Collect memories, not things.

Health, recovery, and sobriety milestones

Whether you have achieved a recovery milestone, completed a long treatment series, or achieved health goals such as weight loss or finishing a marathon, commemorating this point in your journey and sharing it with your friends and family can add meaning.

Inviting your friends and family to join you in celebrating increases your connection to others and honors how their support has impacted you through your journey.

Celebrant role: write and officiate the ceremony, facilitate group participation activities, or deliver a secular invocation or Humanist reading

Pet welcoming celebration

A pet is a new addition to the family and formalizing that addition can be affirming for the family – especially for children. Ask the children to write or affirm “vows” for their new pet; include a pet naming ceremony; have friends and family come to shower the new pet with love (and gifts!).

Celebrant role: write and officiate the ceremony, facilitate family vows to the pet, or deliver a secular invocation or Humanist reading.

Retirement

A transition to a new chapter in your journey – honor and celebrate this milestone with friends and family. With this passage comes freedom, but it can also be accompanied by a sense of loss – loss of a role in the world, loss of a sense of purpose. A ceremony can focus on the new roles you will serve and how the moments of your life moving forward will have meaning for you and those around you.

At this gathering of colleagues, friends, and family we honor the contributions and impact of your years of service, reflect on how you’ve touched the lives of others, and consider the potential in the freedom now before you.

Celebrant role: deliver a welcome, secular invocation, or a Humanist reading; facilitate group participation (participant speeches, etc.)

Transgender naming ceremony

Our name is connected to our identity, and the name we received at birth may not always reflect how we identify in the world – yet it informs how others perceive and treat us.

In the journey of transition and validation of a non-cisgender or gender non-conforming identity, the formal affirmation of a new name in the presence of family and friends can be a meaningful, exciting milestone.

Celebrant role: write and officiate the ceremony, assist with discovering and incorporating meaningful rituals, and facilitate group participation.

Family reunions / Holiday gatherings

Family gatherings can present inclusion challenges as many religious, secular, and spiritual identities are reflected among our loved ones. It can be difficult to navigate honoring everyone’s traditions and perspectives.

A Humanist Celebrant can deliver an inclusive invocation, facilitate a discussion to bridge family differences or provide a consultation before the event.

You might also consider visiting my page on Secular Gratitude for examples of inclusive graces and invocations you could incorporate yourself.

Celebrant role: deliver a welcome, secular invocation, or a Humanist reading; help you compose or identify a secular grace/reading that will inspire and honor all those present.

Academic milestones

Whether graduating from kindergarten or college, academic milestones are celebrations of accomplishments and preparation for the next steps in our academic or professional journeys.

Celebrant role: deliver a welcome, secular invocation, or a Humanist reading; help you compose or identify a secular grace/reading; Officiate or facilitate guest participation such as speeches of support.

Send-offs: moving, military assignments, or extended travel

Gathering loved ones before a goodbye gives closure to children, youth, and adults who are moving away from friends, connection and support for people who will be separated for extended periods of time, and an opportunity to plan for communication and re-connection in the future.

Celebrant role: deliver a welcome, secular invocation, or Humanist reading; facilitating guest participation

Homewarming

What makes a “house” into a home is different for everyone. Whatever that means to you, holding a housewarming gathering of friends, family, and new neighbors can help you feel connected and at peace in your new place.

Celebrant role: deliver a welcome, secular home blessing, secular invocation, or Humanist reading; facilitate guest participation.

Blood Donor Celebrations (1 gal, 5 gal, 10 gal, etc.)

Blood donors are heroes, and the more you celebrate the impact you’ve had on people’s lives, the more you will encourage others to join you in saving lives.

Celebrant role: write and officiate a personalized ceremony or speech that reflects how the donor has made an impact on the world.