EHSN – European Humanist Services Network

European Humanist wedding standard

This standard was negotiated during 2024 by partners of the European Humanist Services Network, agreed by the EHSN CEO meeting on 21 November 2024 and formally signed by the partner organizations through January and February 2025.

See updated list of signatories and the preamble below. 

Definition and legal framework: 

A humanist wedding ceremony is a celebration of love, equality and mutual respect. The ceremony can be either symbolic or legally binding depending on the wishes of the marrying individuals, policies of the responsible national humanist organization and the legal framework in the respective country. 

Requirements and recommendations for a humanist wedding ceremony:

Requirements: 

To be accredited as a EHSN humanist wedding ceremony, it is required that a humanist wedding ceremony must:

1. be open to all consenting adults.

2. be a celebration of love, equality and mutual respect.

3. be centered around the individuals being married and their life together.

4. be decisively shaped by the marrying individual´s desires and wishes in co-creation with an approved humanist ceremony leader.

5. be in line with the humanist lifestance as defined by Humanists International in the Amsterdam declaration.

6. be open to any content which can be reconciled with humanist values, and that is in line with a secular, humanist, non-religious ceremonial framework in the local context.

7. be led or supervised by a ceremony leader who is a humanist, and who is approved by one of the EHSN partner organizations.

Recommendations: 

A humanist wedding ceremony may consist of one or more of the following elements: 

8. At some point during the ceremony: A sequence where the marrying individuals clearly confirm their love and allegiance to each other and their wish to share their lives together, and where their social and/or legal status as married is publicly pronounced by the ceremony leader or another participant.

9. A short introduction to the core tenets of the humanist lifestance

10. A speech by the ceremony leader

11. Speeches by friends or relatives

12. Reading of a poem or inspiring text 

13. One or more pieces of appropriate music, with or without lyrics, sung together or with a soloist/choir. 

14. Other appropriate artistic performances of any kind.

15. A personal and symbolic ritual highlighting the significance of the ceremony. (definition of ritual: a voluntary action with a symbolic content, for instance lighting a candle, exchanging rings, shaking hands in the ceremony)

To be accredited as an EHSN Humanist wedding service, these requirements need to be met:

16. Only wedding services offered by EHSN partner organizations are eligible for accreditation.

17. The humanist wedding ceremony offered needs to comply with the requirements for humanist wedding ceremonies, specified in points 1-7. 

18. The responsible EHSN partner organization must have measures to make sure that all approved ceremony leaders continue to work within the EHSN-framework of humanist weddings, and impose measures to withdraw individual approval if necessary.

19. The responsible EHSN partner organization must itself have, participate in, or approve of an external training program for humanist wedding ceremony leaders specified in point 20-25. 

Requirements for training programs for humanist wedding ceremony leaders

The training program must:

20. be taught or supervised by individuals who themselves are approved humanist wedding ceremony leaders by the national EHSN partner organization, or by some of the other EHSN partner organizations.

21. provide humanist wedding ceremony leaders with good knowledge of the humanist lifestance and the framework of a humanist wedding. 

22. provide humanist wedding ceremony leaders with good knowledge of all the practical sides of arranging and preparing a humanist wedding ceremony.

23. provide humanist wedding ceremony leaders with the skills needed to plan and lead a humanist wedding ceremony in respectful cooperation with the individuals being married. 

24. have examination/evaluation procedures to formally approve the candidates.

25. encourage all approved humanist wedding ceremony leaders to be members of the approving, national humanist organization.

We accept the framework devised in this standard and promise to develop our humanist wedding services accordingly.

Signed by the following EHSN partner organizations:

Demens.nu (Belgium), Humanistisk Samfund (Denmark), Suomen Humanistiliitto (Finland), Vapaa-ajattelijain Liitto ry (Finland), Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands (Germany), Magyar Humanista Társaság (Hungary), Siðmennt (Iceland), Humanist Association of Ireland (Ireland), UAAR – Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti (Italy), Laimingas Žmogus (Lithuania), AHA – Allianz vun Humanisten, Atheisten an Agnostiker (Luxembourg), Humanists Malta (Malta), Human-Etisk Forbund (Norway), Polskie Stowarzyszenie Racjonalistów (Poland), ASUR – Asociația Secular-Umanistă din România (Romania), Humanist Society Scotland (Scotland), Humanists UK (United Kingdom)

Later in 2025, the EHSN-network will negotiate and decide on an accreditation scheme to accredit the wedding services of our partners according to this standard. 

PREAMBLE – background information about this standard

Why have we made it?

The EHSN is an attempt to meet the ongoing secularization process in Europe. We anticipate that one effect of the secularization process is an increased demand for humanist services as most human beings affirm themselves through rites and ceremonies.

This leaves the humanist movement in Europe with an important task: To coordinate and cooperate to make our services more available for everyone who wants them, all over Europe. 

Purpose and scope

Humanist weddings in Europe take many forms. The purpose of this standard is not to limit the freedom to shape a humanist wedding according to the needs and wishes of those getting married. 

The intention is to define an outer framework that a wedding ceremony needs to satisfy to be certified as a humanist wedding by the EHSN.

The purpose of the standard is:

  • to reach a minimum definition what a humanist wedding is 
  • to take ownership of humanist weddings in Europe on behalf of the international humanist movement 
  • to make a connecting line when it comes to humanist weddings between international humanism, the national organizations and down to the individual wedding ceremony leader.
  • to secure an international standard for humanist weddings to establish brand recognition across borders and make it easier to have humanist weddings abroad. 
  • to establish an accreditation protocol of our partner organizations to secure compliance with the agreed framework. 

This document specifies and defines the following:

  1. The humanist wedding ceremony itself
  2. The humanist wedding service offered by the national partner organizations, including training programs for individual ceremony leaders.
  3. Coming in 2025: An accreditation scheme to secure compliance with point 1 and 2.

This document does not specify or define:

  • An accreditation scheme for the partner organizations as such. The EHSN is open to members of HI (Humanists International) only. HI has its own vetting procedures and all members need to be approved by the HI General Assembly. We acknowledge all HI members as approved humanist organizations.
  • A certification scheme for individual ceremony leaders. This is the sole responsibility of the national partner organizations. The EHSN accredits partner organizations on the level above; the national training programs and the corresponding certification schemes for individual ceremony leaders.