Jackie’s Blog

Soulmate Ceremonies

In September this year, little ole me who never drives far, ventured to the Peak District to conduct the wedding ceremony for Callum and Hyo (Orraya) a young loved up couple who sought me out from The Celebrant Directory.

They had previously legalised their marriage at a registry office, and wanted a celebrant led wedding to encapsulate their love and make it personal and heartfelt.

In comes the wedding celebrant!!

Callum and Hyo were having a very intimate ceremony at Callum’s family home which was truly delightful and so was their garden.

The ceremony was to take place outdoors but the weather was looking grim and so there was a backup plan in place for having the ceremony indoors should it not clear up.

So, come on, this is good ole Blighty of course it didn’t clear up, in fact it rained persistently all day!

Callum’s Mum had made an absolutely stunning floral arch over the door just in case it was moved indoors and what a good job she did, it was just perfect.

The ceremony was being held at 11am and was to be streamed live to Thailand so Hyo’s family could be part of the wedding.

Now I am nothing if not a stickler for being on time and hate being late for anything, so I travelled up the afternoon before so I could meet all the family and also have a quick run through of the ceremony.

Accommodation

I was staying overnight at The Waltzing Weasel in Birch Vale which is a lovely B&B not far from Callum’s folks and was met by Carol the owner.

We chatted easily and she made me feel very welcome, I’ve never really stayed anywhere on my own before, but to be honest I felt absolutely fine about it.

I had a lovely long soak in the bath that evening, then sewed on to a couple of the ribbons some very personal trinkets of Callum and Hyo. I could have gone to the pub with the family, but I wanted time to go through everything and get an early night.

I woke the next morning and looked straight out of the window to check the weather!

“Inside it is going to be” I thought as it was tipping it down, but I saw a few alpacas from the farm over the way, and despite it raining I took them as a good omen, I did of course take a picture of them and there were a pair of binoculars in the room, I must admit I was momentarily perplexed when I first saw them!! But Carol insisted they were to view the alpacas and wildlife when she showed me the room!

Given I am cursed with very fine hair, I knew after a quick curling with the ole tongs, that I would need to spray my hair with hair spray.

Oh great, the one I brought decided to malfunction and after a delicious hearty breakfast (of course I took a picture and sent it to my husband!)

I explained my plight with the hairspray and Carol bless her heart came back with a can of hair spray to use!

I went straight to the house after applying liberally Carol’s hairspray so that I could meet Hyo and help her with her hair as obviously her family were in Thailand, and I wanted to make sure she was ok.

Plan B/Inclement weather

Given we had gone to plan B and were having the ceremony indoors, I have to say it was absolutely stunning and Callum’s family had really stepped up to make sure that it was beautiful for Callum and Hyo and it beautifully complimented the intimate ceremony that was taking place that day.

So, after meeting the rest of the family and friends, it was time to set up, and by this time Alison the photographer and Alan the videography were also there.

The company doing the live stream to Thailand were setting up and I had a microphone attached to my wedding script, so it amplified for the family in Thailand.

Given I was performing two symbolic rituals, a ring warming and a Tying the knot ritual, I needed to explain to the guests what it entailed as they had never seen or heard of this before.

Symbolic Ritual explanation

I was really excited to do these rituals and the fact that the guests were as intrigued as they were excited made me feel really happy.

Hyo and Callum had given me a pretty little glass case filled with delicate leaves and petals to put their wedding rings to be passed around the guests for the ring warming ceremony.

What they didn’t know was that I had also placed two spiderman rings under the leaves for a little prank I was going to play!

They had no idea, but Callum had assured me his friends and family were game for a laugh so being a tad mischievous I though why not test that statement.

I also went round with a pretty basket and asked each guest to take out a little organza pouch. Inside there was a coloured ribbon and a small notelet to explain the meaning behind the colour for them to place over Callum and Hyo’s joined hands during the Tying the knot ceremony.

Naturally, I took a few selfies as I love taking them and then it was time to get going with the ceremony.

Hyo made her entrance and looked beautiful in her lovely dress, Callum was very handsome in his suit, and everyone had scrubbed up lovely despite it being a micro wedding, no one thought of it as anything other than a lovely wedding ceremony with a super couple.

I have to say it went very well, and there were lots of laughs and cheers as well as a few tears. Their vows to each other were beautiful, were heartfelt, and loving and they were faultless when they said them to each other.

Poker face queen

The ring warming trick was a hoot and I have a good poker face when I received the rings for the exchange and looked totally bemused, holding up the spiderman rings and said….

“Is this some kind of joke, who has the original rings, and can I have them back please?”

People looked a bit panicky and were looking around the room for the culprit, so I said…….

“Actually, it was me!”

People burst out laughing especially Callum and Hyo who were very happy to see their real rings in the case!

The ceremony continued on with no further tricks and the Tying the Knot ritual was lovely with everyone placing their ribbons over their joined hands and me saying what the colours meant.

I could tell people really found the Handfasting poem especially moving and when they pulled the ribbons and tied the knot everyone cheered!

Alison and Alan

Alison and Alan continued to create beautiful moments for the couple while they signed their certificate I had personalised for them.

Then some shots of them cutting the cake and Alison & Alan whisked them off for more pictures.

All hands on deck

Meanwhile the family converted the ceremony room into a dining room where there was the most delicious steak being prepared by Gary and his brother on the barbeque.

I was invited to stay for the meal which I did, and the steak was as nice as any Miller and Carter steak!

In fact, all the food was delicious, and they had fun and games trying to cut this huge, beautiful cake with a normal sharp Knife!                                               

Belinda, Callum’s Mum had a sudden flash of inspiration and disappeared, shortly returning with a ceremonial sword which was perfectly adequate to cut the cake!!

I had a slice of the cake which was made with apples and was really lovely.

What a way to finish up!

Given it was still pouring down and I had a bit of I trek home, I said my goodbyes and best wishes to the family, friends, and the happy couple.

All in all, despite it being very intimate, it was personal, heartfelt, and totally unique to them which of course as a celebrant is what we are always stiving for and I left the home feeling happy and so glad I had done it.