What’s trending now for ceremonies | 2020

How we were able to honour those who departed, to celebrate their lives & to embrace the loss through community, companionship & ceremony. How we were able to gather & allow witness to celebration of birth or relationship. How we were able to meet & mark in so many ways has been curtailed to keep us safe & to prevent further loss.

I have never in my lifetime witnessed a time when our need was so great for ceremony and ritual. Ceremonies offer us a sense of psychogical certainty, we understand as a social group that the cycles of birth, marriage and death, are witnessed by the community in the ceremonies we hold.

And yet throughout the pandemic so many were denied the ritual of community witnessing these rites of passage. Perhaps though we can still mark these occasions.

I was honoured to be part of a live streamed, globally attended, celebration of the life of my dear friend and family member Helga. The innovation of her husband Troy and loved ones to honour her life and allow for all her cherished family who live all over the world, to be in attendance and actively participate in her funeral ceremony. This, in the height of a global lockdown, was the most complete display of love in action.

Under pressure, heartache and uncertainty, humanity really can be so generous, adaptable and navigate a way to thrive.

What’s trending now for ceremonies | 2019

For most of us, conjuring images about weddings we picture, crowds of well wishers, friends and family, tables with name cards, speeches, spilt bubbly and group photos.

I’ve seen a huge spike in couples choosing to drop all the traditional wedding noise and choose instead the elegance of a ceremony with only the 2 most important people invited: the couple! Some, might think this is due to financial limitations but that has not been the primary motivation from my experience.

The couple(s) that I have had the honour of facilitating ceremonies for offered very different reasons; One couple wanted a ceremony that was less about the guests & more about them. Another couple wanted to have a simple sacred ceremony to celebrate their unique beliefs that were not shared by their wider family. Common for all of the couple’s was the opportunity to focus solely on their ceremonial experience & enjoy celebrating with friends & family at a later date.

What’s trending now for ceremonies | 2018

Have you ever considered that your love relationship could have a personal symbol? Perhaps a magickal sigil that uniquely captures the signature energy of who you are together? Well get ready folks because it’s here and it’s gaining momentum in popularity!

I work with a growing number of couples wanting unique ceremonies that offer a deeply personal celebration filled with themes and heady with symbolism. Here’s a great example: I had the absolute pleasure of conducting a vow renewal ceremony for Craig and Claudine. The first thing to be discussed on their to do list was how to weave their ceremony around the symbol of a ship's anchor! The anchor symbolic of stability and loyalty.

As a happily married couple they felt that the anchor embodied the core of their 10 year marriage. What a perfect symbol of their love.

Check out their tattoos, so rockabilly chic!

What’s trending now for ceremonies | 2017

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with the beautiful TV personality and all round gorgeous starlet Ferne McCann . Ferne is at the cutting edge with her ceremonial choice which was to bless her unborn child & to affirm the choice to cross the threshold into motherhood.

I certainly have noticed a sudden upward trend for this ceremony request. Ferne & I met in September to conduct her unique ceremony. Around this time I was approached by numerous individuals asking if an unborn baby blessing could be provided for an expectant Mother to be.

As I’m already a big believer that we should celebrate and honour the cycles of our everyday life, I’m thrilled that new Mum's are embracing their pregnancy. Choosing to take time out of their busy lives to stand in sacred space, affirming and positively intending a warm welcoming to their precious child that they are yet to meet.

What’s trending now for ceremonies | 2016

Jumping the broom is back with gusto! I am yet to hold one wedding where the couple haven’t chosen bringing back this traditional ritual act.

In case you aren't aware what jumping the broom has to do with a wedding, it symbolises the transition into a new stage of life. At the end of the wedding ceremony the couple hold hands and jump over a broom to signify leaping into a new life together leaving their old lives behind!

In times past, this was the ritual act that symbolised marriage. Aside from this being a gorgeous way to weave a once traditional aspect into one's ceremony, it’s also a fabulous way to involve all your guests - with the chanting of ‘jump the broom' ‘jump the broom’ before you make the leap.

It’s a fantastic photo opportunity for sure!