Em and Jule’s renewal of vows

Recently, I had the privilege of marring my best friend and her husband. They had originally married two years before at a registry office and my friend was always cross that she didn’t get to have the whole white wedding. So she decided that she would just do it, and what a magnificent day it was.

They were already legally married, so we had a renewal of vows ceremony, which allows you to do pretty much whatever you want. You can have rings, have vows, or none of those things if you don’t want them. You can use the rings you already have or get new ones. It is really up to your imagination what can be done.

So I had the honour of marring them and still got to be a member of their bridal party. So I feel doubly lucky. I can now begin to understand how my step father must have felt when he performed my wedding. There is something truly special about helping someone who means so much to you exchange promises with each other and watching the look in their eyes and they pledge their love to one another.

The wedding ceremony itself was on the paddle steamer Rothbury. After the ceremony concluded we all ventured down stairs and enjoyed watching the scenery while we drank wine, ate and shared lovely company. The paddle steamer dropped us off at the beautiful Trentham Estate Winery, where we enjoyed a lovely lunch and after a couple of hours there we got back on the boat.  The Rothbury took us back to the Mildura Wharf where we were then driven to the dinner reception. We were joined there by another 50 or so guests where we all partied, enjoyed a lolly bar, chocolate fountain and fairy floss, and had our photos taken in a specially set up ‘photo booth’ area with props and dress ups.

All of it was so much fun, the planning was great, it was really easy for me to suggest readings and rituals that they could use in the ceremony, it helps that I know them both so well, although sometimes these things come quite easily when I meet a couple and talk to them for a while it is easy to determine what is important to them and what things are a priority. I must say I had great fun helping these guys with suggestions for their vows and found it really interesting which ones each of them ended up having as their final vows.

I must say it was a fantastic time. I had a blast.

Thanks to Blueberry Studio for the use of your beautiful images.

Glen and Kris tie the knot.

I was lucky enough to have the honour of marrying two lovely people a couple of weekends ago. Their story is a beautiful one that started back in high school when they were about 13 years old.  After completing high school they tried to have a long distance relationship, that unfortunately didn’t work out. But fate would once again bring them together, and then almost 10 years ago in a tent on the Murray River, Glen declared his love for Kris. He came to Melbourne for a two week visit and has stayed ever since.

It was an absolute pleasure to write a wedding for this fantastic loving couple. They were open in their responses when I asked them about what they thought was important in a marriage, and what made them laugh and love one another. All of the answers they gave me made it easy to tailor a wedding to suit them and make sure the ceremony reflected their personalities.

They wrote some beautiful vows that were so personal, heartfelt and funny. I saw numerous guests shedding tears, but also heard laughter from their guests, especially when Glen promised to watch obscure documentaries and subtitled dramas with Kris.  After the ceremony concluded and everyone had congratulated them, their friends and family gathered around to socialise and have a drink together while photographs were taken. It was a great way for guests to mingle and to have a bit of a catch up  before heading off to the reception.

Their wedding reminded me again how much I love doing this, I got to see two people very much in love and destined to be together, acknowledge their love and exchange promises to one another, in a beautiful setting with all their favourite people around them.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday.