My name is Isabella, and I have been a professional celebrant and trainer of celebrants for about fifteen years.
I write and officiate ceremonies in Italian, English, and French (bi-trilingual). I live between Genoa and Elba Island in Tuscany and love to travel with my husband and my inseparable poodle.
Celebrating for me is a great privilege: to establish an intimate bond with couples and give voice to their stories and emotions to create together a
celebration that fully reflects their love, joy and individuality, turning it into a wonderful social occasion.
My interest in humanist ceremonies began in 2006, during my time as an executive of Uaar, of which I was national treasurer for nine years.In contact with the great humanist associations of
Northern Europe, I immediately became passionate about humanist ritual in all its forms, ceremonies that put the person at the centre of the rite.
In Italy these personalised ceremonies were practically unknown. A great effort was needed to spread the ritual without religious connotations in our country.
That's why I contacted the British Honorary Consul, Richard Brown, and with him I created, within the UAAR, the first training school for humanist celebrants in Italy, but it wasn't enough,
a strong commitment was also needed to promote this type of celebration, to spread its spirit, to make it known to the population.
In 2006, with the patronage of the City of Genoa, the Province and the Region of Liguria, I organised conferences such as "In the shade of the cypresses - for a non-religious funeral ceremony".
In 2011 an international conference with three-day workshops on secular ethics at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, with european philosophers and personalities.
Premarital courses under the patronage of the City of Genoa, starting in 2014, with the support of psychologists and lawyers.
For me, celebrating is not only a passion, but also a civil commitment in favour of those who do not have a strong religious faith or who cannot take advantage of a religious rite,
but who want an alternative ceremony that can be solemn, participatory, creative, romantic, refined and also spiritual. I'm not just talking about weddings, but about all the transitional
moments in life that each of us considers important and worthy of celebration. From birth to death, each of us experiences specific moments of change in our personal and social condition,
some of which deserve a celebration.
A welcoming ceremony to celebrate a new life, but also the adoption of a child or simply a personal rebirth. The end of studies opens up a new world, that of work, perhaps a move to
another country or the decision to return to Italy.
Marriage, the seal of a new relationship or the formalisation of an already consolidated situation. A retirement and finally a funeral for those who have left us.
These and other moments that can be celebrated with relatives and friends, to share the emotions and the joy, but also the sadness of moments such as a funeral, of great emotional impact,
to celebrate the life of those who are no longer with us.
There is still a lot of work to be done but I'm happy to see how things are changing. Symbolic weddings are now very widespread, the UAAR continues to train new celebrants and I dedicate myself
to what now gives me the greatest satisfaction: celebrating the love of a couple who chooses to take the most important step of their life together.
