Western Highlands & Islands Archives

Brian Baxter

July 6, 2014by Fuze Admin

Brian Baxter, Celebrant

“I take enormous joy in helping others to create their own unique ceremony and to assist them in having the most memorable day of their lives.”

Brian is available to conduct Weddings, Civil Partnerships, Vow Renewals, Baby Naming & Funeral Ceremonies.

Brian Baxter has witnessed and ably assisted with well over 1000+ Wedding Ceremonies across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, particularly so when delivering his Highland Wedding Master of Ceremonies (Toastmaster/ MC) provision. Brian is a highly skilled public speaker and has a Robert Burns recital gift. He has an impressive Master of Ceremonies CV. Some clients have said that he is “the calm in the storm”.

He takes great joy in witnessing the freedom that a Humanist Ceremony gives to his clients, making the occasion even more memorable for the newlyweds, family and guests. He is passionate about creating and delivering dignified and meaningful funeral ceremonies too. In 2020 he decided to study for and gain the Diploma in Public Speaking and Humanist Ceremonies with UKCAPSA. After completing the diploma, he was "chuffed tae bits" when he was asked to become a Humanist Celebrant with the Fuze Foundation and Fuze Ceremonies. Delivering his first ever legal wedding ceremony in September 2020.

Brian married Val in 1989. They have one son. When not delivering weddings, vow renewals, baby naming and funeral services, Brian and Val like to take exotic Cruise Ship holidays, tae the sun!

Since age 16, Brian has had a staggering 40+ years military experience. At age 40, he took some time out from the military, ran a pub for a spell and worked in the Chamber of Commerce, Dundee, as a manager delivering learning & development to clients in a variety of age groups. He also had a 3-year period working for Local Government, as Team Leader of an Anti-Social Behaviour Team! It was back full time with the military again in 2010, and he retired fully from the army in July 2023. He says - "because it was time to use the "bus pass!"

These past working experiences and life skills gained have aided him in developing his consulting, listening, and toned communication skills, ensuring that he always listens to his clients & guides them in their aspiration to create a unique, special, unforgettable, dignified, touched with fun, a bit of witty banter and a truly personal ceremony.

Brian is by far, one of the smartest dressed male celebrants in Scotland. Owning more kilts and trews than a kilt shop, and more dress suits than any high street clothing outlet!

Brian will travel from his home in Scone to conduct your ceremony anywhere in Scotland. Please be aware though that this may involve additional fuel, accommodation and/ or travel costs in order to do so. Just ask.You can contact Brian on brianbaxter@fuzeceremonies.co.uk or you can see more of Brian on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok

Chris Alexander

May 5, 2014by Fuze Admin

Chris Alexander, Celebrant

Chris is available to blether for and conduct Weddings, Civil Partnerships, Vow Renewals, Baby Naming & Funeral Ceremonies.

As an actor Chris has found himself travelling the world. A passion for folk and their stories and the connections, long or short that immeasurably inspire us all our days.

It’s crucial to Chris that your ceremony is your story. In joy or grief.

As a person it was a saunter on El Camino Santiago that ignited a want to aid people. “We share stories all the time. A simple hello could have a million possibilities.” As an outdoor lover, a pal to nature and Munro bagger, Chris is happy to do any ceremony, wherever you want. Mountains, beauty spots of Scotland(What a country) to jumping in the sea(After we’ve checked for sharks). Or the local hall! Nothing is off limits. Mother Nature is a wonderful sculptor.

It was a natural flow to combine the skills as an actor and place it in humanist ceremonies. I love working with people. Travelling is a passion. “It seemed to me, to continue meeting new folk, hearing stories and sharing those stories to the people they love the most, becoming a celebrant is a new bubble of joy. It’s an honour to give the journey of a life to people that love the person or people.”

A humanist ceremony is the perfect way to include anything you want. Let's have a blether.

Chris is based in Ayrshire and conducts ceremonies throughout Scotland.

Buen Camino!

You can contact Chris on chrisalexander@fuzeceremonies.co.uk or you can see more of Chris on Instagram

Jackie Jeffrey

May 5, 2014by Fuze Admin

Jackie Jeffrey, Celebrant

Jackie lives in a small Perthshire village with her partner and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Known by family and friends as the Queen of organising, she really does love a list!

Having worked closely with people all her life, across different career paths, Jackie has always had a genuine interest in people and loves hearing all about their lives and experiences. She is a great peoples person, warm, funny, sincere and has a natural talent to write and tell a story.

Jackie is also a Life Coach, a role that commands a lot of listening and understanding but one that she finds very rewarding. Becoming a Celebrant was the next natural step for her, giving her the opportunity to continue learning peoples stories, meet amazing people and share their life events.

It is important to Jackie that you have a ceremony as unique as you and one that reflects your hopes and dreams for the future or honours the life you have lived.

Jackie is a very optimistic person and it will be an honour and a privilege for her to conduct your ceremony with professionalism and integrity and she won't eat all the wedding cake!

Lifes what you make it, make it the best life you possibly can.

Jackie is based in Perthshire and conducts ceremonies in Aberdeenshire & Moray, Ayrshire, Edinburgh & Lothian, East Renfrewshire & Renfrewshire, Glasgow City & East /West Dunbartonshire, Inverness-shire, North & South Lanarkshire, Perthshire, Fife & Angus, Stirlingshire and Western Highlands & Islands

You can contact Jackie on jackiejeffrey@fuzeceremonies.co.uk or you can see more of Jackie on Facebook and Instagram

Kay Falconer

April 8, 2014by Fuze Admin

Kay Falconer, Celebrant

Over the last 40 years, Kay has worked as a veterinary surgeon in a variety of places in Scotland, the north of England and in Northern Ireland. It may seem a strange progression from this to being a celebrant but in truth the roles do share certain properties. The job of a vet is not solely spent working with the animals themselves but is about working with the owners/carers of the animals, talking to them, and listening to their stories. Not dissimilar in fact to the job of a celebrant, finding out about the clients, piecing their stories together and leading to a uniquely personal service for them.

Kay has travelled throughout her life as a hopeful romantic and when she moved to Lewis in the Outer Hebrides she felt that she had come home. Having settled in this stunning part of the world it feels that there can be no better place to be involved in providing unique & meaningful ceremonies. The scenery is stunning with lochs and mountains, golden beaches and azure seas, though a little on the cold side.

Kay feels very strongly that ceremonies belong you and should be very much your choice, your ideas, and with some guidance from the celebrant, make the day an occasion that is uniquely and unforgettably yours.

Kay believes the name given to you as a baby is an important one, bestowed by your parents and by which you will be known for the rest of your life. This is not something to be done lightly and so it is right and fitting that a day be given to honour this among friends and family, to celebrate the uniqueness of the child and welcome them into the family.

At a time when we are devastated by the loss of a loved one it is equally important to focus on those aspects of their life that gave us pleasure and made them the person they were and this needs to be presented in a positive way, that is to be celebrated. Kay has had personal experience of this having performed the eulogies at the funerals of her own parents albeit two people she knew very well. It was when she attended the funeral of a much loved uncle, conducted at the graveside by a celebrant, and from whom she learned a great deal more than she had already known about him, that she realized the benefits of such a personal service.

Her celebration of his life that day made Kay feel that she wanted to be able to perform that service for other people, to present the loved one to them as an individual, each one of us special in our own way, and perhaps even to make them smile.You can contact Kay on kayfalconer@fuzeceremonies.co.uk or you can see more of Kay on Facebook

Paula Wilkinson

April 8, 2014by Fuze Admin

Paula Wilkinson, Celebrant

"No matter what your journey as a couple, it is a one of a kind love story".

Paula lives in the beautiful Highland village of Arisaig on the northwest coast near the Isle of Skye and qualified in 2018 as a Marriage Officer with Fuze Ceremonies.

Paula graduated with first class honours in English Literature and Journalism and she loves the creative element of writing and delivering wedding scripts. She firmly believes that no matter what your journey as a couple, it is a one of a kind love story and she is eager to tell the tale.

Paula is based in Arisaig and covers Arisaig, Salen, Fort William & Glencoe. She'd be delighted to chat about your ceremony, so just get in touch.

You can contact Paula on paulawilkinson@fuzeceremonies.co.uk

Fiona Lennie

April 8, 2014by Fuze Admin

Fiona Lennie, Celebrant

Fiona lives and works in the most beautiful, wild place in the northwest of Scotland, Knoydart. It's a peninsula only accessible by boat or by foot over mountain ranges giving it the feel and remoteness of an island.To Fiona, the word "celebrant" is the very definition of the true way to mark those important, human experiences in our lives - to celebrate real love, to share our joys and sometimes our grief with those who are important to us in our lives. She cannot imagine a better place than Knoydart for people to share those experiences within all its glorious nature.

The love and friendship she discovered here gave her the inspiration to become a celebrant.

She moved to Knoydart in 2014 to take a break from a very busy former life, and never looked back! The land is community owned since 1999 when the small community set up the Knoydart Foundation and set about buying this wonderful place so that they may protect, preserve, and enhance this environment after a succession of poor landowners who had neglected the 16,000-acre estate, and the work is still ongoing to make a sustainable life for all.

Fiona loves that people want to come here to make their celebrations of love, surrounded by all the natural beauty - the mountains, the forest, and the sea, that Knoydart has to offer. To reconnect with our Human-Nature!

Fiona works mainly on Knoydart, providing the community with all their celebratory needs, from naming ceremonies to welcome children into this beautiful world, to bespoke wedding ceremonies with an emphasis on nature, renewal of vows, the most wonderful way to reaffirm the bonds we have, and celebrating the life of loved ones passed to ease the grieving process as we say goodbye. She will travel short distances if required to offer her services off Knoydart.

Fiona is based in Knoydart, North West Scotland and conducts ceremonies in the Western Highlands & Islands.

You can contact Fiona on fionalennie@fuzeceremonies.co.uk

Julie-Anne Kinnear

April 8, 2014by Fuze Admin

Julie-Anne Kinnear

Julie-Anne is available to conduct Weddings, Civil Partnerships, Vow Renewals & Funeral Ceremonies.

Whether a love-story or life-story, Julie-Anne will listen to you and work with you to create your unique ceremony. As a Humanist Celebrant she will guide and support you when exploring specifics such as personalised vows, how you want your love-story or the life-story of a loved one to be shared, the music, poetry or readings you want to include, how you want to involve others (people or pets!) in the ceremony, inclusion of symbolic gestures and any other quirks or details to make your ceremony personal and meaningful.

Reflecting the values of Humanism, Julie-Anne embraces life wholeheartedly, believing this helps us to mark and celebrate the important stages from birth to death with vim, vigour and vitality. Whilst her ceremonies are appropriately dignified and respectful of the nature of the circumstances, they are never dull or dark – they have energy, light, emotion and where appropriate incorporate laughter and joy.

Julie-Anne moved from Belfast to Scotland aged 20. She has met lots of diverse and interesting people on her journey, all of whom have enriched her life one way or another. This quote from Dolly Parton sums up her outlook on life - “Dream more, learn more, care more and be more”.

Julie-Anne is based in Angus and covers Aberdeenshire & Moray, Argyll & Bute, Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, East Renfrewshire & Renfrewshire, Edinburgh & Lothian, Glasgow City & East /West Dunbartonshire, Inverness-shire, North & South Lanarkshire, Outer Hebrides, Perthshire, Fife & Angus, Scottish Borders, Stirlingshire and Western Highlands & Islands

You can contact Julie-Anne on julie-annekinnear@fuzeceremonies.co.uk or you can see more of Julie-Anne on Facebook and Instagram

Alan Deeney

April 8, 2014by Fuze Admin

Alan Deeney

Alan is available to conduct Wedding, Civil Partnership, Vow Renewal, Baby Naming & Funeral Ceremonies.

Alan has been a community mental health nurse for 15 years and first discovered his interest in humanist ceremonies while working as a pro-am photographer. After witnessing the joy and individuality of small weddings and baby namings, he became passionate about helping couples and families create days that truly reflect who they are. This inspiration led him to complete the SQA Celebrant & Public Speaking Diploma.

Always drawn to people’s unique styles, Alan has a particular appreciation for fashion, especially when Dr. Martens are involved. His love for DMs is well known, and he proudly owns a pair for every occasion.

With extensive experience in end-of-life care, Alan is known for his compassion, warmth, and ability to bring gentle cheerfulness where appropriate. He believes every ceremony, whether joyful or heartfelt, should be shaped around the wishes and personalities of those it honours.

Outside his celebrant work, Alan embraces creativity in the community. Every December, he runs wreath-making workshops, encouraging people to craft their own decorations and reminding them that we can make our own Christmas—unique, personal, and full of heart.

Alan has been married to his wife, Lorna, for 14 years, and is a proud stepfather to a grown-up stepson and stepdaughter who supported him throughout his celebrant journey. Family time is incredibly important to him, especially moments spent with the light of his life, his 8-year-old grandson. His furry, feisty companion, Herbie the Cavapoo, is also never far from his side.

He spends much of his downtime at his second home, his beloved caravan in central Scotland, which acts as both his weekend retreat and his base when travelling across the country to conduct marriages.

Alan is based in the Inverclyde area and covers Argyll & Bute, Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, East Renfrewshire & Renfrewshire, Edinburgh & Lothian, Glasgow City & East /West Dunbartonshire, North & South Lanarkshire, Outer Hebrides, Perthshire, Fife & Angus, Scottish Borders, Stirlingshire and Western Highlands & Islands.You can contact Alan on alandeeney@fuzeceremonies.co.uk and you can see more of Alan on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok

Hazel Dale

April 8, 2014by Fuze Admin

Hazel Dale

Hazel is available to conduct Weddings, Civil Partnerships, Vow Renewals, Baby Naming & Funeral Ceremonies.

Hazel first became aware of humanist ceremonies when she attended the funeral of a close friend. She was immediately struck with how personalised and uplifting the service was, and she decided to learn more about humanism. She quickly realised that Humanism had always been at the very heart of her core values and felt that along with her own individual skill set, she was particularly suited to become a Humanist Celebrant herself.

Hazel has a long-term background in Policing and since retirement has continued to build upon her people-focused skills by becoming a holistic therapist. This background brings with it an ability to listen empathetically, great communication skills, diplomacy, attention to detail, and quick thinking!

She is very much person-focused and feels that this is a particularly rewarding way to bring comfort and indeed happiness to people. Hazel is committed to providing unique, creative, bespoke ceremonies to suit the individual needs of each person who seeks her assistance.

Hazel has a bustling family life and a fantastic circle of friends so her leisure time is orientated very much around her three children and socialising.

Hazel is based in Erskine and covers Argyll & Bute, Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire & Renfrewshire, Glasgow City & East /West Dunbartonshire, Inverness-shire, Stirlingshire and Western Highlands & Islands.

You can contact Hazel on hazeldale@fuzeceremonies.co.uk or you can see more of Hazel on Facebook and Instagram