Alan + Nicole’s Whistler Wedding at the Edgewater

I love creating and performing custom wedding ceremonies in Whistler. More often than not, Whistler weddings take place outdoors. Nature offers many amazing ‘cathedrals’ of the heart. And when it comes to weddings Whistler BC has it all… from lakes to mountains to vast open sky.

Nicole and Alan, and their sweet daughter Sophie, were one of my most adventurous and nature-connected couples. Avid outdoors people, I simply could not imagine them getting married in any other Whistler wedding venue. The Edgewater Lodge has a stunning lakeside setting, perfect for a summer wedding.

I was so thrilled to serve as Nicole and Alan’s Wedding Celebrant and to vision a custom wedding ceremony for them that totally reflected their true selves and that involved their community as well as their daughter Sophie. Creating custom wedding ceremonies that honour the children in a couple’s life is very important to me.

In their five years together, Alan and Nicole have nurtured great depth and connection between them. There is a wonderful sense of ease to the relationship they describe as being, “spontaneous, playful, fun, active, understanding and perfect!”They share the same sense of adventure and instinctual commitment to get the most out of every second of life… be it family time, couple moments, engaged with the world around them, or with the family and friends they love so much. To say they love bikes is an understatement. Nicole has six and Alan has five. Even their daughter Sophie has two – and she’s still a toddler! Biking is a major part of their lives.

I’d like to share with you Nicole and Alan’s beautiful words about the future they stepped into through their totally custom wedding ceremony: “We want it to be an equal partnership where we make time for each other… and where we can talk openly, honestly, and often. We’ll ride our bikes together, laugh a lot, support each other, and be appreciative and forgiving of one another. We’ll feel contentment, happiness, and loved.”

The vows they wrote for each other were so personal… their words made everyone cry, laugh, and say ‘awww’. We had a very community based closing to the ceremony. And then little Sophie joined her mum and dad for their triumphant walk back down the aisle and towards their new life!

Was so touched by their note to me after the wedding:

“We will always remember our ceremony. It was truly a magical day and the ceremony you created was definitely everything we wanted it to be. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face and gives me a feeling of love and warmth. And here’s what a friend of ours said, “The whole back row was crying and even I was welling up” ……… this from a big tough guy who’s probably not cried since he was 12 years old!”

Always a pleasure to collaborate with the lovely Wedding Planner Rachael Lythe from Sea to Sky Celebrations… the talented adventure photographer Robin O’Neill... and of course the Edgewater Lodge team.

Vancouver and Whistler’s Modern Celebrant Michele Davidson works with newly engaged couples to create transformational and totally custom wedding ceremonies. She helps couples expand their vision of their ceremony AND their engagement. It’s a one-in-a-lifetime folks… make it sing!!! Email Michele at Michele@moderncelebrant.ca for Vancouver + Whistler wedding ceremonies.  She also travels internationally for weddings! Bali anyone?

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.

Custom Wedding Ceremony at the Edgewater Lodge, Whistler BC

gadbois photography

Meet Ellie and Kirk. Aficionados of Fluevog… 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 and sounded 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 I am passionate about creating… a wedding ceremony created from the inside, from the heart — through reflection and learning. This thoughtful open-hearted couple shared thoughtful words with me about their vision for their wedding day. They wanted it to “…be a day to savour. A day to slow things down and let everyone who shares our wedding day take stock of the love in their own lives and realize how important they are to us.” For Kirk and Ellie it was also a chance to stamp a certain point in time and say, “This is the one I love. This is US showing our community how much we mean to each other!” Read More >

Real Weddings at Nita Lake Lodge

Quite possibly Greg and Leah’s wedding was the warmest and truest I’ve ever officiated. Maybe because she’s a prairie girl and he’s from the Maritimes. Those places seem to bring down to earth, authentic people into this world.

The wedding ceremony and reception were at the Nita Lake Lodge, my new favorite get-away-place from Vancouver. When I saw the bathroom in my suite, with it’s huge tub and separate shower, I nearly knelt and kissed the slate slab floor.  Oops. I digress.

It was a warmish day that called for an outdoor ceremony. Leah was so beautiful and full of excitement that I cried when she walked in, with her eyes only for Greg. There is something about this moment of a ceremony that touches me profoundly. It is a moment of hope, of beauty, and it is a moment where everything but love is suspended. Every one present feels it.

Greg’s warmth and tenderness as he took Leah’s arm was so I don’t know… chivalrous.  His gesture told us all that Leah is incredibly precious to him.

Their Love Story was so much fun to tell.  It really is worth spending the time to truly ‘get’ a couple.  Makes such a difference to the wedding ceremony. And sets an extraordinarily warm and personal tone to the entire wedding experience… for the couple and their guests.

I began their story with this:

“Leah and Greg kept me laughing with all the twists and turns that kept popping up as they told me how they met and fell in love. Just when I thought I had the story down pat, one of them would casually say something like: “And then I moved to Baffin Island” or “Oh yeah, that was the weekend I went picking grapes in the Okanogan…”

Guests learned things about the couple they hadn’t known, including close family members. And Leah and Greg were held in an important collective moment by people who love them. What a way to start a marriage!

How we did it

Several months in advance, Leah and Greg worked through the reflective process I’ve developed. They shared with me what they bring to the relationship and what their partner does that truly inspires them. Marriage is about deep appreciation and awareness… it’s important to set that intention early on.  Leah and Greg and I also sat down together in their own home so they could share on a more intimate level their stories, hopes, and personalities. It’s an entirely different experience meeting with people in their own homes. Most officiants don’t make time to do that, preferring to meet in their office, but I think that’s a real shame. A home reflects those who live there. It is part of their story!

I’m like a weaver… weaving by hand the personal, true-life story of those I work with. When seamlessly integrated into a ceremony (also written just for them), the many hours spent crafting it is so SO worth it. That’s why I call them ‘labours of love’!

A wedding ceremony is a memory that people hold their entire lives. It’s worth doing well. Very well.

These beautiful photos were taken by Photographer James Stockhorst.

A Custom Wedding Ceremony on Blackcomb Mountain

Riding the new Peak to Peak Chair to a Wedding in the Sky!

The setting for this lovely little wedding ceremonywas the top of Blackcomb Mountain on a bluebird summer afternoon.

I love it when couples pull off a mood of elegance and occasion, but with a relaxed easy feel!

Natalie and Jay’s wedding ceremony was all this and how!  With just family and a circle of close friends present, their custom wedding ceremony was all about intimacy.

It was so much fun for me to tell the story of how Natalie and Jay came to this place in their lives; to be standing in this beautiful place getting married.

Together, we shared more than a few tears, lots of tender laughter, and an abundance of memorable moments. I’m still tickled that Natalie became so absorbed in my saying the vows for her to repeat, that she forget to repeat them at her cue.  One of the sweetest moment of the summer wedding season!!!

I hear from Natalie and Jay that some of their male guests admitted to shedding a tear or two (or maybe three?) and that they consider this a great compliment… me too!

Natalie and Jay are designers, and well, stylish people.  They sure know how to plan a party!  An added bonus to this wedding was that I got to go on the Peak to Peak Gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains — the gondola is an engineering feat, breaking three world records and setting up to be Canada’s newest tourism icon.Thanks you two lovebirds for the great ride!!! I was only scared a little.

Joyfully yours,

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