Hi, I'm Christine

Image of Christine Berrisford

(always Christine, never Chris!)

Wouldn’t it be great to celebrate the birth or adoption of your child, or even an important transition or name change in your own life, with a ceremony that is authentic to you?

From my own experience I know that 'family' is a term encompassing a wonderfully wide and varied collection of humans - yours may be very small or extended, fairly traditional or more diverse, made up of blood relatives, or friends, or both - whatever your circle looks like, people's names, their roles in their community of folk and the family connections they hold dear are cause to celebrate and the style of the naming ceremony you'd like should reflect who you are. Your naming celebration can be formal or informal, simple and low key or wildly creative and symbolic - it's your day and I'll help you celebrate in exactly the way you'd like to. Collaboration is the key to making your ceremony feel personal and meaningful to you and your family or wider community.

If you're looking for a down to earth celebrant, with twelve years of experience, lots of positive client testimonials, a fairly ‘unflowery’ writing style and a sense of humour, I might be just the ticket.

My background is in education - support roles and teaching - and I continue to work as an English tutor. Being a naming celebrant is my 'joyful work' and the most enjoyable part of the job is definitely meeting people. I love that I get enquiries from a broad cross-section of the community; it’s a wonderful privilege to be invited into people’s families, for them to introduce me to the people they care about, share their stories with me and to be the person they trust to lead their celebration.

Equality, equity and inclusion are incredibly important to me. Enquiries are welcomed from everyone - your sexuality, gender identity, race, ethnicity, disability, cultural or religious heritage should not be a barrier to you having exactly the ceremony you want. You're the expert in your own lived experience, so I'll be guided by you and I'll do my utmost to make our working relationship a safe space. You'll let me know if there's something I need to consider, include or adapt to make your naming ceremony inclusive of and accessible to you and yours and I'll adjust accordingly.

Being a celebrant is the most joyful job I've ever had and something I'm very proud to do.

If you think I might be a good match for you, get in touch and let's have a chat.

Christine is the most wonderful person ever, she made our ceremony incredibly special from start to finish. We honestly can't recommend her enough if you're wanting a personal ceremony with a fun, caring and inclusive celebrant. She made us feel comfortable from the get go and created the most perfect ceremony for us, filled with meaning, laughter and joy. A & J Needham-Pearmain

— A & J Needham-Pearmain

Christine delivered the perfect naming ceremony for our daughter. She was an absolute pleasure to deal with throughout the planning of our event; everything was well explained and she made us feel at ease and engaged throughout. The day itself went swimmingly with our guests all commenting on how personal and special the ceremony itself was. Hopefully our paths cross again in the future, thank you again!

— Sarah

Christine was the celebrant for our little boy's naming day this summer, which we held in our garden at home. She did a really lovely job. She came to meet us before the ceremony to talk about the kind of things we would like including and was always easy to contact and quick to reply to any queries. She wrote a lovely ceremony, including everything we had asked for. She did a great job on the day conducting the ceremony, we all had a really memorable and beautiful day.

— S.Lane

Christine is quite simply the best. She is an enthusiastic, empathetic and charismatic person as well as being brim full of love, which is exactly what you need for an important life event. She is highly responsive and works so hard to make sure everything is perfect for you. We would wholeheartedly recommend her.

— Ellie

Christine is just fantastic! She did our daughter's naming day, followed by surprise wedding and has returned to do our son's naming day.

She has a wonderful, warm personality that shines through in her presentation. A true professional and a joy to work with as she is amazing at just picking up on exactly what you want.

— Steph + Chris

Christine was fantastic. She instantly made us feel comfortable and did a fantastic job of making our little boy's ceremony so memorable. Everyone was really impressed! Even our family members who are very religious commented on how great Christine and the ceremony were.

— Ben + Joss

Image of Christine Berrisford

Christine Berrisford

Where I work

Leeds and the wider Yorkshire area (mostly)

Fees from...

£400 including 20 miles of travel. Additional travel expenses are charged at 50p per mile, worked out from Google maps.

How to contact me
Email

christine.berrisford@humanistceremonies.org.uk

Phone

07516 683323

Website

humanist.org.uk/christineberrisford

HUMANIST CEREMONIES™ is the network of more than 550 celebrants, trained by national charity Humanists UK to a gold standard to provide memorable and meaningful humanist ceremonies to non-religious people. Operating throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, we deliver authentic, tailor-made and heartfelt ceremonies for life’s key moments. They are always inclusive and welcoming, regardless of the beliefs of those attending.

You can trust Humanist Ceremonies celebrants: We are DBS-checked, fully insured, and regularly peer reviewed for quality assurance. We are committed to a code of conduct, and have a transparent and robust complaints process in the rare case of a problem. We all pay a monthly fee to Humanists UK to further support the work of the charity, and are part of a regional network for like-minded celebrants for support and learning.

Humanist naming ceremonies

A humanist naming ceremony is a joyous event, and the perfect opportunity to gather friends and family to welcome your child into the world, with no reference to religion. It focuses on the child, their future and the circle of love and support around them, offering a sincere and personal alternative to a christening or other religious ceremony.