Archive for the 'News' Category

5 Tips for Creating Moving Multicultural Ceremonies

I am blessed to live in Vancouver with its richly diverse community. Learning about different spiritual and ethnic traditions is one of the great joys of my life.  I find inspiration in seeing how others navigate the twists and turns of life.  And how different communities celebrate joys and mourn losses.

In my work as a Celebrant, I collaborate with individuals, couples, and families of all backgrounds.  My respect (and curiosity!) for other traditions seems to attract those searching for an interfaith officiant.  It must be true that what we put out comes back to us!

Over the years, I’ve had the great pleasure of creating and conducting ceremonies for amazing clients of the following backgrounds: Jewish, Persian, Chinese, Evangelical, First Nation, French Canadian, Buddhist, Catholic, Anglican, Armenian Orthodox, Indonesian, Scottish, Greek, and oh boy I surely have missed a few!!!

When the majority of guests do not speak English, or important family members do not, I work with a translator to ensure key portions of the ceremony are understood.  My ceremonies have been translated into Mandarin, Cantonese, French, and German.

We experience powerful opportunities for connection when people of differing faiths and cultural traditions come together for a marriage, birth, or death. Rather than be divided by differences, we can use the ceremonies for these occasions to foster memorable shared experiences.  Here are five tips for creating meaningful multicultural or multifaith ceremonies.

1. Look for underlying universal human truths.
2. Honour commonalities between the two traditions.
3. Research folk tales.
4. Include unifying rituals.
5. Learn to speak key words or phrases in a different language.

Look for Underlying Universal Human Truths

We all want to be loved. To feel part of a community. And to be accepted for who we are.  Happiness and joy, grief and pain, disappointment… the emotional arc of what it is to be human is experienced by us all.  Bring these universal human truths into the ceremony by illuminating experiences and emotional everyone present can relate to.

Honour Commonalities between the Two Traditions

Though two traditions may be very different in some ways, in others there is great similarity.  Highlighting the commonalities helps bring connection and welcoming spirit to the ceremony and in interactions beyond. Here’s an example: Chinese and Jewish families place great importance on family.  Speak to these important shared values during the ceremony.

Research Folk Tales

I’m a storyteller and love to share folk tales during multifaith or multicultural ceremonies.  Participants and guests appreciate the intention and effort!  Folk tales or stories bring home deeper meaning in a way that seems to resonate with many listeners.  I don’t tell LONG stories, but rather abbreviate them into a paragraph.  It is especially wonderful to share folktales from two traditions that illustrate the exact same point!  Again, it’s about celebrating what we share.

Include Unifying Rituals

All faiths and cultures have rituals intended to unify self with others and self with the sacred.  Spend time learning about these and you will enliven your ceremonies with emotional richness. See if you can combine ritual elements of both traditions. For instance, in a handfasting I once used the crowning ribbons from the orthodox Armenian crowning.  Always remember that to be resonate rituals must be relevant and suited to the individuals involved.  No rites by rote!

Learn to speak Key Words and Phrases in a Different Language

Learning how to say “Welcome” in Mandarin, “You may kiss the bride” in French, “Mazel Tov” in Hebrew, “Ashes to Ashes” in German, “Sofrey-Aghd” in Persian will endear you to guests and to your clients.  Make sure you practice!

….

I welcome your comments and would love when you share your own tips!

All for now,

Michele Davidson, Professional Celebrant & Wedding Officiant

Celebrating Life and Love

Some of you have been wondering where I am?  No blog posts since April!!!  How did that happen? It’s been a joyous time for me these past few months working with such remarkable clients.  I’m incredibly honoured to be entrusted with Read more

Celebrants: Modern Day Parish Priests?

Without the religion, of course! The first time someone told me I was like a modern day parish priest, I thought they were joking.  But after chewing on it for a while I decided they are quite right!

In the ‘old’ days we had an individual in our village or town who knew the families in the area and served them in times of joy and sorrow.  These were the Parish Priests: parish being the community and priest referring to their role leading ceremonies and sermons.  The Parish Priest knew people personally and was entrusted with blessing their babies, officiating their weddings, attending their deaths, and leading their mourning and burial rituals.

Today, unless we belong to a faith institution, we no longer have our ‘parish priest’.  That begs the question: Who do we turn to to guide us in the significant ceremonies of our lives?  Most of us would prefer someone who knows us, or takes time to get to know us.  But who?

Well, I’d have to say that I see this as an important part of my lifework as a Celebrant. Celebrant, after all, is another centuries-old term for someone who leads a community in ceremony.  It’s true that in the past Celebrants and Parish Priests were once associated with a particular religion (often Catholic or Anglican).  But today we are interfaith and intercultural, respecting the values and beliefs our very diverse clients.

There aren’t many of us around yet… in fact I was the first full-time, professionally educated, modern Celebrant in Vancouver.  I actually call my business Modern Celebrant! Today the demand for my services has grown dramatically. It tells me that a Celebrant-led ceremony is a perfect match here on the west coast where we trend to a multi-cultural, not formally religious demographic. People want this.  And thankfully more Celebrants graduate and enter the profession every year.

Serving Vancouver and Whistler (hey, it’s a large parish), families are turning to me in the way they would have years ago with a parish priest.  Couples I have married are having babies and calling upon me to create a family ceremony for them. Many clients have told me that when a parent or other family member passes away, they will entrust me with creating the Celebration of Life or other memorial.

I wish I could express just how immensely privileged I feel to be invited into the intimacy of my clients’ hearts and emotions. And into the most transformational events of their lives: births, end of life, marriage, beginnings and endings. For these are experiences that change us.

To be so trusted at such significant moments is a great gift that brings meaning to my own life.  I imagine that this is what it means to be a modern day parish priest… and a thoroughly Modern Celebrant.

If you  know someone experiencing a transitional event in their lives, I’d be grateful if you let them know about me. It’s my greatest desire to serve our community by sharing the healing power of ceremony.  I’m at 604-992-4217.

The Symbolism and Meaning of Easter

It’s true; I’m a follower of the Buddhist path and Easter is a Christian commemoration. But Easter has always been one of my favorite public ‘holidays’, followed closely by Thanksgiving.  Somehow ‘holiday’ seems the wrong word, implying the observance is merely a vacation day…but hey, it’s what we commonly use.  So what does it mean to me?

The resurrection of Christ is for me symbolic of the resurrection of hope, of new beginnings, and of the continuation of life.  The Biblical story reminds me that the beauty of life continues, even after times of immense suffering and darkness.

I look around today, Good Friday, and see evidence of this all around.  In the garden of my friend who died last year in the vibrancy of her life, the tulips she planted have pushed through the ground in a riot of colour. Standing before them I wish to weep for the sadness and loss of her, for I miss her very much, but inside there is a little twitter of joy to see evidence of her life continuing on in the seasons of her garden. How fragile life, yet how powerful and enduring.

Whether you believe that Christ rose from the dead after crucifixion on the cross, it is clear that, for many many people the time of Easter is a time of great meaning. Yes, we gather easter eggs, but we also gather for family feasting and togetherness.  Churches fill. The spirit of peace is passed.  And the collective heart of humankind that longs for fresh starts and new beginnings, beats with hope.

May you take time this weekend, whatever your faith, to welcome magic and mystery into your own life.

In peace, Celebrant Michele Davidson

Bridal Umbrellas for Rainy Vancouver Weddings

Having a Vancouver wedding? Well there’s this little thing called RAIN to consider! Smart Vancouver brides know to keep an umbrella handy at all times!  Not only for an outdoor wedding ceremony but also for protecting hair and makeup and for keeping a beautiful wedding dress pristine. But you don’t want to use just any old thing.

Vancouverite Jen Zurowski owns Cheeky Umbrellas.  Jen lives in the rainiest spot of all in the Vancouver area and knows exactly what we need in a well-made umbrella that is also super stylin’.  I have one and it is the best quality and most beautiful brollie I’ve ever had with it’s cherry blossom design and contrasting inside panel.

But here’s the BIG NEWS!  Jen just launched her Bridal Umbrella line.  I’ve been telling my brides about this for a while now, and everyone is stoked.

Her bridal umbrellas are absolutely stunning — worth the wait.  Tasteful, elegant, and of the highest quality. White with delicate silver designs and slogans like: “Rain or shine, That guy is mine!” on the bottom edge.  I invite you to check out Jen’s bridal umbrellas at Cheeky Umbrellas.  The link takes you directly to the bridal line, but you can also view her primary line of umbrellas.

These bridal umbrellas are perfect for Brides and Bridesmaids.  Makes a great shower gift too!