A Story of: Love

 “Hail wedded love, mysterious law, true source of all humanity!”

I hold these words by the poet John Milton in my heart every time I vision a wedding ceremony for one of my remarkable couples. Always I am touched by the boldness and beauty of the love that exists between them. A little of their stardust brushes off on me each and every time. And I can tell you that standing SO CLOSE to a couple when they speak their vows is an experience that is utterly inexpressible. I love this photo because it says it all.

All our wedding couples work through Modern Celebrant’s Signature Reflective Process in the months prior to their wedding. This allows us to know the couple as a couple and as individuals before we craft a wedding ceremony especially for them. I’d like to share the story of my collaboration with one of my most joyful couples.

Let me introduce Ellie and Kirk. Aficionados of Fluevog shoes… Unique soles for unique souls.

Yep. These two are unique souls for sure and they wanted their entire wedding day to reflect their personalities, including their custom Wedding Ceremony. They knew they wanted a Wedding Celebrant, did a search and found Modern Celebrant.

It was love at first sight for me when I met Ellie and Kirk. What a fun experience to vision a wedding ceremony for this hipster couple. They definitely did not want just a pretty ceremony, with rituals and words that looked nice but were empty of meaning. A “Boring same-old, same-old” wedding ceremony wouldn’t have suited them AT ALL! Ellie and Kirk wanted what we am passionate about creating… a wedding ceremony created from the inside, from the heart.

This is the one I love. This is US showing you how much we mean to each other!

The signature piece of Modern Celebrant ceremonies is storytelling. It is the personal narrative, the story of the couple, that makes Modern Celebrant ceremonies such deeply felt experiences. And that’s why Ellie and Kirk’s wedding ceremony was such fun for guests. It was a little chilly that day but no one minded because they loved hearing about who and how this couple is together… about their adventures, their hopes, and their dreams.

The ceremony was held at Whistler’s beautiful Edgewater Lodge, on the expansive lawn beside the lake. We began with a ring warming where the rings were passed among guests to each hold for a moment and offer their silent wish for Ellie and Kirk’s marriage. There were a lot of friends and family so the rings made their way around while I told the story of the couple.  I then shared Ellie and Kirk’s own words about what the wedding rings mean to them and what they hoped these would come to mean over time. The tenderness with which they placed the rings on each others fingers is a moment I will always remember.

A Handfasting + a Gift of Salt

In addition to the ring warming, I integrated two other lovely rituals into the ceremony. We did a simple Handfasting with a long length of white silk that I use just for this purpose. It is imbued with the loving intentions of many couples. Did you know it is from Handfasting that we come to use the expression, “To tie the knot”? We also included the mothers by having a gifting of salt to the couple. Historically salt was of great worth and cost. As such it was used to seal contracts and covenants, including wedding covenants. In many cultures it was traditional for each family to give a gift of salt, both containers were then mingled and used as the spice of life in the married couple’s kitchen. Since this couple are such avid chefs, this was a perfectly relevant ritual to include. I just know they’ll put the salt to good use in all those delicious meals they love so much.

I loved this ceremony! It was as real and honest and adventurous as the couple it was crafted for.

With heart,

Celebrant Michele Davidson

PS. The sweet photo is by Pascale of Gadbois Photography.

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