Hello, I’m Neil and I’m married with 3 grown up daughters and live in Edinburgh. I first got interested in Humanism a number of years ago after attending several humanist ceremonies and liked the personal approach that Humanists take.
Reminding me of our own wedding in the mid 90’s (before Humanist weddings became legal in Scotland in 1995), in that Suzanne and I had not wanted a ‘traditional’ wedding nor the Registry Office. So, we decided to get married outdoors at Dryburgh Abbey but at that time still needed the local minister to conduct the ceremony. Without realising at the time, we were forerunners to Humanist weddings.
What led me to become a Humanist was that interest and passion for helping people at the right time, whether it is for a funeral or a wedding. And an understanding and empathy for people to create a personal, warm and unique ceremony.
See my Instagram: @marrymescotland
I can be contacted at any time on neil@humanistassociationscotland.com
Wedding Testimonials
Harry & Aizhan
We couldn’t have asked for a better celebrant than Neil to officiate our wedding! From our very first conversation, he made everything very clear and easy to follow. He was brilliant at explaining the legal and admin process in Scotland, always sending helpful reminders and guiding us step by step, which made the whole experience as stress-free as possible.
Neil was incredibly communicative and reliable – whether via emails or on video calls. It was also lovely to meet him in person before the big day, which really helped us feel comfortable.
He has shared loads of great suggestions and template ideas, but was also very open-minded and collaborative, working closely with us to shape a ceremony that was personal and meaningful. It was exactly what we had wished for.
On the day itself, the ceremony was relaxed and full of joy and laughter. So many of our guests told us how moved they were, with loads of happy tears shed.
Throughout it all, Neil has been amazing – supportive, patient, and reassuring. We feel incredibly lucky to have had him as part of our wedding journey and would recommend him wholeheartedly to anyone looking for someone to make the process easy, smooth and relaxed!
Emma & Lydia
Although we were both quite nervous about standing in front of all our guests and being the centre of attention, Neil was able to put us (and all our guests) at ease, so that we had a joyful, meaningful and personal ceremony. During the planning stages Neil was always responsive and came up with plenty of ideas for how to bring together mine and my wife’s different cultures. Lovely guy, we definitely recommend to those looking to have a joyful humanist wedding ceremony!
Danielle & Jack
We cannot recommend Neil highly enough. Excellent support & advice from the start of our wedding journey to the day of our ceremony. Made our day a VERY special one and kept the ceremony informal just as we requested.
A fabulous day!!
Thanks, Love Danielle & Jack x
Ashley & Adam
Neil recently married us on 14th September at The o2 Academy in Edinburgh. He was brilliant and a lovely man. He made us feel relaxed and at ease through the whole process. He helped us come up with some really nice ideas for the ceremony and the service was really personal to us. The ceremony was beautiful and the guests were all saying how nice and relaxed Neil made it and how good he was. For anyone wanting a humanist to marry them, I would deffo recommend Neil, he is a cool dude and makes it very modernised. Thanks for everything Neil and being a part of making our day so special. Love Ashley & Adam
Paul & Nicola
As a celebrant, Neil was amazing. He was always on hand and available to offer advice and suggestions to ensure our big day went smoothly but more importantly his involvement made sure it was highly personal.
Professional, friendly, engaging, and a joy to have officiate our wedding.
Ruth & Malcolm
We really wanted a ceremony that reflected us as a couple and as a family. We met Neil a few times before the wedding and he really took the time to get to know us, and our story and help us create a really personal ceremony. Drawing on his experience he also had lots of original and interesting ideas about things we could include in our ceremony, which we really appreciated as we were struggling with ideas at the beginning.
We loved his fun, relaxed approach on the day which created a great atmosphere and helped with our nerves! He was a hit with the guests too!