We ditched our old jobs to help people get hitched, it’s been a marriage made in heaven

FORMER writer Simon Houson is utilized to penning tales - present helium gets to pen real-life emotion stories for couples tying the knot.

The 56-year-old, from Glasgow, spent decades moving successful section papers and tabloids passim the country, finishing his vocation astatine The Scottish Sun.

And during his clip astatine the insubstantial helium took connected the situation of learning to beryllium a stand-up comic for a feature, adjacent securing a spot connected the Edinburgh Fringe stage.

And helium reckons each his skills person travel unneurotic successful his caller relation arsenic a celebrant.

Simon, who besides hosts the podcast Let Me Be Frank with Celtic fable Frank MacAvennie, said: “Standing successful beforehand of a large assemblage and making them laughter is simply a due buzz. That combined with the information that I’ve evidently done originative penning each my vocation made it an perfect choice.

“But it was my sister, who is besides a celebrant, that made maine deliberation astir it. She said I was tailor made for it due to the fact that I could talk well, constitute well, don’t caput lasting successful beforehand of respective 100 radical and tin bid an audience.

Read much successful Fabulous

“The interrogation skills are cardinal too, due to the fact that you request to get to the bosom of the substance with couples.

“It’s each astir beingness stories due to the fact that you’re telling their travel during the ceremony.”

Simon, who works for Fuze Ceremonies, says it whitethorn dependable cheesy, but there’s thing similar the infinitesimal helium tin pronounce a mates legally wed.

He said: “You commencement retired gathering the mates successful their home, successful their jeans and t-shirt. Then you accelerated guardant to erstwhile you tin say, ‘I tin present contiguous to you Mr and Mrs’ and everybody cheers - it’s a truly beauteous feeling.”

And there’s 1 standout infinitesimal that made the celebrant consciousness similar a wedding stone star.

Simon, who precocious became a grandfather, said: “Probably the astir breathtaking 1 I’ve done truthful acold was on-stage astatine the Barrowlands. It was a due buzz getting up there.

“And I did accidental to them, ‘I’m evidently thrilled to bash this, but would you caput if I started the ceremonial with a shout, hullo Glasgow?’ They were large and it was conscionable the champion experience.”

Former paramedic Alyson Stewart swapped an ambulance for the altar aft being disappointed by the impersonal quality of a pal’s funeral.

Now she loves being determination astatine the infinitesimal a loved-up brace accidental “I do” oregon to assistance observe someone’s life.

Alyson, 67, a celebrant with the Humanist Society Scotland, said: “I had ever been a humanist truthful I decided to effort to go a humanist celebrant successful my area, arsenic galore radical did not cognize astir the humanist ceremonies that were available.”

Working arsenic a frontline paramedic for 29 years meant she was utilized to being determination for some joyful and tragic moments.

Alyson, from Fort William, Highlands, said: “It was an unthinkable occupation arsenic I was with radical astatine the astir frightening times for them and their families. I was with them astatine the extremity of life.

“Often determination was thing medically that could beryllium done but to beryllium quietly, holding them and reassuring them — and it was an unthinkable privilege.

“The different extremity of the standard was implicit and utter joyousness for maine erstwhile I would beryllium delivering babies successful lay-bys.

“I dealt with the nationalist connected a regular ground astatine tons of antithetic stages successful their lives. It was invaluable successful my grooming to go a celebrant.

“My relation arsenic a paramedic taught maine the value of listening and giving radical clip to explicate their needs.”

And successful her caller occupation determination person besides been immoderate superb highlights.

Alyson said: “Conducting wedding ceremonies is astonishing and astir of excavation are connected mountainsides successful Glencoe.

“I emotion that I tin inactive stock successful people’s lives astatine times of sorrow and joy.”

Nicola Lowther loves emotion – but it was her passionateness for helping others that inspired her to go a celebrant.

As a teen she was diagnosed with cancer. Now successful recovery, the 23-year-old gives backmost to a foundation that helped prevention her beingness done her enactment marrying people.

Nicole, from Queenzieburn, North Lanarkshire, said: “The Beatson yet helped to prevention my life, not lone erstwhile but twice. A immense crushed I joined Fuze Ceremonies is due to the fact that a information of the interest that couples wage to person 1 of america arsenic their celebrant goes to our chosen charities which are The Beatson and Alzheimer’s Scotland.”

Nicole was conscionable 17 erstwhile she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

She had six months of chemotherapy and went into remission – but the illness returned.

She said: “I went to assemblage to survey science and successful my last twelvemonth I decided to survey a celebrant and nationalist speaking qualification with UKCAPSA which allowed maine to go a Humanist Celebrant.

“A fewer months aft I started my celebrancy journey, my crab relapsed and I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma, 5 years aft my archetypal diagnosis.

“I went done a truly hard chemotherapy attraction and successful February this twelvemonth had a stem compartment transplant, with the hopes that my crab volition ne'er instrumentality again."

Nicole added: “Now I’m successful betterment from my transplant and starting to bash my ceremonies again, which I love.

“I emotion moving with radical and supporting them, creating the precise champion ceremonies imaginable for them."