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Hello and Welcome!

 

What is a celebrant?
A celebrant is a person trained professionally in ceremony and ritual and one who is directed in the creation of ceremonies by the client’s beliefs and values and not their own.  Celebrants are significantly different from other officiants because of their training and education, particularly regarding the customs of different cultural and faith traditions. I received my training and certification through the Celebrant Foundation and Institute and honor the Code of Ethics adopted by the Celebrant Association of North America.

I consider myself a Lifecycle Celebrant, working with families and individuals to create ceremonies and celebrations for all the important transitions cycled through in a lifetime. 


What is an interfaith minister? 
As an interfaith minister, I am free to serve people of all beliefs, backgrounds, and traditions (secular, spiritual, or religious.) I am legally authorized to perform marriages and am not affiliated with any particular church or religion. My own beliefs do not play a part in your ceremony.


I am from a Christian background and my fiancé is Jewish… what kind of ceremony can we have?
If you are a couple marrying outside faith and/or cultural traditions in which you grew up, you might feel your options are limited. You might like to honor your heritage but perhaps you do not practice the religion of your family any longer, or maybe you do. The good news is that you can have a ceremony that celebrates and honors both of your backgrounds. Together we will discuss what within your traditions you hold as meaningful. Special readings or music, rituals that we can re-imagine and blend in a culturally appropriate and respectful way can honor the richness of your histories and that of your families. 


We are a lesbian couple and we each have a child from a previous marriage. How can we involve our children in our ceremony? 
Marriages are big transitions for everyone, especially if there are children involved. To include children in the wedding ceremony can help them see themselves as important members of a new and blended family. Rituals in particular, actively help children to see themselves as part of a larger whole. A sand ritual is one example that very clearly illustrates this. In the sand ceremony, everyone has a small container filled with different colored sand. One by one, each person adds his or her sand into a larger glass vase and the particles of colored sand are combined. The individual grains of sand still retain their unique and original color, but when combined with the other colors of sand, create an altogether new color that before did not exist.


Do I need a rehearsal?
It’s always a good idea, especially if you have a larger wedding party and a more complex ceremony.  Couples feel more relaxed and can give their complete attention to their wedding day if they have been able to rehearse.  Those who have a special role in the ceremony, such as readers or vocalists, will appreciate getting a chance to rehearse as well.  However, in situations where a rehearsal simply isn’t possible, or perhaps isn’t quite as necessary, I will still make sure you and your wedding party understand what you will be doing, where you will be standing, and what cues you will be responding to. These little “mini-rehearsals” are done on the fly but very effective!


Rehearsals can be a great deal of fun too and usually take about an hour. We will do a “cue to cue” which means we move through the different sections of the ceremony without saying all the ceremonial language so we keep it fresh and new for the wedding day.


Keep in mind that the actual ceremony usually lasts from 20 – 35 minutes (from processional to recessional) but often in the rehearsal we are going over things a few times just to get it right.