Lel McAteer, celebrant and ceremonialist
Some people are good at small talk. I'm terrible at it, because I'd much rather know what your parents were like and what posters were on your childhood bedroom wall. My mum, also my proofreader extraordinaire, says I can get a life story out of a bus queue. Everyone has a story to tell, and I love hearing them.
That's most of the job, as it turns out. Before I write a word, I listen. What people tell me in those conversations is the raw material of a ceremony, and there's always more than anyone expects. That's true whether it's a wedding, a vow renewal, a funeral or a milestone celebration.
Then comes the part I love most: making something out of it. Choosing the words, finding the flow, building a ritual that exists for one couple, one family, one person, and for nobody else. Ceremony should feel sacred, alive and unmistakably yours.
“Lel led our mum’s funeral so very beautifully. We felt held, and the eulogy she created was perfect.”
What you can expect from me
That I'll take your ceremony as seriously as you do.
That I'll ask the questions you may not expect, and then use what you tell me respectfully.
That when you hear it for the first time, it will sound like you.
That on the day, I'll have it in hand: the ceremony, the ritual, the hankies, everything.
And that whatever the occasion, I'll be reverential. I laugh a lot, and I smile more, and there's room for both in almost any ceremony. But the promises people make, and the lives people remember, deserve to be honoured. I never forget that.
Still learning
I’ve been a celebrant for a while now, and I’m always training. Courses, reading, practice. I’m a Rites and Rituals Scotland ceremonialist, which took six months of ceremony and soul-searching. I found there was far more to the craft than I’d realised. I continue to learn something from every ceremony I write.
Alongside that, I’m pulling at a spiritual thread, and I’m interested to see where it takes me.
The rest of me
I'm married to a photographer, and I hate having my photo taken, which he finds hilarious.
I'm a proud mum and a smitten granny.
I have strong opinions about double denim, all of them favourable.
And I'd love to hear about you.