AndresTheCelebrant.com

How did I become a secular celebrant ? In April 2011, I was on a flight back from Australia just after my own multicultural wedding in Pearl Beach, New South Wales. I felt we had organised a
powerfully genuine
event that reflected our very different cultures.

Especially given that my wife defines herself as a believer, whereas I do not. Furthermore, I had gone through a divorce and did not want to pretend it had not happened. So on that flight back, as I acknowledged how important that moment had been to me, I felt a strong urge to make such beautiful ceremonies available in Switzerland too.

And I realised that life had provided me with useful skills to become a secular celebrant. It helped that I am the
humanist
son of a Protestant pastor. And by humanist, I mean that I am an atheist with a passion for exploring the meaning of life. I grew up watching my father craft ceremonies and many times he asked me to edit them in French.

In fact, I have always been surrounded by believers, from various religions. As a young adult, I followed a two-year seminar in Geneva comparing Catholicism and Protestantism.…It is called "
Atelier œcuménique de théologie
Ecumenical
Workshop
Theology

It was launched jointly by Jesuits and by Presbyterian ministers. Subsequently, I read many books about Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. In 1992, I started training and working as a
journalist
. I was then hired in 1999 by the daily newspaper
La Tribune de Genève
and became their correspondant at the United Nations.

In 2005, I was put in charge of the World News team. Being a reporter means I trained to interview people, to identify the most meaningful information and write a captivating story. In 2011, I trained in Geneva as a secular wedding
celebrant
with
Ashoka

My teachers were
Jeltje Gordon-Lennox
and
Julien Abegglen Verazzi
. Since then, I have organised many multicultural
wedding ceremonies
Baby namings
followed. However, I always felt that I was not doing enough. In January 2017, I started officiating at
funeral services
, helping the closest relatives create a personalised ceremony to honor the departed.

I have also started helping people create ceremonies after
divorces or separations
In 2015, I was elected president of the
Association of Professional Celebrants
(in the French-speaking region of Switzerland). I am still on the board, in charge of developing a training programme.

In 2017, my essay on "Multicultural Wedding Ceremonies: Venturing into the World of Diversity" was published in "
Emerging Ritual in Secular Societies: A Transdisciplinary Conversation
" (Jessica Kingsley Publishers). Since July 2024, I am a
Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrant in
Australia

I have been authorised by the
Attorney-General's Department of New South Wales
to perform civil ceremonies throughout the country. To this day, I remain
passionate
about social rites. My global village
I was born​ in Buenos Aires, grew up in New York and then Geneva.

I now live most of the year in Sydney. Life taught me to
value diversity
. My loved ones are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Agnostic and Atheist. Everyone is searching, in his or her own way, for a meaning to their existence. Very simply. Deep down.

My passion
for ceremonies
​I believe that "rites of passage" help us acknowledge and make sense of the
transformations we undergo
in life: when a child is born, when he becomes a teenager and then transitions to adulthood, when a wedding is celebrated, but also when a relationship ends in a divorce, when a couple needs new vows for the next stage of their life together, when time comes for retirement, and of course when we have to face the death of a loved one...

It is important. For ourselves, for close relatives and friends, but also for the larger community of people who play a role in our lives. As John Donne said: "No man is an island."
My commitment
to quality
I cofounded the
Association of Celebrants and Officiants
in the French-speaking region of Switzerland (ACOR).

Members sign the
Charter of Ethics
, a commitment to quality. Once a year a professional celebrant reviews one of my ceremonies. The same applies in Australia. PHOTO OLIVIER VOGELSANG