Add the personal touch to your special day (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Add the personal touch to your special day

FOR the first time in Wiltshire, residents are being offered the opportunity to renew their wedding vows or name their children at Wiltshire County Council's register offices and venues approved for civil marriages.

Uri Geller and his wife are the latest in a long line of celebrities who have decided to renew their marriage vows.

Now residents in Wiltshire are being offered the opportunity to arrange their own.

Every ceremony is unique and is led by a Wiltshire County Council appointed celebrant.

Couples can create their own personal ceremony by selecting from a range of promises, readings and poems. Special people in a couple's lives can be invited to take part in the ceremony; children, original wedding guests, friends and relatives.

The couple can be of any age and married for any length of time.

It is a way of marking a special anniversary, helping reconciliation or recognising the passing of a troubled time.

Also for the first time in Wiltshire, families will now be able to welcome their child into the family at a Naming Ceremony as a civil alternative to a Christening or Baptism.

A Naming Ceremony allows a family to welcome their child into the family and announce the names that have been chosen.

This is a unique ceremony written for each family composed from a range of promises, readings and poems.

Parents and supporting adults make promises of commitment to the child and there is also an opportunity for the grandparents to offer their love and support.

Led by a Wiltshire County Council celebrant, this occasion is a personal and meaningful experience.

The ceremony is also applicable for families wishing to welcome adopted children or stepchildren into the family.

The ceremonies are secular and do not contain any religious references. The ceremony has no legal status and does not replace a birth registration.

Jacqui White, head of Wiltshire County Council's statutory and support services, said: " We are delighted to be able to offer these new and increasingly popular services for Wiltshire residents.

" It is hoped that they will prove to be a very personal and meaningful experience for those involved."

For further information or to book a ceremony, contact Dawn Furlong on 01225 713047 or email dawnfurlong@wiltshire.co.uk