ensure that the couple has their closest friends and family around them to support and to celebrate their special day.
“We’re about making people feel comfortable and giving them the wedding they want…the queerer the better! And for us ‘queer’ doesn’t always mean being LGBTQ+, it means being a little different, unusual or not heteronormative.”
Oli added: “As members of the LGBTQ+ community, we also understand the nuances that might come up as well as the legalities surrounding things like same sex marriage and gender identity.
“Ellie and I are here to take away that stress and worry and let the couple focus on the important stuff, like whether they should have disco balls or feathers!”
Ellie continued: “Being the celebrant for any wedding is a privilege. But conducting a wedding ceremony for the LGBTQ+ community is going to be extra special because in some cases, we will have the opportunity to work with couples who have desperately wanted to marry their entire lives and haven’t been able to until recently.
“Unlike with heterosexual weddings, our couples may have had a rockier path to the point they are at now. We hope to make this the special moment they have always hoped it would be and help them to celebrate in style – whatever style that might be!”
Pictured: Left to right – Ellie Jones and Oli Bailey-Davis.
