the art of CEREMoNY
learn to hold great gatherings, rituals, thresholds and unions
friday 11th - sunday 13th october 2024
secret location near exeter and the sea (in devon)
“The training has radically altered and transformed my life for the better. I don’t think I’ll ever find the words to sufficiently express the gratitude I have.”
what is the art of CEREMoNY?
Are you planning a significant ceremony or life celebration - such as a wedding, special birthday or a gathering to mark a major life or work transition? Do you want to hold something magical and meaningful, that weaves deeper connections among the important people in your life?
This course is about harnessing the full potential of gatherings, rituals, thresholds and unions so that they fizz and flourish - giving you the confidence to design and hold transformative ceremonies and celebrations. It is for all those who would like to infuse their gatherings with meaning, innovate with new ways of being together and shape the way people think, feel, appreciate and inspire one another.
Why?
Our lives offer countless opportunities for ceremonies big and small to help us mark important moments, make our days more colourful and deepen our connections with each other. And yet we often squander these opportunities by just going through the motions and sticking to old formats that don’t really move us. How many times have you sung happy birthday around a cake in the same old way and wondered whether there could be a fresh and more personal way to honour this special person? How many gatherings have you been to where it all felt a bit surface-level and you longed for deeper conversations and connections? If you’ve ever felt this way, this course is for you.
What kinds of ceremonies?
You can apply the learning from this course to any gatherings, rituals, thresholds and unions - such as weddings & other relationship commitments, significant birthdays, baby showers and naming ceremonies, reunions, hen and stag celebrations, memorials, coming-of-age rituals and many more. We suggest that you come with a real event you are planning over the next year in mind.
What will we be doing?
On this course we will:
Explore and apply the 10 P’s - a framework for hosting and facilitating transformative gatherings inspired by the work by Priya Parker (author of The Art of Gathering)
Dive deeply into purpose, people and place - what are your core motivations for gathering, what kind of experience do you want your guests to have, who should and should not be there and how to make the best use of your environment?
Explore and apply the “8 Shields Model” - a nature-inspired tool to help you design experiences that flow naturally
Experience and experiment with other tools and practices for holding powerful group and community-building processes
Inquire into reinventing ritual and holding contemporary ceremony
Make time for slowing down and nurturing your creativity
Apply the learning in detail to one real gathering you will host in the next year
Build confidence to design and host meaningful gatherings and experiences in other areas of your life
“Life-changing… Really helped with confidence building and ideas stirring.”
Where?
PRIVATE FARM, 20 MINS FROM EXETER IN EAST DEVON
A 15 acre farm with verdant meadows and ancient woodland close to the red cliffs and stunning beach of Budleigh Salterton, and just a short walk from East Devon’s Pebblebed Heath - an expansive wild place and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We will head to the beach for sunset mocktails (if the weather is kind) and at night you can enjoy a wood-fired hot tub under the stars.
Who?
The facilitators, Andy and Chloe, have over thirty years of combined experience designing and hosting gatherings for deeper connections and change. We are both passionate about bringing more ritual, connection, magic and playfulness into our own life events - as well as in the way we run Change in Nature. For example, every autumn we head to a special place in nature to reflect on the year gone by, honour our most valuable and challenging experiences and mark our intentions for the year ahead.
For more information on our background, click here.
BOOK NOW TO SECURE YOUR PLACE
our training courses have been heavily over-subscribed in recent years, so early booking is recommended
BOOKING
This course is designed for both individuals and pairs. We are offering a discount if you want to come with a friend or loved one - enabling you to spend some quality time together in nature, while designing a significant gathering that is coming up in your lives. The early bird rate for individuals is £325 and as a pair the price is £275 each (saving £50 per person).
We don't want price to exclude anyone. If the course fee is unaffordable for you or you would like to pay in installments, please do get in touch. We’d really like to hear what would be possible for you and may very well be able to reduce the fee if you’d otherwise not be able to attend. Please click here to enquire about one of these places.
For the duration of the weekend, we will all be camping (vans welcome too!) on a private farm 20 minutes from Exeter. There is an option to hire a 5m bell tent with simple camping mats and sleeping bags for £150. Alternatively, you can also stay locally. Options include Castle Brake Glamping (20 mins walk or 3 mins drive) and Woodbury Park Hotel and Spa (which is right next door to the farm). You can also search for local Airbnbs near Woodbury Salterton.
There will be shared taxis from Exeter if you are taking the train.
Is it worth the investment?
We have found that by focusing on connection rather than consumption, you can save a significant amount on big ceremonies and celebrations -- and this course will give you the confidence to take a different approach. For example, you will leave feeling empowered to design and hold a ceremony with a friend, rather than relying on a professional celebrant. It will also give you inspiration about how to make cooking and catering a community-building activity, sparing you the significant expense of bringing in professional help.
feedback from rowan and jack (2023)
“We applied the learnings from Change in Nature to design our wedding.
We gained confidence to reinvent the wedding ceremony in a way that worked for us - ensuring that everyone was actively involved and bringing our friends and loved ones into a much deeper sense of community.
During our Change in Nature training we were really struck by how intention and simplicity create the sense of magic - rather than lots of resources.
It’s so easy before a big event to get stressed and lost in the logistical details. The course with Change in Nature allowed us to slow down and be much more creative and intentional.
We loved exploring how we wanted to celebrate this big life event together while sitting in the long grass and watching the insects.”
feedback from Mike (2024)
“I have found that by using Change in Nature's simple and highly intuitive guidelines, you can create powerfully meaningful events that are deeply personal and memorable.
I've used what amounts to a pretty simple template to create magical celebrations, full of laughter and meaning, including a dear friend’s 40th birthday celebration / life transition.
Andy and Chloe's intoxicating combination of empathy, playfulness and reverence will help you find just the right way to give expression to your planned event.
I cannot rate their work highly enough."