Wedding and Funeral Celebrant in Cambridgeshire

My name is Peter Crawford and I am your wedding and funeral celebrant in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and the London area. With a love of languages, travel and culture, I am also happy taking ceremonies further afield, including abroad.

I grew up singing in various church choirs, so that by my early twenties, I’d been to more weddings and funerals than most people attend in a lifetime. Hearing so many eulogies at quite a young age made quite an impression, making me keen to say Yes to the opportunities that life provides and really value the connections between people, which is what seems to count at the end.

Working closely in a team, I have enjoyed being part of wonderful events in the past and look forward to helping you create and deliver the ceremony that is right for you. That teamwork in the past has included an opera tour of La Bohème in the West Bank, singing on stage with international Jewish cantors, the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony and the soundtrack for the later Harry Potter films.

Seeing life from different perspectives is important to me. I am now a father, having thought for most of my life I would not have children. While being openly LGBTQ+, I have worked closely with people holding homophobic views. Before becoming a celebrant, I taught Biology and was the School Chaplain. I loved teaching in Amman, Jordan, for a couple of years and experiencing an Arab worldview. Volunteering occasionally to support refugees and homeless people opens my eyes to yet more realities, as does hosting couch-surfers. It is then genuinely a privilege to place other people’s stories at the centre of my ceremonies.

Weddings, funerals, namings, retirement, renewals of vows, fresh starts…you name it!

A good ceremony reflects on the past in order to help people prepare for the future. Most ceremonies also celebrate the present. From life stories to readings, hand-fastings to singing, there are endless ways to do this. I am very happy to guide and listen to you in order to create the elements of the ceremony that will best help you and your guests to experience your life event.

A significant part of my former work as School Chaplain was arranging all manner of ceremonies, helping people feel at ease and able to contribute from their own experiences and traditions. I am therefore happy to lead Christian prayers and singing and also to enable those of other faiths and philosophies to celebrate in the language of their own beliefs. I have enabled shy teenagers to speak up and out and am confident and capable working with children.

For the script, which can be divided among people as is helpful for you, I will bring a natural empathy and care for people, accurate recording and an ability to create a coherent narrative. During the Covid lockdowns, I worked at my Gran’s nursing home in order to see her, forging valuable friendships with various residents. I have taught accurate recording as a science teacher for twelve years. One of my hobbies is creating children’s book scripts, weaving tales of friendship and adventure into the structure of our inner cell biology.

Speaking of adventure, I am always up for a challenge, including within your ceremony. If you’re wanting to marry on the wings of a plane or have everyone jump into a swimming pool, I would love to help make those dreams a reality. Drag? Addressing 1000 people?…Not a problem! That said, a good, homely ceremony with words of integrity spoken among family and friends in a traditional setting is also wonderfully fulfilling.

One thing I am not is a wedding organiser, as my expertise will never extend to the chair covers, but I can put you in contact with classical musicians if desired.

I am happy to read parts of your ceremony or greet people in the following: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Turkish, Russian and Arabic. Any other languages wanted?… Please teach me them!

I look forward to hearing from you.