Hi, I'm Maria

Image of Maria Thorne

The arrival of a new child, whether it's a new baby or an older child that you'd like to welcome into your family - is always cause for celebration. (*See below for adult changes of name).

A naming, welcoming or adoption ceremony gives you a great opportunity to gather together your friends and family from all different backgrounds. No matter what your family structure, circumstances or beliefs, everyone is warmly welcomed at a humanist ceremony. I had naming ceremonies for both my babies and they were just perfect; so personal, joyous and uplifting. A superb way to welcome our children into the world. This is what led me to want to become a celebrant myself.

We'll meet up - ideally in person - so that I can hear all about your family and your lives together. Then I'll write a ceremony that you can trust will reflect your personalities, values and hopes for your child. As with all humanist ceremonies, there are no "set words" and I'm happy to help by making suggestions about things like readings, promises, music, symbolic acts and special ways of including beloved friends or family in the heart of your ceremony. You need to be confident that your ceremony will be perfect for you, so we'll work on it until you're absolutely happy and ready to go! On the day itself, it's important to me that everyone can relax, be present and enjoy every moment.

Having grown up in the countryside, between the shore and the moor, I often find inspiration for my ceremonies in nature, but they can be reflective of any theme you wish and we can include a child's favourite music, storybooks or toys and hobbies. I'm also a musician and passionate about the power of music in the community, so I’m always up for music in ceremonies and can even lead a sing-a-long if you like! I live near Cullompton in Devon, with my husband, teenage kids and scruffy "labracockapoo", Ziggy.

There aren’t many opportunities these days to just pause and focus on one, single, special event without distraction, but ceremonies like these offer that unique moment to mark such an exciting parental milestone.

*Adult changes of name: If you have decided to change your name and would like to celebrate your new name with a group of friends or family, please get in touch so that we can have a chat about how I can help with this.

It was such a personalised day which really captured the essence of our little girl. Her naming day was done this year at age 3 because we had to cancel due to covid so it was 2 years after our original date. Because of that, I did have some worries about how a naming day would work now she’s older. My worries were completely resolved by Maria and it was even more special because we know her so much more now. Maria put dinosaurs in welly boots (C’s favourite!) on the back of the reading cards which was such a lovely touch. She was always responsive and happy to advise as needed.

— Becky

What a wonderful and beautiful service. Maria put together such a heartwarming and personal script for our daughters 1st birthday/naming day. All our guests commented on how personal to us it was and the most touching part was when Maria spoke to our daughter during the naming service, she got down to her level to talk to her directly. I could not recommend Maria enough. A day we will fondly treasure

— Zoe

Maria performed a joint naming ceremony for both of our boys. In the lead up she met with us and spent time getting to know our family, and all the stories and characters of them both. She put together the loveliest ceremony and helped with suggestions of poems etc. On the day Maria arrived promptly and spent some time getting to know who was who, happily chatting to our wider family. She also made sure that our 4 year old was comfortable with her, making the effort to bring him out of his shell beforehand. All our family loved listening to Maria’s ceremony and it was the perfect celebration that we had wanted for our boys. Loads of the older generations hadn’t been to a naming ceremony before and were very complimentary as to how personalised Maria had made it to us and the boys. We wouldn’t hesitate to use Maria’s services again!

— Katie

Image of Maria Thorne

Maria Thorne

Where I work

Right across the South West: Devon, Somerset, West Dorset and most of Cornwall.

Fees from...

£225 Take a look at the pricing page on my website for details of what's included.

How to contact me
Email

maria.thorne@humanistceremonies.org.uk

Phone

07341 953442

Website

www.humanist.org.uk/mariathorne

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.