Alex Collis Celebrant
alex@alexcolliscelebrant.co.uk
Alex Collis is the very definition of a ‘people person’. Warm, engaging, and regularly resplendent in vibrant colour (to complement her striking red hair), Alex has a way of instantly putting you at ease. Her gregarious personality, teamed with an incredible talent with words, means she’s well suited to her role as a humanist celebrant, officiating at weddings, funerals and naming ceremonies, telling stories of life, love and loss, as only she can.
Alex has spent her whole career in roles which focus on people and the community. She’s been a long-term champion for food justice, working for UK charity FoodCycle and running a food hub, as well as working in nursing care for the elderly. She’s also excelled in academia, attaining an English degree at Oxford University (explains the impressive storytelling skills!) and another degree in Social Policy from LSE.
Her interest in humanism was triggered by a series of significant life events including her father’s humanist funeral in South Wales.
Alex trained with Humanists UK, becoming a funeral celebrant in 2019, qualifying as a wedding celebrant in 2020 and a naming celebrant in 2022. She’s since officiated at more than 350 non-religious services across East Anglia and London.
Whatever the occasion, Alex listens attentively to her clients’ stories, carefully crafting a bespoke and authentic service. Wedding ceremonies can weave in rituals such as hand-fasting or jumping the broom, and naming ceremonies may mark new births but also adoptions, blended families or gender transition. Funerals can embrace less-conventional elements, take place in quirky locations and be uplifting in nature, and Alex also helps people to plan their own funeral in advance, something that more and more of us are keen to do, to make things easier for our families when the time comes.
Alex says what she loves most about her job is the creativity involved in turning personal stories into beautiful, meaningful ceremonies: “It’s a huge privilege to be picked to support people through major life events.”