Archive for the 'Tips for Wedding Ceremonies' Category

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!

Vancouver Wedding Officiant, BC Marriage Commissioner, Justice of the Peace?

Many couples don’t know where to begin searching for someone to create and perform their wedding ceremony.

Marriage Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Wedding Officiant, Wedding Celebrant, Marriage Officiant, Minister, Chaplain.  These are all commonly used terms but what do they really mean?

Here in beautiful British Columbia, there are two primary options when choosing the Officiant for a legal wedding ceremony. I fall into the first category.

ONE)  An Officiant recognized as a Religious Representative… someone who has gone through BC’s very strict approval process and is thereby authorized to stand in the power of ceremony. While it may sound formal — it certainly doesn’t need to be! For instance, as an Interfaith Celebrant and Chaplain, my ceremonies are deeply meaningful and completely reflective of the couple’s beliefs, whatever they are.

But I digress… the truth is that this is a very diverse group of people who can perform a wide variety of wedding ceremonies.  We range from Lay Chaplains (like me) who work in an Interfaith way (again, like me), to Priests, Ministers, Imams, Rabbis, etc who can guide a very formally religious wedding ceremony in a house of worship.  We use a variety of titles: Celebrant, Wedding Officiant, Wedding Chaplain.  What we don’t use is Marriage Commissioner ...

TWO) A government appointed Marriage Commissioner who uses a preset script.  These ceremonies can be fun if the Marriage Commissioner is willing to make changes to the script to give it a more personal feel.  Marriage Commissioner ceremonies are not created or written specifically for the couple.  These ceremonies fall into what I call ‘the cookie cutter’ category.

That leaves us with Justice of the Peace.  In the past these officers of the peace performed wedding ceremonies in city halls and courthouses around BC.  Nowadays the Marriage Commissioner has taken over this role.

Did I muddy the water or make it clearer?  Please let me know.  I’d like to really help people understand this.

Joyfully yours,

Celebrant Michele Davidson, Vancouver Wedding Officiant, Custom Wedding Ceremonies Vancouver and Whistler

Making your wedding anniversary meaningful

Dan and I honoured our 5th wedding anniversary by hanging upside down… several hundred feet over the valley floor…suspended by a harness clipped onto a 2,200 foot long steel cable.  WHEE!  Loved it.

What a fabulous way to honour our individual and collective sense of adventure and daring.

Marriage is kind of like ZipTrekking!  Wild, exciting, scary, fast, disorienting, joyful, and primal!

Did I mention they threw in scream therapy for FREE?

I encourage you to ‘think outside the box’ when planning events to honour birthdays, memorials, mid-life, anniversaries, etc.

Take time to reflect on what suits your values and personal story. What reflects your deeper feelings?

For Dan and I, dinner out at a fancy restaurant well… it’s nice… but it isn’t really us.  Though, we struggled with NOT doing it!  Seems sort of like the ‘done thing’ in our society.

But the truth is this: our first years of marriage were challenging. Really challenging. And we are so much richer for it.  Dan and I have a deeply intimate and emotional bond as a result.  Going out for dinner just seemed ho-hum.

Our anniversary experience suited us perfectly. Here are the photos to prove it!  We’re bustin’ some moves for the camera.

(Don’t forget to check back in a week for the first of my backlog of 2009 ceremony postings!)

Joyfully yours,

Celebrant Michele