Unusual wedding venues

I am constantly asked where is the most unusual I have conducted a wedding. To be honest, I spend most of my time in parks on the harbour foreshore, restaurants and wedding reception venues, but here are few:

* On a platform at Central Station - they both worked for City Rail and the reception was being held in a speciall dining car that was to take the guests up to Brooklyn and back.

* On the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge - this is a very unflattering photo - the grey suits are not exactly haute coutour! Arthur and Charlotte were a gorgeous couple from the UK - he an engineer and she had overcome her fear of heights through hypnotherapy. It was quite fantastic really, with two of the Bridgeclimb guides as the witnesses.

* In a butcher shop.............and yes, he was a butcher!

R & R

It is such a busy time of year for weddings.........but you need a break sometimes! I only took on one wedding on Sunday evening last weekend as I had 4 days away in Gerroa with my husband's family. It is an annual event and we really look forward to it. We rent a few houses overlooking beautiful Seven Mile Beach. It is always around this time of year and means I turn away many wedding enquiries. Whilst I am passionate about my work, I do try and get a balance to my life. Any busy celebrant will tell you that this business can be totally consuming. You have to block out holidays, etc. a long time in advance. It is totally unprofessional for celebrants to take bookings and then advise the couple they are no longer available. I have never done this, but it is a common occurrence.

Summer is here

After all the rain and cool weather, it was summery conditions on the weekend for weddings. Ceremonies for me on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is very difficult to find "cool" suits! I always wear a suit to my weddings as I feel that is appropriate for my role, but it does make it very hot at times. These photos are from a a wedding earlier this year on a very hot Saturday morning at McKell Park in Darling Point. A truly delightful couple who had returned from the UK to celebrate with family and friends - Nicole & Nicholas.

Changing weather

Saturday was certainly an interesting day! Incredibly wet in the morning but by the time my first wedding was to start the sun came out and we ended up doing the wedding on the terrace of Bathers' Pavilion in Balmoral rather than inside the building. It was lovely as I had previously done a couple of weddings for this family, so always good to see them all again.Then off to the Botanic Gardens........hard to park because of an event the following day and they had closed part of Mrs. Macquaries Road. I was 1.5 hours early so eventually found a spot. Then the rain came again and we ended up in the Maiden Pavilion, which my couple had booked as their backup plan.It is interesting to note that over 15 years I have hardly ever had to revert to a wet-weather venue, but in this past year it has become quite common. I definitely think our weather has changed.

Classic Beauty

Just received a lovely email from a lovely couple I married at Gunners' Barracks on the October long weekend. We were set to do the wedding up at the Georges Heights Lookout and as the bride started to walk down the pathway a storm began! No problem...........I promptly announced the ceremony would take place on the terrace of Gunners' Barracks and invited the guests to make their way down the hill.Angela and Tristan took it in their stride.........Angela got back into the car and Tristan, resplendent in his kilt walked down the hill. The staff at Gunners' Barracks were amazing - within a few moments they had the terrace set up with chairs, red carpet and signing table.The ceremony began and the atmosphere was electric. Angela could only be described as a classic beauty.

Photo courtesy of Deyan Photography

Sweet.Petite.Treats

A very busy weekend of weddings! Friday, Saturday and Sunday..........it is that time of year.

I come across all sorts of "bonbonniere"/"wedding favours" etc. but the best ever was at a super cool wedding on Saturday at lunch time. Gorgeous couple, Eric & Kinae, had a very relaxed ceremony at Table for 20 in Surry Hills. The restaurant looked fabulous - two long tables of 20 very stylishly decorated and a couple of lovely gifts for the guest at each place setting - an interesting looking candle the groom had made and a little box of macarons - three macarons beautifully packaged. They gave me two boxes as I was leaving. My step-daughter and her husband were over for a casual dinner on Saturday night and we had the macarons with some lovely fruit at the end of the meal. They were sensational. I have tried the famous macarons around Sydney at present and also some at a cafe in Woolahra and I have to say these were better. The flavours were Vanilla with Cracked Pepper, Salted Caramel and Lemon. All fabulous, but the Salted Caramel was my favourite. Check out the blog - http://www.sweetpetitelikemetreats.blogspot.com/

A good woman

I have to say that just about everyone I marry is lovely! But, now and then you come across a really special person. Ann-Marie is one of these people.

I had the great honour of conducting the marriage of Ann-Marie and Sean recently. It was a very small, intimate ceremony on a Friday morning..........the couple, their two witnesses, the photographer & videographer. Ann-Marie and Sean had a great story to tell and the emotion during the ceremony was palpable.

We all assembled in the Botanic Gardens, the weather was perfect, the bride arrived in a vintage Rolls. A terrific ceremony and then after photos and more video time they celebrated across the road at Aria Restaurant. Perfect.

Warmest wishes Ann-Marie & Sean and I hope our paths cross again some day.

Inexperienced celebrants

An Australia wide survey of Marriage Celebrants conducted in December 2009, by Celebrante gave some surprising results:

(1) Just over 89% of marriage celebrants were appointed between 2004 & 2009.

(2) 85.6% of celebrants are part-timers with other occupations.

(3) Just over 11% of celebrants performed no weddings whatsoever in 2009 and 50.8% performed between 1 and 10 weddings in that year.

So, the end result is that it is a fact that the majority of celebrants are extremely inexperienced!

Just because you know someone "who knows a celebrant" it does not mean that celebrant will be good. Because they are a "really nice person" also does not mean that they are a good celebrant. Couples need to really do their research. You have only one chance for the ceremony to be right and well orchestrated by the celebrant.

Food for thought.

Busy Weekend

Such a busy weekend of weddings.................all went well, with the rain playing havoc with one. Gorgeous couple, Kim and Dan, had planned a ceremony at the spectacular Bradley's Head, but the weather was not on their side. A last minute change of plans to their reception venue in the city meant the ceremony ran late by 40 minutes! But I have to say they were terrific and took it all in their stride. The atmosphere inside Simmer on The Bay was fantastic. A beautiful bride and a groom who could not have looked happier, so all good in the end.

Bride & Groom from China

Have just been sent this photo from a gorgeous couple. Elena is living in Sydney and studying at Sydney University and her partner, Ding, flew in for the wedding. They had a small intimate ceremony overlooking beautiful Sydney Harbour on a perfect day.

A Challenge! - 16/10/10

A very busy weekend of weddings - Friday, Saturday & Sunday. All went well, but Saturday was a challenge. Gale force winds make delivering a ceremony very difficult. But.........the bride wanted to be married outdoors so this is what we did.We were standing at the end of the wharf at QStation - a wonderful venue. Not the easiest of condtions. It was difficult standing, let alone holding a ceremony folder and microphone. But we persevered and it all went well. A really gorgeous couple, who were just so happy - David and Natalia were a joy to work with.

My daughter's wedding

I recently had the great pleasure and honour to conduct the wedding ceremony of my beautiful step-daughter. She has been in my life for over 25 years and I love her dearly.
It was such a fabulous wedding, but I was quite worried the emotion of the moment would overtake me! I needn't have worried. It all went perfectly.

The ceremony was so reflective of Jacki and James and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We had a fabulous night. The ceremony was on the balcony of Aqua Dining Restaurant at Milsons Point. The view was sublime................it was a beautifully clear night and the views across the harbour, over North Sydney Pool and Luna Park were amazing.

They chose a cocktail reception. The food was incredible and the staff at Aqua Dining were wonderful...........so accommodating and nothing was a problem. The drinks flowed, the speeches were all terrific and the night was made with a fantastic 6 piece covers band from Melbourne, which my son-in-law's boss had arranged for them. All in all a fabulous night.

Stylebook

A fabulous phototographer I work with often has just released a Wedding Stylebook online.

Here is the link - www.tealilyphotography.com/blog

Please look at Trish Lee's beautiful images.

Naming Ceremony

I had such a lovely day on Sunday! Over the years I have conducted a number of ceremonies for a gorgeous family, the Andersons. This was yet another and all the family and friends were there to welcome young Max into the clan. It was an extremely emotional morning as Max's Pa, Max, had passed away suddenly not so long ago and he was of course mentioned in the ceremony.

This job of mine is just so rewarding, especially at times like this when you feel like one of the family. Thanks you Anderson family!

Recently I had the priviledge of conducting a small private ceremony at Bronte Beach for a lovely couple from Sweden. They had spent time there some years ago and came back to be married at one of their favourite Sydney beaches. The fantastic photographer, who I work with often, sent me a few of the photos he took. This one is amazing!

I came in from my weddings on Friday to find a beautiful gift (a box of 12 superb chocolate dipped strawberries) from a couple whose wedding I had conducted last October! It was accompanied by the following note:

Dear Pauline

Where do we start....? Thank you soooo much for marrying us, we could not have chosen a better celebrant!

Your attention to having everything run smoothly went well beyond our expectations; you even helped the guys with their buttonholes!

You put together a beautiful ceremony which was conducted with enthusiasm, warmth and most importantly professionalism.

You have had so many positive comments from our family and friends, so much so that one of our close friends have secured you for their wedding next April! Many have said that you are the best celebrant they have ever seen!

We had an absolute ball on the 31st October 2009 and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our wedding day so fabulous!

Anthony & Kursty Delmas