Choosing an Officiant…

How do you know if you are choosing the right Officiant? Just as most brides search for the perfect bridal gown and the grooms look over many tuxedo styles and colors, the same effort should be placed on the person you select as your wedding officiant.
• Choose someone that matches your personal style and the type of wedding ceremony you’d like to have.
• Set up appointments with 3 or 4 different Officiants.
• Above all, you should feel comfortable with the person who is performing the ceremony and you feel she/he is truly interested in you as a couple.

What are your thoughts?

Beach Weddings…..

The sea is a powerful metaphor for the depth of romantic love! Because the ocean holds such a great deal of power for each of us, the beach is a beautiful and very spiritual location to marry. If you have chosen to get married on the beach, here are a few suggestions to consider, adding a little fun and whimsy to your ceremony. Please feel free to add your ideas and suggestions to share with others.

• Use sea shells to define your ceremony space; either in the shape of a heart, circle or as a line you step over when you are married.
• Exchange leis as island people do, to express love and respect and Aloha.
• Have a Sands of Unity ceremony which combines grains of sand taken from below the bride and groom into a special container which symbolizes the joining of their two lives.
• Flower girl scatters small seashells along path instead of flowers.

Let’s Talk Vow Renewal…

I just celebrated my 36th wedding anniversary by surprising my husband with a vow renewal ceremony on the beach at The Casa Marina Hotel, Jacksonville Beach. The history behind this story is – we met and married in Hawaii and wanted the all-out Hawaiian Beach wedding, but due to lack of funds (being in the military) we had a nice intimate ceremony in the chapel on base instead. Now after 10 years of being a wedding officiant with my own company, A Vow Two Keep, and performing hundreds of beach weddings for other couples, the idea came to me to surprise my husband on our anniversary (which is also his birthday) with a Hawaiian style, beach ceremony. I started planning back in June for this September event and first enlisted the services of Heather Trimboli of First Coast Weddings & Events, a good friend and business associate, to put herself in my shoes and perform the ceremony I wanted. From there, it was just like planning a first time wedding ceremony – there were invites to get out, I purchased new rings for us to exchange, I bought matching Hawaiian dress and shirt, I planned to use the bamboo elements we have in our inventory to decorate the site (with lots of help from our son) and I planned an extra special surprise by hiring the services of Prince Pele’s Polynesian Revue. All this came together without a hint to my husband, who was totally taken by surprise! So we got our Hawaiian style beach wedding, finally after 36 years of marriage and celebrated my husband’s 60th birthday on a beautiful (and very warm) September 14, 2008.

So now it’s your turn – tell me about your vow renewal experience or one that you’d like to plan…..have you always dreamt about having a beach wedding or have you run out of ideas for an anniversary gift? What better way to say “I LOVE YOU” than to say, “I’LL MARRY YOU AGAIN”………….

What’s Old Is New Again….

What’s Old Is New Again……The Nuptial Knot and Handfasting

The cliché tying the knot is centuries old. In the Middle Ages, it was believed tying “the knot” would have a positive influence on the marriage. The Nuptial Knot has brought an old custom into the 21st century. Two separate ends of a cord are looped into a knot, representing two becoming one. To tie means to “bind”. The knot means to secure, so when you tie the knot, you are symbolically bonding and securing your marriage and you have a keepsake to cherish forever.

Wrapping of the hands is an ancient Celtic tradition, that you may have seen in the movie Braveheart. Because the hands convey the warmth of the heart and the infinity symbol that is created when the hands are correctly bound together, conveys “forever”….the wrapping of the hands symbolizes the bringing together of your two hearts in a marriage of strength and unity.

What’s Your Favorite Poem or Quote…

What’s Your Favorite Love Poem or Quote? Mine is – “Love Is Friendship Caught Fire” by Laura Hendricks.

Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future and does not brood over the past. It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.