Meet Kate Mukungu, Your Celebrant in North East England
I'm Kate Mukungu, an independent community celebrant based in South Shields, offering wedding ceremonies, funeral and memorial services, naming ceremonies, and community celebrations across Newcastle, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Sunderland, Northumberland and County Durham.
For me, being a celebrant means committing to making ceremonies better for people. I am proud to be a founding member of the Canny Death Collective, a North East network promoting open conversations about end-of-life and planning and other aspects of death care. I have also adopted the Funeral Celebrant Accord. I am a member of the Give Couples Choice Movement, campaigning for independent celebrants to be able to carry out legal weddings.
I’m an Irish woman living by the sea in South Shields. I am part of a beautifully blended family with my husband, our adult children and grandchildren. I run my celebrant practice part-time. I limit the number of bookings I take on each month so I can prioritise giving time to my clients and balancing my work with my other life commitments.
In my downtime I like to be out along the coast. I am often found as an extremely slow but equally happy jogger along the stunning beaches and headland paths near home.
Who Might Choose Kate as a Celebrant?
People who book me tend to care deeply about ceremonies as a meaningful way of bringing people together. They want a deeply personalised, inclusive ceremony led with warmth and care. Importantly, they want to choose their own celebrant rather than have one assigned to them.
They people who might choose me as a celebrant are may be asking questions like:
how can we have a funeral that isn't rushed?
What are our options if we don't want a traditional ceremony format?
How can our child’s naming ceremony honour the different cultures in our family?
I've noticed that many of my clients are involved in community work, wellbeing, education or care. I'm proud to have become a celebrant for community changemakers.
What is Kate’s Background?
For over twenty-five years I worked in community development and charitable organisations, including twelve years as a chief executive. My roles have focused on tackling health inequalities and supporting people affected by issues including poor mental health, substance misuse, domestic abuse, and HIV. I also spent several years completing a doctorate researching how women activists organise to tackle violence against women and girls, and worked as a university lecturer during that time
The skills I developed - speaking with individuals and groups about sensitive matters, addressing large audiences, and writing with care and precision - directly shape how I work as a celebrant today. I am not easily shocked, which I hope you find reassuring.
Why Did Kate Become a Celebrant?
My interest in celebrancy began in 2013 while supporting campaigns for equal marriage for same-sex couples in Ireland and the UK. That struggle made me think deeply about how people have been excluded from ceremonies throughout history and I wanted to play my part in changing that. I also drew on my own experiences of ceremonies that felt constrained by inflexible formats, where I would have welcomed more freedom of expression. You can read more about my motivations in my first blog and second blog posts.
When I decided to become a celebrant, I trained with the International College of Professional Celebrants (ICPC). I chose ICPC for their approach to training, accredited qualification and ongoing membership support. As an ICPC member, I make use of continuing professional development opportunities. Keeping my celebrancy knowledge and skills up to date is good practice and a core requirement of the celebrant accord.
What Does Kate’s Logo Mean?
The words and image of my logo are deeply meaningful to me. The tri-spiral image in the circle depicts the rock art in an ancient Irish ceremony site called Newgrange. I chose it because I believe ceremonies honour the meaning that birth, life and death hold for us. Newgrange proves that ceremonies have been important to human beings for thousands for years. My tagline “together in ceremony” reflects my commitment to unified, inclusive ceremonies that leave nobody behind.
Message Kate to Start Planning Your Ceremony
Message to let me know about your ceremony needs and I will get back to you very soon.
Image: Danielle and Rob Phelps Photography