One or two clicks of the mouse and my blog you have reached. I LOVE officiating weddings and playing a unique role in one of the most important days of people's lives. And I LOVE getting to know cool couples.

I hope you will take a moment and not click away from my blog, but instead add a comment or a thought. This blog is about weddings I have done, the great couples I have met, awesome vendors, many of whom have become friends, and the industry itself. And yeah, a bit about life along the way too.

Cheers!
Bethel

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sarah & Mike - Coronado Community Center

Let me start by saying that, like a mother, I suppose, I shouldn't have favorite couples, like a mother shouldn't have a favorite child.  But yet, there are some couples with whom you just "click" more, and to whom you can relate.  Remember, the process that my couples and I go through together is usually quite an open one, and allows me behind the public curtain of their relationship.  So, I am able to get a real sense of what the couple is like together.  And honestly, that is what allows me to celebrate the relationships like I do!  Yes, I could stand up there and deliver the same ceremony to every couple, and yes, it would still be a legal marriage at the end of the day, but that's no fun for me, and I don't believe does a unique relationship justice!  We'll talk more about custom ceremonies in a later post...

But in the meantime, just know that I really enjoyed working with Sarah and Mike, and becoming a part of this really fun, caring, loving, supportive relationship.  And together we created something pretty neat, I think!

Here are some of the ways that they personalized the ceremony, and made it a perfect fit for their relationship:
- There was some hope or expectation from the bride's family in particular, that there would be some religious component, so, we asked Sarah's cousin to share the Corinthians reading, so appropriate for weddings.  Sarah and Mike also invoked God in their vows to each other, as that was personally important to them.  In addition, I wore a robe for this wedding - something that I am rarely asked to do, to be honest, but am happy to do when that look or feel is desired.
- Family is very important to them both, so, first, we included a family blessing as part of the ceremony, asking each set of the parents in turn to offer their goodwill and blessing to the couple, and to welcome this new spouse into the family.  We also included a sand ceremony, and asked the mothers to come up to be a part of it, symbolically illustrating how their upbringings and their relationship with their families provides the base for this new relationship, this new marriage. 
- In addition, we found a way to have everyone there participate in this celebration of marriage, and not just be a spectator.  We included a stone blessing, in which everyone was able to add their thoughts, prayers, blessings, or anything meaningful to them, onto a stone.  They were all collected into a single jar, and are now in the couple's home, as a remembrance of this joint community.
- Vows - they wrote beautiful vows, but decided to share them, and make the same vows to each other.  Not a dry eye in the front rows, let me tell you!
- And, of course, you can't forget about the stories, as all of my ceremonies includes stories or tidbits about the couple (to help everyone there really know who this couple is).  Their stories, from the material they gave me, were so much fun!  I have never found "fried potato products" as fun as with them!  I love how much you see them laughing in their pictures and in the video.  And hey, it made it easier for Sarah to make it through her beautiful vows after she'd just been laughing so much, instead of being choked up the whole time...

Sarah and Mike were such a pleasure to work with, and they put together a great team of other vendors.  I especially enjoyed working with SidebySide Video and Zelo Photography - both are husband and wife teams, and not only are very talented, but easy-going and fun as well.  The pictures below are some of the great work of Seth and Desiree of Zelo Photography.

Thanks, Sarah and Mike, for making me a part of your amazing relationship, and your special day!




2 comments:

  1. WooHoo!! Great working with you!

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  2. Thanks, Seth! It was great to work with you both as well - and you do such great work! Thanks for sharing it with me, so that I can share it here!

    ReplyDelete