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December 29, 2019 Delwyn

Now why would your marriage celebrant be interested in your first wedding anniversary! For me it’s because I think your First Wedding Anniversary is one of the most important anniversaries you will celebrate. It sets the tone for the rest of them. I like to gift my couples something special for their first anniversary celebration and love to hear back from them on how they spent their day. I thought I would share a couple of these very romantic stories with you.



July 27, 2016 Delwyn1

… and how to write them.

Many couples have a fear of writing wedding vows. Don’t panic and don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you’re less of a couple. Putting big, meaningful and life-altering feelings onto paper is not easy and I hope some of these hints will help you. Actually, the best wedding vows come straight from the heart and in your own words. Some couples like to write them together and others like to write them separately, enjoying the look on their lovers face as they hear them for the first time at the ceremony.
Here are a couple of basic rules which can help you start the process.
Firstly, it can help if you agree on how much you are going to write, so your vows are roughly the same length.
Secondly, agreeing on whether you will include any ‘fun vows’, is also a good idea.
Then, to get you started, use the words ‘I promise…’ or ‘I love you because…’ or ‘I always smile when…’ to begin your sentences.
Most importantly, there are no rules! You can do what you like. It’s only important that your wedding vows reflect you and your personality, your partner and your relationship with each other.
As a marriage celebrant I get to hear many wonderful vows, as well as some very funny ones. I like to encourage my couples to write their own vows as it may be the only opportunity they will have to make promises for building one of the most important relationships of their lives. The best wedding vows talk about your past, present and future.
Here are some real-life vows from some lovely couples I married recently:

HER VOWS
I promise that this is a once in a lifetime love, and no matter what challenges come our way, we will face them head on and holding hands (because we’re otters).

I promise to continue to work on packing lighter when we travel. I won’t wear high heels through an airport terminal, but I draw the line at sprinting to a departure gate like a contestant in “The Amazing Race”. I cannot promise that my map reading or navigation skills will improve though.

I promise to give you my unconditional love, even when you might not deserve it, as we both know that this is when you need it the most.

I promise to support you in every aspect. I will encourage your interests and passions…Yes, even your frequent snowboarding trips!

I promise to give this marriage everything I have. I will approach it with my entire heart, mind and soul. This is not the end of a search, but a new beginning for both of us.

HIS VOWS
I promise to always listen to you, to treat you with respect and honesty, to protect
you, to nurture you, and to always be faithful to you.

I promise you crystal clear waters (with no sticks, or bits) wherever you swim, and I also promise to not leave the garage door open so rats and bugs don’t have easy access to the house.

I promise to hug and kiss you always, to rub your feet when they’re sore, to keep you warm when you’re cold, and to hold your hand as we journey through life together.

I promise to never again ask you to do a bungy-jump with me, and realise that
Para-gliding is the limit of your extreme.

I promise to give you my all, my 100%, and my best efforts always. To never let the
day end with unresolved issues, and I promise you my love and my heart forever.

HER VOWS
I love you for the way you treat me like a princess, care for me and love me unconditionally.
I love you for the way you make me see rationally when I’m worrying.
I love that you have such strong love for your friends and family.
I promise to always stand by your side during the good times and the bad times.
I promise to share in a life of wonderful adventures with you, as your wife.
I promise to be your personal alarm clock for all of your work meetings.

HIS VOWS
I love you for your beautiful smile and how often I see it. To me there is nothing that makes me happier than to see a smile on your face.
I love you for your bubbly, positive and cheeky outlook on everything, which never fails to bring out the best in me.
I love you for putting me first in everything you do, even when I resist or disagree with you. Bacon excluded of course.
I promise to make you feel like the beautiful princess that you are for the rest of our long life together.
I promise to never let you go and do whatever necessary to keep that beautiful smile on your face.
I promise to tolerate and support your endless desire for teacups, ducks, country music, bad TV shows and Disney, even if it drives me mad.



April 4, 2016 Delwyn0

Have you seen a wedding ritual being performed at a friend’s wedding or heard about wedding rituals but don’t know exactly what they are or how to integrate one into your wedding ceremony? They can be a pretty powerful expression of your values and cultural background so it’s important that you choose one that suits you and reflects what is important to you.

Here are some of my favourites, briefly described, to help you in you in deciding what might be right for you.

The Unity Candle Lighting ceremony stems from ancient religious customs. It’s common that the bride and groom light individual small candles and together light a larger centre candle as a symbolic act of their union. Please Note: This ceremony is difficult to perform at outdoor venues.

For the Ring Warming Ceremony the wedding rings are placed in a little bag or tied together with a ribbon and passed around the guests. Each person makes a wish on the rings for the couple (ideal for small weddings) before they are placed on the couples fingers. Please Note: More than 50 guests and this ritual can be difficult to complete.
A Rose/Flower Ceremony can take many forms. The bride and groom can give each other a flower as their first gift as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’. It can be a promise that whenever they argue through their marriage they will always present each other with a flower to say sorry. Alternatively the bride and groom can present their mothers will a flower as a token of their thanks and love. In fact, a flower can be given to anyone at the ceremony!

The Sand Ceremony originated with the bride and groom each taking a handful of sand and flinging it in the air where it became one and inseparable. Nowadays the bride and groom, sometimes with family members, pour sand from individual glasses into a larger centre glass as a symbolic act of the blending of their lives and families. As the grains of sand will never be able to be separated, the couple are bonded for life.

Hand-Fasting Ceremony or Lover’s Knot This is one of my personal favourites and I have developed a couple of lovely options. During this ceremony the bride and groom’s hands are tied with one sash or several ribbons, usually when they say their vows. The knot is fastened – the origins of ‘tying the knot’ – after which the ribbon is removed from their hands and placed in a keepsake box. Like their love, the knot will stay tied forever. When several coloured ribbons are used these colours represent certain values which are important to you in your relationship.
A Wine Sharing Ceremony has its origins in many religious and European traditions, but can really be done by any couple! The bride and groom drink wine from the same cup and agree to share all the sweetness and bitterness that their marriage brings. Sometimes they share some bread too!

The Time Capsule or Wine and Love Letter Box is another of my personal favourites that you can be very creative with. The couple can ask guests to bring something on the day to place in a locked box or time capsule. It can be opened on any anniversary (1st, 5th, 10th etc…) Many include a bottle of champagne or wine and love-letters to each other but other nice ideas are photos, wish notes from guests, letters and newspaper clippings from that day.