Interview mit Ibiza Zelebrant Danielle Alex

Ein Zelebrant spielt eine große Rolle an Eurem Hochzeitstag. Die Zeremonie ist der Teil, der den Tag so besonders macht, also sollte er von einem professionellen Zelebranten geleitet werden, der Eure Persönlichkeit festhalten kann und diesen Moment einzigartig und unvergesslich macht.

Die Wahl der richtigen Person für Eure Hochzeitszeremonie ist keine leichte Aufgabe. Ihr solltet Euch bei Eurem Zelebranten wohlfühlen und in der Lage sein, die Zeremonie vorher durchzugehen.

Ich möchte Euch eine modernen und jungen Ibiza-Zelebranten vorstellen: Danielle Alex von Your Day Ibiza.

Danielle ist kreativ und kreiert persönliche und moderne Hochzeitszeremonien, die für Euch und Eure Gäste unvergesslich bleiben. Ich habe Danielle ein paar Fragen gestellt, um ihre Vision zu teilen und Euch die Zeremonie-Vorbereitung zu vereinfachen. Sie spezialisiert sich nur auf englischsprachige Zeremonien, daher ist dieses Interview nur auf Englisch verfügbar. Bei Fragen oder für weitere Informationen zu deutschen Zelebranten könnt Ihr mir gerne eine Nachricht oder E-Mail senden.

Interview mit Zelebrant Danielle Alex

Foto: Jennifer Arndt

Danielle, can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a wedding celebrant on Ibiza?

Hi Marcella, Of course, where to start?!

I fell in love with Ibiza in 2009, and I have been living here full time for almost 4 years now. I now live with my boyfriend and our dog and I have an amazing job, but up until a few years ago I was still trying to find my passion, career wise.

Some of my closest friends here on Ibiza work in the wedding industry, in various roles, and I was always very jealous that they got to spend their working days helping couples to organise and celebrate their love for each other and bring their dreams to life.

Then my best friend from the UK got engaged and asked me to be her maid of honour, and I started spending hours on Pinterest and researching online, helping her and sharing ideas for decorations, cakes, dresses, everything!

I came across wedding poems and ceremony scripts in the depths of my research and I was really interested because I didn’t realise how personal and different each wedding ceremony has the potential to be. I got very excited about this because I knew it was something that I could do, I am a born romantic, I love writing, and it would give me the opportunity to have a career that revolves around love! And I couldn’t ask for a more perfect job than that.

I did a training course with the UK Society of Celebrants and became a certified Family Celebrant, meaning that I can write and officiate personal ceremonies for weddings, renewal of vows, baby naming ceremonies and other special occasions.

How do you see your role as a wedding celebrant? 

The role of a celebrant is someone who performs, or officiates, important life events in the form of a ceremony.

For me personally, I see my role as much more than that. I am the person that each couple will open up to about their relationship and their love for each other, who will listen and get to know them in order to write a ceremony which captures who they are and how they feel about each other. This is the biggest part of my role, and all of comes before the big day, my I will perform the part of their wedding day that everyone has travelled hundreds of miles to witness.

What should a couple consider when searching for their celebrant?

What should a couple consider when searching for their celebrant?

A couple should decide firstly on the type of ceremony they would like and what is important to them. Would they like a traditional sounding ceremony script and format? Something original and different to suit their interests and tastes? A blessing ceremony that captures their spirituality? Do they want religion mentioned? Are they happy with a pre-written script or do they want their ceremony to be personal and unique?

After they have a rough idea, they should find a celebrant that they connect with and that can capture the type of ceremony they have in mind. They should feel comfortable and confident with their celebrant as this is the person who they are trusting in to tell their story and set the tone for both the ceremony and the rest of the day.

I recommend that they research or contact a few celebrants before booking, to get a feel for each one and what they represent. They should choose a celebrant that makes them feel relaxed and who they can truly be themselves around.

What is included in your wedding celebrant service?

I do offer different levels of service, as couples have different requirements when it comes to their Ibiza ceremony, however my core package is the personalised ceremony.

First of all, each couple receives an agreement of service to sign, to give them security and a guarantee on their booking and terms.

I offer unlimited communication via WhatsApp, email, Skype, Facetime and by phone, so that couples can contact me any time with their ideas and questions.

I provide them with resources which they can choose from or use as inspiration, such as readings, poems, music, options for symbolic rituals, vows, ring exchange wording, and my personal guide on how to write your own vows.

If they are happy for me to do so, I will get in touch with members of their family or friends, to get an insight into the couple from their loved ones. I also get in touch directly with anyone who has been asked to make a reading or be involved in the ceremony, to provide them with support and advice if they need it.

I send drafts of the ceremony script to the couple throughout the process for them to check and make any changes or additions to, so that they are fully involved and confident when we come to the final script.

I will get in touch with the venue or organisers in advance to make sure that all the technical bits that I need to know are discussed before I arrive, and on the day I get there an hour before the ceremony start time to make sure that everything is organised and prepared.

After the ceremony, the couple will receive a final copy of their script, and their signed custom-designed wedding certificate, and any props from symbolic rituals they may have chosen to use.

I also include a bottle of Prosecco which can be opened during the ceremony as a celebration or taken away with them!

What do you enjoy most about being a celebrant?

Photo: Jennifer Arndt

What do you enjoy most about being a celebrant?

It’s a tricky question because there are so many lovely things about it, but ultimately my favourite part is getting to know the couple and their stories. Through my interview with them I really see the love they have for each other, and the stories and words I get from family and friends almost always have me laughing or crying, sometimes both!

What are the first steps you go through with your wedding couples? And how can couples be best prepared before meeting you?

My first step with each couple, normally before they even book, is to find out if they already have any ideas for their ceremony from their own research, their preferences or experience of other people’s wedding ceremonies.

It is great for me if they have already thought about this, although for most it isn’t something that they have done before, or something they even realised they had a lot of control over, so normally I will explain this, give them some examples and ideas, and encourage them to do a little bit of exploring online to get some inspiration of what could be.

In their first email from me after booking they will receive an interview questionnaire, which they will fill in and send back and I follow this up by arranging a video call. The interview gives lots of detail and an outline of their story as well as information about their wedding day organisation, but the video call adds personality and lots of great details which they may not think to write down.

Do you have any ceremony trends you would like to share with us?

Using pop-culture references such as quotes from a film, song lyrics, sports events or referencing Instagram, are great ways to inject personality, inside jokes, interests and hobbies, humour and an insight into the couple’s relationship.

Other trends revolve around the variations on symbolic rituals that can be included in the ceremony. A very popular one, especially on Ibiza, is the sand unity ceremony, but different ways to perform these with the same meaning and idea can be done, based on each couple’s preferences or wedding theme. For example, planting a cactus together, or creating a cocktail by pouring individually chosen flavours together from two glasses to one.

Personally, I love anything that shows personality and uniqueness, so I really like these two trends for that reason.

Is there anything that you wish people knew more about when planning their wedding ceremony on Ibiza?

Yes! As most will already know, for couples having a ceremony performed by a Celebrant on Ibiza, this is not a legal ceremony. The legalities and paperwork can be done in your home country (in the UK I know this is a very easy process and inexpensive). The thing that many people don’t realise is that I don’t need proof that you are already legally married before your Ibiza ceremony. The ceremonies I perform are classed as a blessing, so even if you only chose to have the blessing ceremony without doing the legality at all, there wouldn’t be any problem with that.

This means that whether you decide to register your marriage before or after your wedding day on Ibiza, it doesn’t affect anything here and only depends on what suits you best and which order you prefer to do it in. 

Thank you Danielle! I love the passion you have for your job and I can’t wait to organise more weddings with you as a celebrant.

Feel free to send me a message if you have more questions for Danielle or would like to get in touch with her for your ceremony.