How I Work

I create ceremonies using a pattern of steps that consistently helps couples create a wedding that is authentic and unique. If that sounds paradoxical to you, take a wander through the following pages and you’ll get an idea of what I mean.

It all starts with a structure. As in the framework of a house, structure gives you an idea of the rooms as you walk into them but tells you nothing of the character of the home that is to emerge.

Having set the structure, it’s time to work on a theme. This is the consistent style that runs threadlike through your ceremony in the same way the fittings, features and colours of a well-designed house knit it together as a cohesive whole. With a theme you start to see the home emerge.

Once a theme is in place, it’s time to start crafting the actual elements of the ceremony. These are the centrepieces: the vows and any rituals or symbolic actions you want to include, like the ring exchange, the asking, hand-fasting, wine-drinking, broomstick-hopping… you name it. If it fits with the theme and is situated in the ceremony according to the structure, it’ll work like magic. Unforgettable.

Setting up a Structure

Even spontaneity requires a structure: free time to play and be spontaneous doesn’t happen on its own and jazz musicians who want to freely jam still need to keep to a key and time signature if they’re truly going to create magical moments of synchrony and beauty. Creating a ceremony structure helps you jazz in…

Keep reading

Finding your Theme

If you run a Google search on ‘Wedding Rituals’ you’ll find an endless stream of options, from unity ceremonies using coloured sand, to hand-fasting and rituals from every corner of the globe. It’s both a blessing and a curse that our modern Western culture has no set rulebook, no prescribed format for how to live…

Keep reading

Crafting the Contents

Once you’ve created a structure and worked out a theme, it’s time to actually write some vows and decide what else will form the content of your ceremony: we’re talking about asking for an ‘I do’, exchanging rings, readings, songs, speeches, blessings, and other rites and rituals. Let your theme speak for itself. If your…

Keep reading