Kristen and Thomas were married at one of my favorite venues, The Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge, NJ. And we created an awesome ceremony.
They used Edward Monkton’s A Lovely Love Story (complete with printed illustrations!), a unique wine ceremony that decanted the wine (because, like a relationship, red wine reaches its fullest potential when it has room to breathe) and had a toast, and this fun poem by W.B. Yeats:
Wine comes in at the mouth
And loves comes in at the eye;
That’s all we know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
Kristin and Thomas, congrats again – I loved being a part of your wedding celebration!
From the couple: We were so happy to have found Jessie to officiate at our wedding. She understood our vision right away, and did such an amazing job creating our ceremony. Her samples and resources were amazingly helpful for folks like us who didn’t want to use all the traditional words, but didn’t want to write our own vows either. I wish I could give her six stars for responsiveness; I have never met anyone who responds to e-mails faster! Thank you again so much for a wonderful and special ceremony!
Mother’s Day is a great time to think about how you’d like to honor your mom (or any parent) in your wedding ceremony.
Consider having her walk you down the aisle. I love when my couples include their moms in the processional. Walking in with your mom, or with both parents, is a sweet and simple way to acknowledge and honor. And it’s not just for the bride – why not have the groom walk in with his mom, perhaps heading up the processional, instead of just “appearing” at the front with the Celebrant?
You could feel their love when Maryann walked down the aisle with her mom at her wedding at the Madison Hotel. (Photo courtesy of Kamilla Harris)
My husband walked down the aisle with his mom and grandma. (Photo Courtesy of Sarah Schulte)
Include them with a ritual, or special reading. Many couples choose to include their moms with a unity candle, sand ceremony, or handfasting. They can light the taper, pour the first layer of sand, or tie your hands.
Sarah and John’s moms came up to present their wedding rings, taking a moment to warm them in their hands, and add their own love and blessings for their children, as they were married. (Photo Courtesy of Cindy Patrick)
Blake and Jason, married at Merri-Maker’s At Water’s Edge in Sea Bright, NJ, had their parents join them at the front, for a moment, to say special vows of support.
Janice and Allen had their parents present flower garlands to their new son- and daughter-in-law, which the couple then presented to their partner, as a symbolic way of showing the unique beauty and power of their love and commitment.
One of my favorite wedding rituals is a Flower Presentation, where you give your mom a rose, flower, or small bouquet, in honor of the love and support they have offered to you. It’s a sweet way to recognize moms!
My husband and I presented our moms with nosegays during our wedding ceremony (Photo Courtesy of Sarah Schulte).
And, if your mom is no longer with us, we can, of course, honor your continued love for her in the ceremony as well. Placing a special flower or token on the chair that would have been hers in the first row, during the processional or during the ceremony, including a special item that reminds you of her in the bouquet or pinned to your dress, or lighting a candle in remembrance are all sweet rituals to include.
Lisa and Quinn released butterflies in honor of Lisa’s mom, who is no longer with us.
Including words, an anecdote or story, or just the mention of how much you love your mom into the text of the wedding ceremony is another simple way to let your mom know, on your special day, just how important she is to you!
Check out the article I wrote for Spirituality and Health‘s weekly newsletter, about taking the time to reccomitment yourself to what is important in your life.
May is National Recommitment Month. It’s an opportunity to look at your life – your goals, your responsibilities, and your relationships – and see what can be improved on, what may be slipping through the cracks, and what you can recommit yourself to.
Click here to visit their blog and read the rest of the article!
This past weekend was the Collective Wisdom Conference and Graduation Celebration for the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, where I was trained as a Life-Cycle Celebrant®, and where I serve on the faculty, teaching the Fundamentals of Celebrancy and Weddings and Other Ceremonies for Couple classes. Our yearly conference and graduation is always a wonderful event, where we converge at the Hyatt in Jersey City to celebrate the art of ritual, rites of passage, and, of course, our new Celebrants! This year was also their TENTH anniversary, a true cause for celebration!
This year, I was a part of four classes – I taught two sections of Fundamentals, and one weddings, and took the course that concentrates on creating ceremonies for Family and Children (baby welcomings and namings, house warmings and blessings, coming of age ceremonies, and so much more!). I wanted to be able to gift something to those I would meet, in honor and celebration of their new journey!
I chose a pinwheel – an especially good symbol for our celebration since the ballroom had an outdoor balcony overlooking New York City which let the pinwheels twirl beautifully! Pinwheels are symbols of luck and good fortune, unseen energy, wish fulfillment, and transformation, and were just a small token of my appreciation for all those present.
Congratulations to all new Celebrants out there! Hurray!
I loved the meaning, thought, and tradition that went into the creation of Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge’s bouquet (not to mention the imagery that went into the lace of her dress, too!).
From the Royal Wedding Blog:
The bouquet is a shield-shaped wired bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth. The bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and draws on the traditions of flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers.
The flowers’ meanings in the bouquet are:
The bouquet contains stems from a myrtle planted at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845, and a sprig from a plant grown from the myrtle used in The Queen’s wedding bouquet of 1947.
The tradition of carrying myrtle begun after Queen Victoria was given a nosegay containing myrtle by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Gotha in Germany. In the same year, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House as a family retreat, and a sprig from the posy was planted against the terrace walls, where it continues to thrive today.
The myrtle was first carried by Queen Victoria eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, when she married in 1858, and was used to signify the traditional innocence of a bride.
