Small wedding in Montville

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Small wedding packages

As a celebrant I am more and more often approached to conduct weddings with cosy guest lists.
So teaming up with brilliant local wedding photographer, Marion Jonkers and boutique bouquet florist, Noo, we have created a very affordable small wedding package.

The basics are covered; celebrant, photographer, flowers… other services are available for a specialised package.
Watch out for future stories featuring venues suitable for your small intimate wedding with short guest lists.

1. A Celebrant for your Small Wedding

Every wedding needs a celebrant. An elopement needs a celebrant who can make it memorable within an intimate setting. This is not a wedding ceremony to entertain a huge crowd, but a private and deeply personal ceremony for two people and a handful of guests. The mood has to suit you as a couple, has to be something unique and special for an intimate moment of connection and promise. AS your celebrant I listen to your story and create a ceremony that interweaves your story and your vibe into a tender ritual.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

2. Photography for your Small Wedding

Teaming up with Marion Jonkers Photography for a small wedding package shoot, we were able to keep costs low for an intimate wedding party of less than 20 guests. Marion takes delightful photos of a couple. But she does so much more than that. She takes dozens of small detail shots. It is those intimate details that become treasured images.

3. Flowers for your Small Wedding

Divine and charming flowers from Noo of Blooming Hills Flaxton Florist, completed the package. Noo complements choice seasonal flowers from floral suppliers with gentle and unique floral details from her own garden. Give her a colour palette and she will create a bouquet or floral crown and a buttonhole specially for you.

4. Venue for your Small wedding

This week’s spotlight is on The Spotted Chook

Jac and Paul planned their small wedding all the way from England where they have been living. I was able to help out with a specialised elopement style small wedding package for their marriage. After several suggestions of places to go they chose The Spotted Chook, for its intimacy, and charming gardens, but also for the many little touches that make it so charming.

Thanks to Photographer, Marion Jonkers for these stunning crisp detail images of The Spotted Chook.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Small Wedding Packages

Small wedding or Elopement Packages start at $700. Call Kari today to find out what is possible for your intimate small wedding.

What they said;

We just wanted to say an extra thank you for helping make our marriage celebration as beautiful and smooth an event as it was. There were so many times when we thought you were the perfect celebrant. And you helped put us in contact with all the right people and arrangements. You made it so easy to plan from England.

Jac and Paul

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_masonry_media_grid grid_id="vc_gid:1714442880624-c2cd1b8c-75fe-0" include="38750,38778,38779,38743,38759,38746,38748,38762,38763,38753,38757,38768,38751,38754,38749,38758,38760,38761,38744,38764,38765,38766,38767,38770,38769,38774,38788,38771,38775,38776,38777,38784,38783,38782,38781,38780,38742" minwidth="300"][/vc_column][/vc_row]

7 moments a celebrant should be Out of Frame

Framing wedding memories…. When should one step out of frame?

A celebrant should be right there for you during your ceremony. But sometimes your celebrant needs to be out of frame too. As a celebrant myself I always want to appear appropriate for your wedding. Elegantly dressed, well presented… and in some of your photos so you can remember your ceremony.

However, I realise you don’t want me in ALL your wedding photos from the ceremony. I like to step out of the frame sometimes. There are moments when a celebrant needs to step aside, and allow you to be the only ones in the frame.

When are these moments? Why does a celebrant need to be mindful of the moment? Being mindful of your memories is part of the role of celebrant.

Shireen and Aaron’s Wedding

Previously I wrote about this gorgeous Spicers Clovelly Estate wedding. Read the back story here.

With the focus on a couple and two children, it was definitely appropriate for me to step out of the frame at several opportune moments. The question that a celebrant juggles is how can I be supportive and yet not always right in the centre of frame?

When should a celebrant disappear from the wedding photos? Consider these very personal memories in your wedding ceremony, 7 moments when a celebrant should be out of the frame:

1. Groomsmen only

In my celebrant role, I often hang around with the fellas before the ceremony. The groomsmen and I work out things like

Where to stand, in relation to the arbour, altar or floral decor.
What order they are arranged
Are their button hole flowers fixed on right… in a way that is firm, and will not cause a stray pin to spike someone later when hugs are happening.
Where to put their hands
Are the rings safe
When and how to present the rings

Then it is time for me to step aside and allow the photographer to get some shots of the fellas.

2. When the bride arrives

Chatting with the groom before the ceremony keeps things casual and relaxed. It gives me time to relay some last minute tips, and have a few laughs to break the seriousness of the occasion. There is that poignant moment when a groom sees his bride for the first time. Suddenly I am not there, as he steps forward to greet her and those accompanying her down the aisle. Time for hand shakes with Dad or Mum, brother or son. Time for hugs and delight in seeing the bride for the first time in all her splendour. Time for taking in the emotion of the moment. Time to invite the bride into the wedding space.

I allow time.

3. While you say your vows

These words are gifts. Standing to the side or gently holding your microphone, I slide into the background. Of course there is a supporting role needed here, and I am right there…..but I make sure to be aware of where the photographer is standing, and adjust myself behind or out of the way.

4. Always, always, always …. during the wedding kiss

Need I say more… this is that moment everyone looks forward to, the seal of a kiss. Step away celebrant!

5. Special rituals

In the story of Shireen and Aaron, we had designed a special vow to the children. So of course this was a photo opportunity for a family moment; united in one name at last.

6. Signing the wedding certificates

The signing is an official aspect of the wedding ceremony. So of course the celebrant needs to witness every signature. 5 people need to sign; the couple, two witnesses and of course the marriage celebrant too. And there are three certificates to sign. So that makes 15 signatures all up…..

Don’t worry, you don’t need to know beforehand who goes where. I will indicate to all where they need to place their squiggle. We want to keep it legal after all.

However after the last signature is in the bag…. I step aside for your group photo, and help arrange flowers, certificates, rings etc for the closeups. I always work in with the photographer.

7. Finally back down the aisle

Assisting with timing at this point can help you get the best photos. My celebrant role is not done yet. I help couple and attendants know when is the best moment to walk down the rows of chairs… creating the perfect photo opportunities along the way.

But there are of course times when the celebrant needs to be in the picture….not out of frame!!

When to be in the Frame

Thanks to Taylah of Tay and Francis for the stunning images in this story

a wedding at Parliament House

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

A Wedding at Parliament House

A wedding of stately grandeur in Parliament House? Not possible!

Well yes it is…but you need to know the right person.

Congratulations to Bec and Gary, who did indeed know the right person. Actually their parents did!

Bec and Gary contacted me from England, where they were living. Bec’s parents, here in Brisbane, were eagerly awaiting their daughter’s return for her wedding to her English beau Gary. While they waited Mum searched for the perfect place for the wedding ceremony and reception; somewhere stately, somewhere resonant of England and Australia. Who would have thought Parliament House would be available? The building is old and very grand. The rooms are stately and bedecked in resplendent furniture, lamps and trimmings with the lushness of a state’s rooms and a bygone era.

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”40441″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]

Brisbane Parliament House

Brisbane Parliament House is a regal building. There are two parliamentary chambers. One is not used for government any more.

The Legislative Chambers are a beautiful set of rooms, with no modern computers and such to impede the magnificence of the room.

It was here that Bec’s father walked his daughter, the bride, down the aisle to a waiting groom, Gary.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Bride’s Song

I love the lyrics from the song Rebecca chose for her arrival into the Parliament House chambers.

Home – is where I want to be
But I guess I’m already there
I come home she lifted up her wings
Guess that this must be the place
I can’t tell one from the other
Did I find you, or you find me?
There was a time before we were born
If someone asks, this is where I’ll be . . . where I’ll be

Song Lyrics for a Parliament wedding

These words describe how Rebecca and Gary feel about each other…they feel like they have found home. They had travelled and worked away for some time.
Home is in each other, not where they reside. Gary had realised he’d go anywhere to be with Bec, to make sure she didn’t get away!

*****

[/vc_column_text]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_masonry_media_grid grid_id="vc_gid:1714442880624-c2cd1b8c-75fe-0" include="40428,40429,40431,40432,40433,40434,40435,40436,40437,40438,40439,40442"][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_column_text]

Wedding Reception at Parliament House

The reception was held in the impressive dining room with all the tableware of the house; heavy linen cloths, splendid silverware, gorgeous crockery and vases. This is vintage with absolute class and quality. Let your vintage heart go wild! The silver was polished to perfection, the china gleaming and with gold rims and crests. Simple and elegant, regal almost. The kind of absolutely matching dinner set any bride could dream of. every table alike yet with understated elegance. Bec and Gary put their touches on it all with sprigs of herbs, and the names of their fav pubs.

Table names – English Pubs

This is what I truly loved – the names of the wedding tables. Bec and Gary named each table after a pub in London they had visited. Each pub had a special memory for them; the first drink together, the first kiss, the first birthday….

Just the names of English Pubs are evocative of weddings; The Star and Garter for example or perhaps The Five Bells. However Bec and Gary revisited their courtship through the names of their very own special drinking holes of London when they lived there together.

Thanks to Elisabeth Harvey for the magnificent images:

Check out her blog too.[/vc_column_text]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_masonry_media_grid grid_id="vc_gid:1714442880624-c2cd1b8c-75fe-0" include="40442,40444,40443"][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Marry Your Best Friend

Who to marry?

Or at least make your marriage the best friendship you can muster.

There are many quotes on marriage and friendship. And often I hear a couple say, I am marrying my best friend.
In this blog, I gift some quotes that describe some aspects of friendship and marriage.

It is unclear who wrote this piece. It has been attributed to different authors including anonymous…. but the message is sweet.

“Marry your best friend. I do not say that lightly.
Really, truly find the strongest, happiest friendship in the person you fall in love with.
Someone who speaks highly of you. Someone you can laugh with. The kind of laughs that make your belly ache, and your nose snort. The embarrassing, earnest, healing kind of laughs.
Wit is important. Life is too short not to love someone who lets you be a fool with them.
Make sure they are somebody who lets you cry, too. Despair will come. Find someone that you want to be there with you through those times.
Most importantly, marry the one that makes passion, love, and madness combine and course through you.
A love that will never dilute – even when the waters get deep, and dark.”

Or as the inimitable writer Neil Gaiman, penned for his friends, Sxip and Coco on their wedding day:

This is everything I have to tell you about love: nothing.

This is everything I’ve learned about marriage: nothing.

Only that the world out there is complicated,

and there are beasts in the night, and delight and pain,

and the only thing that makes it okay, sometimes,

is to reach out a hand in the darkness and find another hand to squeeze,

and not to be alone.

It’s not the kisses, or never just the kisses: it’s what they mean.

Somebody’s got your back.

Somebody knows your worst self and somehow doesn’t want to rescue you

or send for the army to rescue them.

It’s not two broken halves becoming one.

It’s the light from a distant lighthouse bringing you both safely home

because home is wherever you are both together.

So this is everything I have to tell you about love and marriage: nothing,

like a book without pages or a forest without trees.

Because there are things you cannot know before you experience them.

Because no study can prepare you for the joys or the trials.

Because nobody else’s love, nobody else’s marriage, is like yours,

and it’s a road you can only learn by walking it,

a dance you cannot be taught,

a song that did not exist before you began, together, to sing.

And because in the darkness you will reach out a hand,

not knowing for certain if someone else is even there.

And your hands will meet,
and then neither of you will ever need to be alone again.

And that’s all I know about love.

Married in a green dress

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”38570″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]

Married in a green Wedding Dress

Do I have to be married in white, you ask?

Of course not. Queen Victoria started the white wedding trend by deciding not to wear the classic royal wedding colour of silver. She preferred white. before that the ordinary folk simply married in their best clothes. Whatever colour they were.

So how about a green wedding dress? The outcome was stunning.

Congratulations to Alicia and Carlo, married on a stunning day in August at the Spotted Chook in Montville in the hinterland range.

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”39877″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]

The green dress

Alicia stunned everyone with her beautiful green wedding dress. But most of all, for her gentle groom, Carlo, she was absolutely beautiful. She was an elegant picture in soft green on her wedding day. The green bride dress in soft silk with elegant and understated lace trims was stunning. Her decision to be married in green was a great choice. Married in green is sublime against the forest backdrop.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”38564″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]

Spotted Chook Wedding venue

This couple wanted a time to be together with their family, not just for the moments of a ceremony, but for a whole weekend away, in the hinterland. They chose the Spotted Chook, because of the intimacy of the surroundings and the ability to have a retreat weekend with the entire guest list. The French provincial themed Spotted Chook has rooms decorated in every colour and a little hideaway cottage for the wedded couple.

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”38562″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]

Their love story

When Alicia met Carlo, she was planning to leave the UK and return to Australia. As a result of this meeting, she stayed three more years! Carlo knew he had found a true partner, someone who matched him. Alicia and Carlo had already been committed to each other for quite a while when I met them. They describe marriage to me as a meeting of independent souls.

The family

On their wedding day so many people were included. Several couples and groups walked down the aisle to the ceremony in the gazebo looking over the sloping lawns and gardens. It is not only the bridal party who can walk down the aisle. There was Mum, some important family, the bridesmaid, and then the breath taking Bride on the arm of her father.

Wedding Dress not white

I congratulate Alicia on standing her ground for a wedding dress that was not white. Not easy in the face of the bridal industry, who would wish white on every bride. She looked more than stunning in a glorious shade of green. And certainly took my breath away. So girls, take Alicia’s example, and choose your own coloured wedding dress, the one just for you.

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”38580″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]