Mel and Cat

Mel and Cat were married at the Royal Botanical Gardens on a lovely Saturday in December. What an amazing wedding it was. I had never conducted a wedding at the Botanical Gardens before, it is a stunning place, but add some beautiful umbrellas, some white chairs and a white carpet to the mix and it becomes breathtaking.  They had the most amazing taxi bring them both to the gardens and they walked down to the ceremony site together to Sia’s ‘Day too Soon’.  These stunning ladies walked down the white carpet hand in hand to exchange their vows in front of about 70 of their family and friends.

As a couple, Mel and Cat have travelled the world, having lived together in Canada for a year. Moving to the opposite side of the globe with your partner, being the only other person you know is a true test of a relationship – whether it be saving the other from a random squirrel attack in Stanley Park, or taking an ambulance ride to the Emergency room after a colorful night out in Palm Springs – Mel and Cat are always there for one other, no matter how silly or embarrassing the situation might be. They have made many wonderful memories together, from their first date at the East Brunswick Club hotel, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge on a Summer evening in New York, to having their first white Christmas together in Vancouver. Along with travel, they love nothing more than enjoying a good drink together at their much-loved pubs with friends and family, or at home with one another listening to their favourite records.

 

When I asked Mel and Cat about some of the stand out attributes that they saw in each other it ‘s clear just how in love that they are. Mel said that she loves Cat’s kind nature, the fact that she is smarter than anyone she has ever met and beautiful inside and out. Cat loves Mel’s sense of humour, her passionate spirit, and is in awe of how talented Mel is. They spend a lot of time making each other laugh. Cat makes Mel laugh with her never ending popular culture references and fear of just about everything. Mel has a habit of making funny phrases that sound like celebrities’ names, she calls Cat her Fiancee Knowles. When Mel proposed to Cat they were at the Midsumma carnival, after Cat said yes, Mel went on the jumping castle and Cat stayed and drank beers and ate dip with her friend Heidi.

 Mel and Cat didn’t share their vows with me before the ceremony, they are one of the first couples that haven’t given me a look at them or asked for my help when writing them, so the vows were  new to me.  They were so lovely and to hear them for the first time that they exchanged them was quite an emotional experience.  Cat chose to borrow words from Emily Bronte in her vows to Mel saying “whatever our souls are made of, mine and yours are the same”

 

One thing that I really loved about doing this wedding, was that it was for them and just about love. Love and their promises to each other. No other reason. We all know that it wasn’t about legalities, (It’s probably best that I don’t even start on this topic.) it was about their love and it was just truly beautiful. Such a beautiful couple and such a beautiful love that they share.

I’m fully aware of how lucky I am, I get to know these wonderful people in such a relatively short amount of time. I get to share one of the most awesome experiences of their lives with them, meet their amazing families, and friends.  What other job to you get to reassure a bride that the taxi running late is not a big deal that the show can’t go on without them, scavenge through plants and bushes for well hidden power sources with lovely people you met just minutes before, to watching a little 4 year old sing his ABC’s into the PA system and wow the guests after the ceremony?

A huge shout out to Jean-Luc Syndikas for the use of the photos from Mel and Cat’s stunning day.  What a perfect guy to photograph such a beautiful day. (He is just one of the nicest guys you will ever have  the pleasure of meeting!) Check out some more of his work on his facebook page here or you can shoot him an email at jlsyndikas@gmail.com

Klara and Bryce

Klara and Bryce were married on a perfect Saturday in November.  The blue skies were out, and it was a stunning Melbourne day. Klara and Bryce had their wedding out on Bryce’s family property, in Officer. What a beautiful part of the world. I have driven past Officer so many times on my way to visit family in Warragul and Sale, but with all of the fantastic time saving freeways, we forget just how lovely some of these places are. The view from the veranda on their house was amazing.

Klara and Bryce have spent the last 8 years together creating memories with their family and friends. Klara and Bryce have 2 adorable children together and have embraced parenthood with open hearts and minds, lack of sleep and all as a team, and feel that all the challenges that parenthood has thrown at them, has strengthened them as a couple. 

Bryce and Klara were attracted to each other’s sense of fun, humour and easy going nature and their romance soon blossomed into what it is today.  They both have similar backgrounds, having been born overseas, moving often, having travelled to many places and found they had similar family values, with family being of the upmost importance.

Klara and Bryce were married by the dam, on a beautiful little part of the property. (they had to make a special bridge for all the guests to get to the ceremony location)  They were joined by about 80 of their friends and family around them. They had a beautiful little alter made by some of their family.  It was a stunning spot for a ceremony. Klara arrived at the ceremony with her Dad, she looked amazing. She is one of those people who are just naturally beautiful. Her dress was stunning.  She has a smile that lights up the room, and she just looked divine.

Master L was a little overwhelmed by all of the people and missed his Mum and Dad while they were getting ready for their big day, and by the time that we all got to the ceremony location he wasn’t keen on letting go of Dad. When Klara arrived there was no way that he wanted to be with anyone else but her. So Master L spent the ceremony in Klara’s arms. It was quite lovely, I know that it wasn’t exactly what they had planned, but they went with it.  Klara and Bryce shared some vows about ‘continuing on their journey as a family’ and ‘tie their family together as one unit’, which was really beautiful that they were not only promising things to one another but to the lovely little people that complete their family.

They had a lovely marquee set up on a different part of the property for the rest of the festivities. With a wonderful outdoor type photo booth. I never take for granted that I get to spend one of the most amazing and sacred days with people, and I am truly honoured to be able to make people husband and wife. I am so lucky that I get to share some of the best days of people’s lives with them, and meet their wonderful families.

Thank-you to Sarah Churcher for the lovely photos of Klara and Bryce’s beautiful day. Check out her other work here and read her lovely blog here.

Courtney and Tim

Courtney and Tim were married on a property in Barham, NSW. Now, this wasn’t just a wedding, it was a WEDSTIVAL. Part wedding, part festival. I must admit, this wedding I was really exciting to be involved with. I truly love what I do and all weddings are exciting in their own way, but this was extra special.

I worked with Courtney in my other job. I was excited for her when she got engaged and started planning the different parts of the wedstival. I knew that it was going to be in Barham and kind of assumed that it would be a job that a lucky country celebrant would get to be a part of. I was so excited when Courtney wanted Tim to meet with me too, and discuss being their celebrant for the big day.

The wind was not my friend on Court and Tim’s wedding day. First it blew my paperwork half way to the main road, which was a long walk from the ceremony site. Luckily there was a lovely man there who caught my paperwork and saved me from I don’t know how many headaches. Then the wind blew over one of the PA speakers just as the girls were arriving. Signing the paperwork was very tricky, but we got there in the end. With wind that strong you can imagine just how many ladies had to hold their dresses down!

Tim and Courtney met each other through mutual friends at an 18th birthday party. Tim’s first impressions of Courtney were that she was funny, outgoing and clearly beautiful. Courtney noticed Tim’s messy blonde hair, his big smile and how very polite he was. It was a time in their lives when everything was set to change. Only a few months after making their relationship official, Courtney moved to Ballarat for University while Tim remained in Barham to finish school. They stuck out the whole long distance relationship and they believe that this has helped strengthen their relationship, not to mention truly appreciating their time together. Being apart from one another helped to give their relationship it’s rock solid foundation and has provided them with some beautiful memories.

When I asked Courtney and Tim to tell me when they knew they were in love, Courtney said it was tough to pinpoint, “Somewhere between my growing excitement when the Camry would pull into my Uni Res car park and a sleepless night spent playing Where’s Wally”. Tim said “I think when the time came for Court to go to Uni, and I was staying at home another year to finish year 12. We talked about whether we should stay together and try make the long-distance thing work, or call it a day. Breaking up never even felt like an option for either of us.”

I remember when Courtney and Tim got engaged, when they were on an overseas adventure. Courtney said that Tim totally surprised her with a grass ring he had woven while they sat at the base of a waterfall in Switzerland. She remember spotting him winding the grass around his finger and her heart beginning to race. She had known for quite some time the boy was the one, but they had barely discussed marriage. She remembers thinking what a true gentleman he was to ask her with such a romantic gesture.

When I asked Tim and Courtney about some of the stand out qualities that they saw in each other it was obvious just how in love that they are. Tim said that Courtney is extremely talented creatively, she is very protective and caring of everyone close to her. Courtney said that Tim has the biggest heart of any person that she has ever had the pleasure of meeting. He is kind and patient with her and most of all so supportive. They grown and adapted to each others idiosyncrasies without even noticing. Even overcoming the ultimate hurdle with Tim following Collingwood and Courtney following Carlton. This has brought a new meaning to the word compromise in their relationship.

They truly are wonderful people. I liked Court the minute that I met her and assumed Tim must be nice and I would like him seeing as Courtney was going to marry him. When I met him, I understood all of the lovely things that people had said about him. I’ve gotten to know them both better over the whole wedstival experience, and think that I am very lucky to have been able to be a part of their very special day.

This was an amazing wedding and so beautifully put together. There were just so many stand out things, from the Gumbo van (those pickles were the BOMB!!) , to the home made relish and terracotta potted cacti that was bonbonnerie for the guests. Everything was amazing. There were some of the best speeches that I have heard at a reception. The best man Nick did an amazing job of making a beautiful heart felt speech funny. Court’s Dad said loving words about both of them. Tim’s Dad’s speech had people in the crowd crying with his utterly beautiful words. He managed to lighten the mood by telling Courtney that becoming part of the family came with certain responsibilities. He then handed Courtney some pre filled out Collingwood membership forms.

I am blown away by the people that I meet being a celebrant. From talking with Tim’s grandfather about how proud he is of Tim. He told me that Tim being so charming is not new to him, apparently he has been like that since he was a little tacker. To talking with both sets of parents. It is plain to see why these are two of the most beautiful people that you would ever meet. Thank you Tim and Courtney for choosing me to conduct your wedding and letting me be a big part of the wonderful day that was your Wedstival. I feel very lucky.

Thank you to the lovely Ian Zed, for the use of his beautiful images. Check out his other work on his website and his tumblr account. Drop him an email if you would like to get in touch about your event on contact@ianzed.com

You can also see the stunning wedding invitations that Courtney created on my blog about them here.

Embracing the Past

Embracing the past is a concept that some people find hard to grasp. The past is sometime hard, and has had all sorts of hurtful and sometimes truly horrible things happen in it. Some people don’t want to talk about it or admit that some things have happened. They don’t talk about the past with their families and they don’t want it to come up in conversation. The past is sometimes wonderful and it has shaped you into the person that you are.

I find this a little strange, when people don’t want to acknowledge their past. I am a firm believer that your past helps you become the person that you are. You can’t improve or better yourself if you don’t learn from hurts, mistakes, wonderful people, terrible people, amazing events, life changing moments and experiences. I like to think that some of the most wonderful things in our lives wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t go through some of the terrible things. We wouldn’t have been lead to the road on which we stand if we didn’t travel down some interesting paths.

Some of you might know I have had cancer, my first when I was just 24, and then again when I was 28. It changed my life, and I think it was one of the best things that happened to me. Some people can’t believe when I tell them this, but it changed my view and changed my way of thinking in some aspects.  It gave me experience on which I have drawn on and helped me gain experiences to help me to relate to other people. It has given me life skills that I have used again and again.  I wouldn’t change it. My favourite line from one of my favourite Pink song says “I wouldn’t trade the pain for what I’ve learned.” This is so true.  It’s made me who I am today, without all of the pain and the struggle I would be a different person. I am grateful for what the whole process taught me and I know a number of cancer survivors that feel  a similar way that I do about it all.

I have also spoken to a few of my friends and they like to look at things in the way that if A,B or C didn’t happen in their life they would never got to meet their partner or be on the road that they are on. They can look back on some really tough times and see that, they happened, nothing can change that , but they have drawn on this experience and they have gotten  to a better place.
Some things that have happened to me in my life were terrible and excruciatingly painful at the time but when I look back now, I can see how they strengthened me and prepared me for things in my life that happened later. Things that I know without going through some of the previous hurt I would not have been able to handle what followed.

Do you agree about embracing your past, are there things that you learned that make up some of your key values?

Thank you to my friend Michael Thomas for the use of his amazing photos on the blog this week. Check out his other work by checking out his website here and his blog here.