James Barr

I’ve been a professional film maker for the past 21 years, so I love great storytelling that elicits powerful emotional responses.

I have been married to my best friend Trish for over 22 years, we have 2 adult children Jack & Ruby.

We renewed our vows on our 20th wedding anniversary dressed as winged Disco-Moths at Splore 2020, where our son Jack was my best-man.

My children and I are of Ngāpuhi & Tainui descent, and we’re on the fascinating journey together of slowly uncovering our whakapapa.

I speak fluent Portuguese and I adore cooking.

My views on Spirituality

My spiritual journey has been an interesting and varied one.

I was born into a loving catholic family, and in my teens I was a deeply religious christian.

In my 20’s I was a bit of a travelling spiritual journeyman, trying on (among other things) various New Age spiritual practices and ideas, searching for something that resonated for me.

In my 30’s and early 40’s I became enamoured with science and rational thought and found myself identifying as an Atheist.

Recently, in my mid 40s I have re-connected with meditation, yoga, and secular (non-religious) buddhism in which I am finding great comfort & peace. I expect that I’m far from done.

Being on a somewhat winding spiritual path in my own life has helped me to understand that spirituality is a spectrum, no two people are alike, and in many cases – as for me, people can move about on that spectrum throughout their life.

I have no regrets about any of these phases in my life, because they’ve given me a very well-rounded view on spirituality and an understanding of the comfort that people find in it. I guess this is probably why I love being a celebrant; in the absence of a religious imperative to marry, why do we still do it? How can we celebrate the union of two people in a way that holds meaning and significance in a modern context? I believe that the act of ceremony, when crafted with a specific couple in mind can answer some of these questions in a really lovely and profound way.

I am very comfortable writing ceremonies that incorporate any spiritual aspects that you as a couple may hold as meaningful, or indeed absolutely none if that is your preference.

There is equal beauty in either styles.