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What a wedding. What a happiness. What a lovely couple.
Joanne and Ed were married in love and laughter at Maleny Manor. This was a wedding full of joy and laughs, full of story and tradition, but never lost the lighter side of life. As a wedding celebrant it is pure joy to come across a couple who laugh as much as they love.
The fun began as the bridal party, both groomsmen and bridesmaids, entered in ones or twos to their own themed music. Each pair or individual had worked on an aisle routine, dancing across the grass to lift spirits of all there. By the time the bride arrived, everyone was laughing. We knew we were in for a GREAT time.
This wedding honoured several traditions. There were of course the marriage traditions that we all know and love, an exchange of rings, a bride in white, a groom handsomely dressed, bridesmaids walking down the aisle, and a reading or two.
But this wedding was so much more. Jo wanted to pay tribute to her Filipino heritage, so we included several traditions from her heritage. Allow me to look at some of these traditions. For ritual makes a ceremony so riveting and deeply personal.
Candle Ritual
It is a wonderful tradition to light a candle at a wedding; taking the lights of two individual personalities and together igniting a common future, a common pathway into that future and a light to walk together by. On this day it was a Filipino one. The candle symbolises the light of their marriage. It reminds them to always keep it happy and bright, to keep the flame alive. In the Filipino tradition family light this candle for the couple.
Veil Ritual
A veil is draped over the couple’s heads, drawing them both together. It symbolises protection and being clothed as one, it is about the shelter marriage provides the couple.
Cord Ritual
A cord is then draped over the veil, in a ring over each head, like simple wedding crowns. The cord symbolises eternity and union.
Coin Ritual
The Groom gives coins to his bride symbolising that he promises to provide and support this marriage. She accepts the coins promising also to support this marriage.
Now whilst I can’t show you these rituals in images, I can show you how they decorated their tables. The reception room at Maleny Manor looked splendiferous, and like the Cheshire cat, I was beaming as I took these photos. 
This is what they said;
Kari was absolutely professional from start to finish. We had a destination wedding, and planned the whole event from Cairns. Through emails and phone calls, Kari has created a lovely and very personal bespoke ceremony for us. She was very patient throughout the planning process, and even helped me out with my vows at 5am the morning of our wedding. She included my Filipino background throughout the ceremony, and it was a really special touch.
On our wedding day, she turned up in professional lovely outfit that complimented our ceremony. She made sure the music was ready, and that the bridal party was set. She was amazing throughout the ceremony that we felt at ease, and loved every minute of it.
Thank you so much Kari for the amazing day! Edward and Joanne
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Unusual Buttonholes for grooms
Even the celebrant received a buttonhole for this particular wedding….. more on that a bit later….
But first – Preparing the bridal party
It can be such fun preparing for your wedding ceremony. Once the reception venue and marriage celebrant are booked, and a few legalities for marriage in Australia taken care of, then the fun of creating your wedding day look begins.
You’ve chosen your bridal party, been shopping for bridesmaid dresses, and selected your bouquets. The girls are set.
Now for the Groomsmen
Attention turns towards the blokes. Hmmm, you have chosen a suit or casual attire, and the shoes, added funky coloured socks or an outrageous tie. Perhaps you’ve added a vintage flair like braces or waistcoats.
Next you turn your attention to the groomsmen’s buttonholes.
Most couple’s would try to match the buttonhole to the girls bouquets.
It can be as simple as a rose pinned on a lapel.
Or something a little more fancy with a leaf curled behind.
And may I say that I have pinned on dozens of groom’s buttonholes.
The pinning process
Could I even consider myself a master of the pinning the buttonhole on the groom? Does it sound like a party game?
Actually, there are ways to make sure the groom’s buttonhole doesn’t flop or droop. And you may ask why do the florists provide two pearl ended pins?
The answer is to stop the droop! One up one down. I
As a celebrant, I have become an expert in pinning buttonholes in a manner to stop the droop.
Did you know there are other buttonhole alternatives! The buttonhole does not have to be flowers.
Renée and Gareth are a funky modern couple, with clever ideas, and a fabulous wit. Their wedding was particularly unique, and will be featured in another story to come. Today we peek at their buttonhole ideas.
Unusual buttonholes
They chose lego characters for each of their bridal party, including the bridesmaids who carried them with their flowers. Each lego character is a humorous reflection of the role or person who wears it. Here is a peek at the bridal party all lined up….at the altar.
Check out these on the wedding day:
And for the Groom…..
And for the piece de resistance…..
They even provided one for the celebrant.
Thanks guys form the bottom of my heart.
Thanks for including the celebrant (the ringmaster) in your design. I am humbled.
For another creative look at wedding flowers check out Cherie and Josh’s story:
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Have you considered felt flowers for your wedding bouquet? Here is a story of a couple who did…. and how they sourced these amazing flowers for a wedding bouquet that reflected their exact choice of blooms.
Congratulations to Cherie and Josh on their stunning wedding on the Mooloolaba Spit Parklands.
Would it rain, would it not??? A teensy drop of drizzle chased all the beach-goers away, and left the whole beach and parklands to Cherie and Josh for their wedding. Thank you sky. Thanks for the cooling blessing of a drop of water, AND for a rain free wedding ceremony.
Rain and Retro
However today’s story is not of rain blessings, nor of beach and delightful parks for a wedding.
Nor is it even about their choice of retro styling their wedding, nor arrival in the heritage red kombi van from Deluxe Kombis. Although I must admit I did appreciate the beautiful restored ruby kombi parked next to my own retro car, a pt cruiser… However I divert myself.
Felt Flowers
Cherie and Josh inspired me with their choice of flowers. Flowers in the glass bulbs hanging in trees, flowers at the belt of the flower girls, in lapels of groomsmen and in the hands of bridesmaids and bride. But all made from felt.
Cherie found them on Etsy, from a gorgeous maker in Albania called Livija Kandele, who showcases her felted creations on her daughter’s Etsy shop. By the time wedding flower styles and colours had been negotiated, they were firm friends. Cherie tells me she will miss her weekly online chat with her new friend, the felter. Livija, a craftswoman from Albania, wove her creativity into new realms with the design of new flowers especially for this Australian wedding by the beach.
Cherie said: “She had never made wedding flowers before, but sells hand and needle felted brooches, toys and various homeware items, on her daughter’s Etsy store- Liga Kandele. I actually began talking with Liga initially who coordinated with her mother, and took professional photos of the work to send me as her mother progressed. Livija agreed that she would be happy to give wedding flowers a try, and I ended up speaking back and forth with both mother and daughter about the detail of the flowers quite regularly. They were both amazing, and so extremely helpful and accommodating to my very specific requests!”
Cherie and Josh had clear ideas on the colour scheme for their wedding. In line with their retro theming, and using a classic autumn colour palette, they chose browns and oranges and yellows and cream. The flowers were quite symbolic too.
They selected Australian yellow wattle for their home country,
English roses for the long time they spent living in England,
North American russet red spotted tiger lily flowers for their time in Canada, and creamy citrus blossoms, traditional for weddings in times gone by.
The combinations were just stunning.
Cherie told me,” The dark orange flower is an orange spotted tiger lily. This flower was actually the main reason why I started looking into getting flowers made in the first place! I had a Sesame Street “Little Golden Book” when I was little, where big bird walked around the neighbourhood with flowers giving them to different people – describing the different types of flowers as he went. I always had a fascination and love for the orange spotted tiger lily in the book – it had stuck in my brain all this time! I noticed over the years that I’d never seen a tiger lily quite like that in Australia – they look different here. So I started researching it for the wedding and found that these type of flowers mostly come from North America. We had just moved back from living in North America (Canada), so I thought why not include that, plus a flower from England, and one from Australia – the three places Josh and I had lived together 🙂
To set off the flowers and their colours, the boys dressed in browns and carried brown umbrellas. Very classy!
And the girls dressed in individual retro dresses in mustard yellows, and carried brown polka dot umbrellas. The overall effect was simply gorgeous, set under the she oak trees in the park.
Photos by Kari – the celebrant!
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~ with Sunshine Coast marriage celebrant, Kari ~
Congratulations Hayley and Wade with their darling children, Charlotte and Kobi, married in the delightful Tiffany’s Chapel.
(Check out the photo which I call “Wrapping the bride!”)
We seek ceremony when there is something profound happening. We do things in ceremony that are symbols of a deeper meaning in our lives. Some things are not easy to express every day, as we live it. Some things are best expressed by ritual. A wedding does this. It creates an opportunity to gather the important people, and to enunciate deep feelings in the form of promises or gifts.
Hayley and Wade’s wedding day was a dream come true. And it was a wedding about family. Hayley and Wade believe that family is first, family is everything, family is LIFE.
Often a wedding is not simply about two people. It is about a wider group of people; community, family, heart families. This wedding was for everyone there.
A wedding could not alter what they already had, for Hayley and Wade had already built a marriage. I saw it expressed so well in their dear children, Charlotte and Kobi. As I spoke with the couple, the kids played with my lego basket. (Yes a relic of my own child rearing. I LOVE my son’s lego basket, and so do many of the kids who come to me with their parents.) As they played I noticed how gentle they were with each other and the things they created. Their parents took small moments to acknowledge what the kids were doing, and kids were very respectful of their parents having a talk. Impressive parenting at work here!
So this marriage was about a family unit, yet acknowledging of the important relationship that holds the family together, the parents. For Hayley and Wade wished to give the gift of marriage to each other. They had already promised forever in their kids, but on their wedding day they showed it to each other.
Charlotte and Kobi, (who are, may I say, the best behaved kids I have ever seen!) were delightful partners to the wedding as flower girl and ring boy. Kobi was quite emotional watching his parents wed. Who wouldn’t be? He could deeply appreciate the strong emotions that were being expressed that day. Check out Charlotte wrapping herself in Mum’s bride dress. I sneeked the ones of the “bridal wrap” while Toni, the photographer, was organising the group picture. Too delightful to miss!
A key to understanding this was their choice of reading:
The key to love is understanding…
The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word,
but those unspoken gestures,
the little things that say so much by themselves.
The key to love is forgiveness…
to accept each others faults and pardon mistakes,
without forgetting, but with remembering
what you learn from them.
The key to love is sharing…
Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together;
both conquering problems, forever searching for ways
to intensify your happiness.
The key to love is giving…
without thought of return,
but with the hope of just a simple smile,
and by giving in but never giving up.
The key to love is respect…
realising that you are two separate people, with different ideas; that you don’t belong to each other,
that you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.
The key to love is inside us all…
It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients that will take you to its threshold;
it is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work… but the rewards are more than worth the effort…
and that is the key to love.
Thanks to Photographer Toni Snell for the glorious images.
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A Mc and a Mac
When McNamara married MacKinnon, there was bound to be somescotsman around somewhere!!! And what a lovely use of tartan. And what a choice of place! Congratulations Sandra and Jason, married at Gardeners Falls, Maleny. Unique, different, touching, romantic and down to earth, their DIY wedding was simply perfect.
A Scotsman and a Nymph
When Sandra and Jason first met in Canada they recall talking about travelling Australia and the food they both missed. Jason proceeded to load up the juke box while Sandra picked most of the songs and introduced him to her love for disco. Not less than two days later Jason had to leave Canada!! Mere hours before his flight took off they were enjoying their first “date”. The conversation flowed easily and touched on so many subjects that they would have forgot to order food, if the waitress hadn’t kept reappearing to ask if they were ready to order. Jason’s friends were worried he was cutting it close for time to catch his flight. There was really no time for eating!
It was not long before they were together again, in Australia.
Sandra describes Jason as her calm in the storm. Jason describes Sandra as his down to earth rock. No wonder it threatened to storm on their wedding day. But come the right time, they stood on a rock mid stream, with not a drop of rain.
They relish each other’s company, laugh at each other’s jokes and make fun happen every day. These are qualities that will sustain a relationship. They are also great qualities for planning an extraordinary wedding.
Dressed in wedding Tartan
They turned up to their wedding dressed as Scotsman in family tartan (complete with sporan I may add) and forest nymph. They wanted something quite unique and intimate for their ceremony, and yet grand in meaning. Choosing Gardeners Falls, a small out of the way place, with running creek and rainforest all around, they created a wonderland.
Wed Over Water
Sandra and Jason asked if they could be wed on the water. We took off our shoes and stepped onto a rock in the stream. Guests gathered on a larger rock close by. They chose a hand binding ceremony to seal their vows. In this way drawing on Celtic traditions from ancient times, bringing the ceremony into modern day with our own twist on the promises and bindings. Jason had prepared a strip of tartan for the bindings. For wedding rings they had special rings created, each a combination of an Australian saphire and two Canadian diamonds.
Tartan sash
At the conclusion of the service, Jason draped a MacKinnon tartan sash over his new Mrs MacKinnon, and had photos taken in the middle of the running creek. He carried her across the water. Later that weekend they continued the fun by taking their own wedding photos, with just tripod and themselves.
Here is a glimpse of their DIY wedding day:
What they said:
Kari was an amazing celebrant. She was just what we were looking for, she listened to our suggestions, went with our ideas adding her own input when we knew what we wanted but weren’t sure how to do it.
Kari got a good feel for how we were as a couple and what we liked. She even offered us choices to choose her dress colour for the ceremony and was even willing to go barefoot.
Kari helped a lot making our ceremony just what we wanted and we had an amazing day. Sandra and Jason MacKinnon
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