~ 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.
