Ceremonies to acknowledge and celebrate the transitions and milestones of your life!

Welcome! My name’s Jake McArthur.

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I’m delighted you’ve chosen to visit Collingwood Celebrancy. I relish the opportunity to meet your needs for a ceremony leading to and confirming your marriage or a ceremony acknowledging and celebrating the death of a loved one.  I’m a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant ® which means I’ve taken extensive formal training in the creation and delivery of ritual and process relating to weddings and funerals and ceremonies in general. I’m also registered with the Government of Ontario to legally offer and execute wedding services. I take the role of celebrant seriously. I see my primary role as one of creating safe space for all participants through developing trust, offering clear guidance during planning and preparation and officiating with professional competency and personal warmth.  My greatest joy arises from customizing a celebration to fit the personalities and the wishes of those involved. However, I can create and perform simple, straightforward celebrations, which ca

Testimonials

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Weddings 

Jake: We are hearing over and over from our family and friends that ours was the most beautiful and personal wedding ceremony they’ve ever seen. You truly “got” us, and took the time to get us, and exceeded our wildest dreams. We’ve both said the ceremony was our favourite part of our wedding, which never happens!!! Our guests felt that they were a part of the story - you nailed the community-oriented aspect. We just feel so lucky. 
- Thank you so much. Love, Kathleen & Steve

Jake: Thanks for getting together with us today. We both really enjoyed it and feel amazing about the ceremony. You are definitely picking up on everything we were hoping to do and consistently "nail it" with your ideas and recommendations! … Aside from making our day not only legal but also much more personal, you are helping to make the whole process a lot of fun!
- Chris W and Maddie K 


We had a small, but quaint ceremony with about 15 people. Jake was able to create a very easy going and welcoming environment for all. He was well spoken and eloquent, and was able to adjust the ceremony to meet our criteria, as we had requested. I believe that he is relatively new to this line of work, but had he not volunteered this information I would have assumed that he was a seasoned vet. Our family and friends all very much enjoyed his company and were very impressed with his professionalism. I honestly cannot think of anything that he could have done differently and I would highly recommend him in the future.
-Coralee and Greg M. 

Jake was an awesome officiant and it was a pleasure working with him on our wedding. He did a great job of listening to our stories and helping us create a ceremony that fit with both our personalities. He was even flexible enough to seamlessly change things on the fly without anyone being the wiser. Jake is an excellent speaker and we would definitely recommend him to others. Thank you again for everything …
- Roberta R. and Richard W. 

I have to tell you Jake, it has been really great working with you and having to put our love story onto paper to be able to share it with you. With how busy life gets, it’s been really great to be encouraged to sit down and reflect back on mine and Dean’s relationship and to be able to be completely sappy when explaining it. I guess I’m trying to say thank you! This experience with you is making me realize how truly blessed Dean and I are to have each other and how beautiful our love story really is.
- Thea L. 

 End of Life Celebrations 

Prior to the death of my 96 year young mother, Ruth, she requested that rather than a traditional funeral that we join together as family and friends in a celebration of her life! In keeping with who she was and her love of picnics, we celebrated her life at a picnic in High Park in Toronto. All of her children, grandchildren and great gran4children along with many family friends gathered for an afternoon of fun and memories. The joy of this celebration was made even more sacred by the loving care of Jake McArthur from Collingwood Celebrancy. Jake facilitated a moving tribute to our mother, engaging everyone present with an opportunity to honour this very special woman. From her youngest great grandchild to the oldest of her family, fond memories were shared and her presence was felt. At the end of the day one of my brothers exclaimed “If Ruthie had been here she would have thought she had died and gone to heaven”! So fitting. Jake is a creative, loving, caring, inspiring Celebrant who will help you create a cherished remembrance.
 – Peggie P. 

We experienced a meaningful celebration of Christine’s life filled with dignity, warm spirit and love gathered and brought to focus by jake’s thoughts, words and gentle leadership.
 – Wendall W.