Typically you can expect a guideline fee in the region of €450 - €600 plus a €90 contribution to the HAI. 

The amount of €90 for weddings is payable on booking and is a contribution to the HAI to fund its work, which includes education about humanism, advocacy, events and running costs. This is separate to any booking deposit that may be requested by your celebrant.  

The €90 contribution also includes one year’s free membership for a couple to the Humanist Association of Ireland.  Once you have completed your booking online, the HAI will send you details on how to avail of your free membership. 

Please note that your ceremony will not be fully booked until you have paid your HAI contribution fee. 

Ceremony fees may vary from celebrant to celebrant, particularly if the venue is some distance away, as the celebrant may need to add expenses such as travel, and possibly accommodation costs.

Please note that some of our celebrants, who exceed the VAT turnover threshold set by the Revenue Commissioners, are required to charge VAT at the standard rate of 23% in addition to their fees.

A church wedding is about being wed in the eyes of God. It is a sacramental commitment performed by a priest to a standard religious procedure.  A civil marriage, performed by a state registrar, is about being wed in the eyes of the law and again follows a standard procedure.

A Humanist Wedding is a legally binding ceremony where you, the couple, have the opportunity to tailor your special occasion to your own needs.

A Humanist wedding is always intimate, distinctive and unique - and it can all be signed, sealed and delivered in the one venue.

Civil and humanist ceremonies are both non-religious wedding ceremonies but in reality, they couldn’t be more different. Civil ceremonies are legally recognised but are bound by restrictions regarding where and when they can take place. For example, you cannot have your ceremony at the weekend or on a public holiday. Ceremony scripts are usually standardised or with little variation, with the blanks filled in for each couple. Humanist wedding ceremonies are also legally recognised, but they do not have any of these restrictions. Our ceremonies are tailored to you, and our celebrants deliver a bespoke ceremony that reflects the couple’s personality. There are no limits to gender, race, sexual orientation, day of the week or circumstance for the couple.

Firstly, you as a couple should consider when and where you wish to get married, and submit your enquiry through our Find a Celebrant function.

It is important to secure your celebrant and date as soon as possible as popular dates, particularly weekend and holiday seasons, can get booked out quickly.

We recommend that you only provisionally book a venue until you have secured your celebrant’s services.

Your celebrant will be happy to explain all the processes involved, including the possible content of your ceremony.

Yes, Humanist celebrants are legal marriage solemnisers. Your wedding ceremony will be officiated by an accredited Humanist celebrant and conducted according to the Civil Registration Act 2004, as amended in 2012 and 2015, which requires that the each part of the couple to be married must be:

• Aged over 18 years
• Mentally capable to understand the importance of the legal contract they are signing
• Not related to each other
• Not already married
• Not under duress.

The couple must give notice to a HSE Registrar’s Office – Please refer to the Health Service Executive website on ‘How to get married in Ireland’.

The notice period is 3 months unless exceptional circumstances apply.

The marriage must take place in a place open to the public, especially on the day of the wedding. Your celebrant will advise you about the suitability of your proposed venue. The couple must freely consent to be spouses in the presence of two named witnesses and a registered solemniser.

Accredited Humanist Celebrants are all registered solemnisers and may legally solemnise the marriage without a separate registry office wedding.

Humanist celebrants can marry you at any time of day, or any day of the week, month or year.

Humanist weddings are wonderful and personal ceremonies. One of the tenets of humanism is a tolerance for others who hold different belief systems. Therefore everyone feels included during a humanist ceremony.

However, humanists have no belief in a god or the supernatural, relying on scientific evidence and appreciation of the world around us and the achievements of humans.

So our ceremonies are secular and non-religious occasions. They are designed to be a positive option for those who share the same philosophical belief system as humanists whether you wish to call yourself a humanist or not, and even whether you are a member of any humanist association or not.

Please think carefully about this choice. If you think you don’t share the same philosophy, or you actually believe in a god or the supernatural, then perhaps a humanist ceremony is not the right choice for you.

A humanist wedding ceremony is typically made up of the following:

• An introduction (traditional entrance if you wish)
• Words on love and marriage
• Music and readings
• A symbolic ritual or two
• Vows
• Marriage declaration
• An exchange of rings
• The signing of the register
• Closing words

Your accredited humanist celebrant will be delighted to craft a personalised wedding ceremony to suit your needs for your special day.

The duration of the ceremony will depend on the amount of content you choose to include. The more readings, music, and other elements you include the longer the ceremony will be, but it typically lasts about 25-35 minutes. If in doubt, please discuss the duration with your celebrant.

You should try to decide on a venue and date and then contact a celebrant, as discussed above.

You can obtain a form from a registry office which allows you to give notice of your intent to marry by post.

Yes you can. On May 22nd, 2015, the citizens of Ireland voted to amend the Constitution by inserting the following text: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”

Same-sex couples must comply with the standard legal requirements of marriage, as outlined on the Health Service Executive’s ‘How to get married in Ireland’.

Humanists believe in equality for all and our accredited humanist celebrants are delighted to assist all couples to celebrate marriage without distinction as to their sex.

Our accredited humanist celebrants have conducted many same-sex wedding ceremonies and look forward to discuss your wedding arrangement ideas with you.

Yes, provided that the ceremony takes place in a venue open to the public and clearly identifiable by an address. There are a host of hotels, restaurants, museums and other landmark locations around the country that have held humanist ceremonies in Ireland over the years.  Your celebrant can advise you as to the suitability of your proposed venue.

A humanist ceremony that includes the act of solemnisation of the marriage cannot take place in a private location. If the house is a private home and not usually open to the public, then the wedding may not take place there. Your celebrant will advise you about the suitability of your venue.

One of the tenets of humanism is a tolerance for others who hold different belief systems, therefore everyone feels included during a humanist ceremony.

Yes, it is quite common to acknowledge early on in the ceremony that there are loved ones who are no longer with us and to have a short pause to remember them with love. Some couples light a remembrance candle. Please discuss this with your accredited humanist celebrant because different celebrants will have different approaches.

Yes, but it must be made clear at the ceremony that you are already married and that this is a symbolic ceremony only. In this situation the accredited humanist celebrant cannot make a pronouncement of marriage (declare you to be spouses).