Last weekend I had the absolute honour of officiating the marriage of Mahsa and Mamad at South West London’s gorgeous venue Syon House and Park.

Mahsa and Mamad originate from Iran, and already officiated their marriage in a traditional Iranian ceremony with their families back at the end of last year. However, the pair have lived and worked in central London for over 10 years now, and so this weekend, following a quick registrar ceremony in the morning, this beautiful couple underwent a third ceremony in the glorious Great Hall of the house, with myself as their celebrant.

Although many of the guests had travelled from Iran, Austria, Canada, the US (and some even made their way out of central London on a Saturday!!), Mahsa and Mamad wanted this ceremony to be ‘typically British’ in tradition, so together we planned and wrote a simple script which incorporated a declaration of intent, traditional C of E wedding vows, and an exchanging of wedding rings. Of course, we still included the personal touches too… that’s what makes it a celebrant ceremony after all!

Mahsa looked just beautiful in her dress, and her bridesmiads all wore lilac. They were each escorted down the aisle in the historic manor hall by an usher, to greet the nervous groom. Three ceremonies in, you’d think he’d have been ised to this by now, but certainly third time’s a charm and this was the final, and most meaningful, moment to say ‘I do!’

It was a joy to be part of this lovely couple’s wedding day, and to enjoy spending a few hours in such a beautiful setting too. I can not thank the team at Syon House for being so very welcoming and accomodating on the day, and am so grateful for the gorgeous feedback received from them afterwards too:

“Dear Samantha,

We really enjoyed working with you at Syon Park last weekend. [Our event coordinators] found your sensitive and thoughtful approach very helpful – and your ceremony was lovely.

Head of Functions and Events – Syon Park”