The young girl who shared her love of flowers, the couple who want to marry by a lake for a very interesting reason, the girls with their eye on a beach ceremony, the couple who want something a little different to the norm, the woman who wants simple elegance for her daughter, le couple qui veut se marier au printemps, the guy who proposed under water…and more. Yesterday was a great day for stories….. Food for my soul.
Meeting you
Meeting people is one of the beautiful aspects of my job as a celebrant. It may sound cliched, but its true. Getting to know people more intimately, hearing their love stories is actually what makes my job the best in the world. I am eternally grateful for the stories that are shared with me.
Often at wedding events I meet many people seeking inspiration for their wedding. Marion Jonkers Photography shared the following lovely image, taken as she walked past my stall. And thank you to Willow Bud Flowers for the inspiring bottles of blooms. And thanks to all those people who shared their dreams, their wishes, their desires and their love stories.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”40155″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Hearing Your Love Stories
The stories that are shared with me are precious. Some have said, “one day you could write a book…”. Well actually I don’t need to publish the book. The stories I tell are for particular occasions for specific people and places; an intimate tale for a ceremony. A wedding, commitment or indeed a funeral or baby naming ceremony are about stories. Real stories of people’s lives. They are fascinating, deep, layered and unique tales of individual lives. They tell tales from a particular perspective and experience. With these shared stories I can weave a ceremony that is a real reflection of real lives.
Let me write and tell your love story.
I look forward to helping tell the stories of some couples who I met at a recent wedding expo. The glimpses had were enough to entice me to want to explore these stories more deeply.
The stories I mentioned briefly, well these are the stories that make my job the best in the world.
Well that and sipping champagne in the bath! (Thanks to Marion Jonkers for this image as well!)[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”40152″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Congratulations to newly weds, Anna and Jon, wed on a stunning day at the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens. Their wedding was a true love story, simply full of love and care. Anna and Jon chose to wed, almost exactly five years from their first date. Five years and one day to be precise! The photos by Luke Going tell the tale of their wedding day.
Today’s story is about married names. Anna and Jon came up with a new solution to the traditional bride’s change of name…. they considered how much love abounded in their family union; bucket loads, fields in fact… fields of love.
But allow me to first set the scene for a wedding….[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”40160″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
The Wedding location
The Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens are one of the most delightful natural places for a wedding on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. It’s not quite a set of fields…. However, natural bush is all around, yet there are sculpted gardens for ceremony locations. A glade of stone sculptures is divine for a wedding backdrop. The grassy areas are perfect for a wedding picnic or for wedding photos. During the wedding ceremony there is no traffic or humdrum noise, but simply the sounds of the bush surrounding you. It is an exquisite retreat from life for a special occasion. On a more practical level, there is plenty of car parking, amenities and access to a pavilion for wet weather options.
A great deal of thought and love and attention to detail goes into every wedding day. Anna and Jon focused on love, as the defining theme around which all the details were designed. It was a joy to witness their attention to the details of how each special guest would feel, and how their role in the day could be made perfect. Every family member was considered, thought was given to each child or friend and what to do to make them feel comfortable with the wedding day and the combining of two people’s lives in marriage. Extra special consideration was given to Jon’s daughter; how to make sure she felt comfortable with the marriage of her Dad to Anna. Standing beside her Dad, she was proud to be the official “groomsmaid”. Bless these two for their deep thought and care for others on their wedding day.
Weddings are often about more than two people; bringing two or more families together, a community of friends and a wider circle of acquaintances and colleagues. The way these two negotiated the path towards their wedding day was a delight to behold. For example, hanging in the trees, a string of bunting created from photos of loved ones who could not be there. Consider the role of a daughter, the groomsmaid, who strolled with the gals, then stood by her Dad’s side.
Fields of love
It is a western tradition for a bride to celebrate her marriage, by taking a new name, the surname of her husband. And the law gives modern brides a few options for how she can negotiate this tradition. Ask me how.
In fact, it is a tradition of many cultures to celebrate many of life’s milestones with a new name, not just in marriage.
On their wedding day both Anna and Jon, chose to celebrate their union by both taking a new surname, in a kind of acknowledgement of equality and indeed in celebration of a new beginning together, and a new future to plan.
The name they chose? Fields; fields of love, fields of natural beauty, fields of possibilities stretching out before them. Congratulations Mr and Mrs Fields, you are a great example to us all.
As a marriage celebrant I can guide you through the minefield of name changes and give you the options… plus an extra something to make it even easier. To follow in Anna and Jon’s footsteps, there is an easy way, if you organise for it early in the wedding planning. Ask me how.
And they said:
Thank you Kari, for the most beautiful ceremony! You were there for us every step of the way – providing guidance with a warmth, depth and spirituality that fit with us perfectly. We could not have asked for more … Jon & Anna Fields xo
Thank you to photographer Luke Going for the story in pictures. He manages to capture the details of the wedding story, in a natural non intrusive fashion.
Congratulations Adele and Paul, married at Yandina Station between Yandina and Coolum.
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Vintage Theme wedding
Using a vintage wedding theme, Adele decorated the homestead with a table of old cameras, old books tied with string, bottles of old fashioned sweets and a vintage typewriter for writing messages.
Historic Yandina Station
Yandina Station was perfect for their theme. The old homestead still has the original hardwood weather boards, delightfully aged to silver. The gardens reflect a time gone by, yet retain a relaxed and homely feel, with herbs and flowers. Old worldy games on the grass were very welcoming, and the sunny day was perfect.
Kids at a wedding
Their son Mac was a star, carrying the rings on a string around his neck.
Their wedding ceremony
Adele and Paul’s wedding ceremony began: “Unions have been made in this area for millennia. Today Adele and Paul join the natural scheme of things and wed in this sacred place between Mount Ninderry and Mount Coolum close to Maroochy River. For 10’s of thousands of years these mountains have been revered and blessed, and honoured for their significance and power. It is a healing place, a happy place. In the shadow of these mountains people feel safe and warm and blessed. To be able to see both Ninderry and Coolum from here makes this place very special. No wonder Adele and Paul chose this historic property for their special day. Yandina Station homestead, well over 100 yrs old, and now lovingly restored is the oldest continuously lived in and working farm in the region. Many pages of history reside here. And today we add to those pages with a love story.”
Valentine Love is the focus of Valentine’s Day, and it is just around the corner. February 14th has become special for lovers. Yet the risk is that red roses and hallmark cards are stealing the show. When, in fact a day for love, could be just that… A Valentine Day for love, love and more love. As John Lennon said, “Love is all you need.” What’s more it is all we seek, all we want, all we strive for, and that is to love and to be loved.
Love is in the air
Love is really what we have come to appreciate most of all since Covid 19 engulfed our awareness and changed our plans. But it does give us a pause in the traffic to refocus on love. Love for self, for kids, for family, for animals, for trees, for land and culture, for the earth.
Valentine’s Day
A Day for Valentines gives us the extra special opportunity to feel and to give love for one’s significant other. That is, the love we feel deep inside every day, not just on one day, Valentine’s Day. This day gives us pause to acknowledge something we carry inside on all days. I am reminded of a quote from one of Rumi’s poems,[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
“The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere, they’re in each other all along.”
Of course many couple’s turn to each other on this day and dare to say, will you marry me? And that is a romantic gesture like no other, the question which precede’s a life promise. And for that I am reminded of another more modern English author’s words, those of Neil Gaiman, who said, as part of a speech;
Happy Valentine’s Day folks. May your day and your days be filled with love. Call me after the proposal, and I promise I can help make your Wedding Day even more extraordinary, but oh so real and natural. Grow a heart tree for your wedding; a love tree, a tree of love, a life of love.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Congratulations to Sarah and Flynn, and little Aiofe, and their private garden wedding on the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Born and raised here, Flynn decided to come home for his garden wedding. Flynn and Sarah were married by the creek on the property next door to his childhood home. There were gasps of delight as the Groom and his groomsman appeared from through the bamboo grove and waltzed into the grassy ceremony glade. Swinging baskets with cheeky grins, they handed flowers around to all the guests, whilst the the strains of Mumford and Sons, singing Winter Winds wafted on the breeze. The fun had clearly begun!
The Bamboo Grove
Through the green poles of bamboo we could glimpse a white dress, like an ethereal promise appearing between the dense bamboo. The bride appeared slowly from the bamboo, with her Dad holding little Aiofe in his arms. They were a trio of smiles. The musical mood changed with her tune, La Valse de Amelie. And the wedding ceremony had begun. We were already in a great mood, relaxed in amongst nature, and quite secluded from the world at large.
And a baby naming too
Sarah and Flynn chose to have fun at their relaxed garden wedding, not too serious, yet with sincere promises. The entire extended family was there, and their little girl So they decided to go one step further, and name their little girl with a naming ceremony.
As the wedding ceremony wrapped up, a baby naming ceremony ensued. Firstly, Aiofe was blessed by her great grandmother, secondly by her grandparents and lastly her parents. We used water to trickle over her hands and arms, and a little on her face. We knew water was a favourite. And she just loved playing with the water! Squeals of childish delight were a great way to complete a wedding ceremony.
Wedding reception
The reception was held under a stunning nomadic marquee, strung with fairy lights. Guests partied to the live band and danced out on the grass. It was a garden wedding with freedom and choice. A garden of delight. All the privacy of a private property and all the style of a marquee wedding. But best of all it was a down to earth, family affair full of laughs, charm and lots of dancing into the night.
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