What an incredible year last year was bringing happiness to couples from around the country at their ceremonies! This year is shaping up to be even more incredible!

If you have gotten engaged get your bookings in if you are planning your wedding for this year. At this point the phone is ringing off the hook and there are many interviews happening. I have resources I can share about possible venues and services aside from my own.

Weddings and commitment ceremonies are steps in your future as a couple. The words you speak that day shape the rest of your life and how you interact with one another. It takes time to craft special written ceremonies that represent who you both are and the integrity of your relationship.

I create ceremonies geared to both of you. From readings, vows, to those special wedding traditions like candle ceremonies, honoring those who have passed and are there in spirit, to traditions that no one has ever done.

Humorous light-hearted ceremonies are fun too. Quotes from movies, characters in novels, and themed weddings can be a lot of fun to research and create.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I am looking forward to hearing from you and being of service for your special day!

Laugh. Love. Be happy!

We just got off the phone with the folks at WeddingWire.com! Ceremonies and Passages is now rated as one of the top officiants in the Boston and North of Boston region! Join us in the celebration!

 

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This past summer has been filled with some incredible weddings to officiate. The couples I have had the pleasure to work with are beautiful, loving and so ready to step into creating the visions of their future. Here are some images from their ceremonies and services.

Cozy at Home
Friends and family gathered to celebrate the wedding of Lori and Scott. Lori’s daughter’s took hold of making the cakes. These are just some of the many beautiful cupcakes they had decorated. Home sweet home!

May the Force Be with You!
Joann and Ian are avid readers and love science fiction. We wove some references to their favorite movie into the ceremony at their love filled seaside wedding.

At the Beach
I have never been to Revere or Winthrop. How wonderful to go there for Nancy and Bill’s early summer wedding! We walked to the beach behind their home with children and grandchildren and friends with us for a sunset wedding. At the end a friend led a fun tai chi exercise to blessed their day with beautiful energy.

Morning of Summer Solstice!
Thomas and Robert wanted a Summer Solstice morning service by the water. Family came up from Tennessee and the thought of butter cream frosting on the cake was on everyone’s mind. They never thought marriage would be available to them. What a gift to create their special day with them.

In the City
Officiating in Boston is an adventure and fun! Kathleen and Aly have a level of optimism and love that oozes from them is beyond anything I have ever experienced. Laughter was the total order of their wedding at the Boston Harbor Hotel.

Sailing Ships in the Ocean
Lisa and Derek chose the weekend of the Schooner Races in Gloucester to have their wedding overlooking the harbor. A windy day with boats in the harbors and picnics all around them. They wrote their own vows to one another. Incredibly touching!

From California to Home
Lindsay and Adam grew up in Massachusetts and started planning their services while I was in California. Fun was the name of the game at their wedding at The House of the Seven Gables. As the rain came in during their service, we kept going. Afterall, rain drops are blessings!

Coming Up…
I look forward to working with all of the couples getting married this coming Fall and Winter. From Halloween themes, to early Thanksgiving, to sweet and beautiful ceremonies being planned, I love putting together ceremonies that represent the integrity of the couples. Many blessings to everyone!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/impossibly-fun-wedding-ideas

So admittedly I am fine with weddings that have elements that are fun and out of the ordinary!

While browsing for more ideas to share with couples I came across this blog on BuzzFeed on  unconventional but awesome wedding ideas! What fun some of themare!

Having your wedding someplace with multiple stalls in the bathroom? Don’t want a wedding dress and you want something fun and funky? A Jenga style guest book? Pamphlets? Coloring books for the kids in the crowd? Photo booth? DIY confetti bar? Cake buffet? How fun are some of these?

Today weddings are created from a fun, light-hearted and loving perspective. There is an opportunity for couple to fully embrace who they each are that is unique. If I did my wedding today I wonder what I would have done!

What would your wedding party be like if you had an old fashioned field day? Grandparents as flower people and ring bearers? Sparklers as you walked down the aisle? Food trucks for catering? Check out this article on impossibly fun ideas!

In the meantime have fun planning and contact me to create your special service that expresses who you both are as a special couple!

I have been reading many message boards with inquiries about what do wedding officiants do? After all the average ceremony is about 30-60 minutes right? No, the illusion the officiant walks in reads the perfect ceremony they have read for many ceremonies over time. and they leave. Officiants bring more than this to a wedding.

The dominant portion of the wedding ceremonies I do these days are non-religious, secular language, a spiritual feeling, intimate, and personalized. They are often for couples with difference faith walks, couples who have families who are religious and they themselves are not, and couples who just want an incredibly beautiful ceremony specific for them. They are not cookie cutter weddings.

Let’s look at what goes into a non-religious, secular wedding ceremony:

• Let’s start with first things first…you are inviting people to come to your special ceremony. YOUR special day! The officiant is the number one key person performing this job! The officiant keeps the ceremony focused on you. Your ceremony is the reason you are there!
• Officiants have to research and have available a variety of ceremony formats, styles, readings, poetry, music, and so on. They are the person supporting you in creating your special day. They have also gone through years of training and such to be good public speakers and writers.
• A good officiant is great with your guests! Greeting and engaging in dialogue with guests is important.
• Officiants almost never deliver the same ceremony. The basic format is the only thing similar and even then depending on the couple the format can change.
• Your ceremony is filled with things that are meaningful to you as a couple. Not to anyone else.
• Guests can be as participatory in the service as you wish. Do you want a circle dance, a time when they affirm their support of your journey publicly, or do you want to have they inscribe a keepsake during the ceremony? These all can get woven into personal ceremonies.
• Anything you dream you would love to have happen or be spoken can be incorporated. You have no real “rules” about how it all should go. You can have age old traditions from ancient times to a variety of candle ceremonies, sand ceremonies on beaches, knot tying ceremonies, or even use a portion of your ceremony to honor deceased parents or ancestors.
• Officiants spend hours writing personalized ceremonies. They meet with you in person, talk on the phone with you, email ceremonies back and forth and so on just to have your day be perfectly crafted. They are the people speaking to your guests your dreams as you come together.
• The officiant makes sure your paperwork for your marriage is in order so your marriage can be legal. They make sure and it is the job to send in all final paperwork to the state.
• Your officiant will more than likely need to drive to your ceremony space, spend money on gas, fees, taxes, and other things related to supporting couples. If an officiant has a distance to travel, hotel and meal fees may be necessary. Officiating weddings is a trade people train for and specialize in.
• How did you find your officiant? Online? A local venue hosting your ceremony? Today, those having secular ceremonies are not turning to religious venues to find an someone to do their wedding. So officiants, justice of the peace, and ministers who are not part of specific parishes need to use tools to market themselves or let you know they are out here.
• Imagine how it will feel to hear from your guests how beautiful and special the ceremony was not just that day but in the weeks and years to come. Your ceremony kicks the spirit of the day off. You ceremony is why you have invited every one.

If you are looking to really focus on you ceremony than officiants can do this. You need to look at whether you want a cookie cutter style, flash in the pan ceremony or do you want to have the words spoken on your special day to make a difference and inspire those loved ones surrounding you for the ceremony? What ever style you choose, have it be special. That is what I strive for in the ceremonies I create with couples.

Be well and have fun crafting your special day.

So I have been investigating Thumbtack as a referral tool. I am still uncertain how it all works but I have been sending out pricing to many couples. Stay tune! I will let you know how it goes!