Bless these rings and the two that now wear them

i

                           With this ring I promise I will always love you.

Photos by Stacey Hedman  http://staceyhedman.com

"You're Sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod' Weddings

   First Encounter Beach Eastham -Weddings on Cape Cod Bay

Alex and Kate Share a kiss at Chatham Bars Inn

If you spend an evening you'll want to stay
Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod 
 

So many of the couples that choose to marry on Cape Cod have some connection to this beautiful place.

Some of them are lucky to call Cape Cod home like Kristin ande Greg in the photo above. They married a year ago at the Red Jacket Resort in Yarmouth

This Cape Cod Wedding Celebrant and her husband are blessed to live in Brewster where we have one blinking traffic light in the whole town. Things  haven't changed much since Patti Page sang about quaint little villages, winding roads,lobster stew and the moonlight over Cape Cod Bay- spend an evening you'll want to stay. Jiri and Iveta came all the way from Prague in the Czech Republic  to wed at Crosby Beach in Brewster.

Twenty- five years ago my husband, David and I, did just that. We spent our honeymoon evenings on Cape Cod Bay and years later we decided to stay. 

This past year I received a call from a darling bride, Heather Shea,  who asked if I was available on June 16th to preside over her 'Bloomsday' ceremony in P-town. I was and she was excited that I knew what Bloomsday was. It turned out that her fiance had done his dissertation on James Joyce’s Ulysses. She went on to say that the wedding was being held at her parents inn. We were both blown away when she said that it was the Watermark Inn- that is where my husband and I honeymooned in June of 1988.

Now I have to back -up for you who are scratching their heads about the Bloomsday comment. For you who aren't James Joyce fans, suffice it to say, I had a great time writing and reading in my Irish brogue, 

a stream- of- consciousness poem for Heather and Michael.

                                                          A Bit  Bloomsday:June 16th, 2012 

 With this little bit of history I ‘d like to formally welcome Mike Bryne and Heather Shea  to this Bloomsday wedding celebration day with this beautiful bride and her brilliant groom as they make fast the ties that bind. We find ourselves gathered here at the Watermark Inn, the summer dwelling place of the Family Shea, and imagine a time before, miles away, on another distant shore, a red-haired lad listened to a siren song on an Island Long. As far off but on the same coast east a  flaxen haired beauty fair wandered the beaches of Cape Cod Bay cheeks blushed with salt –spray and the scent of rosa ragosa, beach plum lipped, hair tipped with white gold from sea and sun ,  Even as wee ones the call of the tides the shifting sands of time and fate were drawing them closer unbeknownst to either of them their paths would indeed cross on yet another island  of Manhattan and lead them here to this moment in time

 and they, like so many lucky couples, would be led to wed on Old Cape Cod and someday they too, may spend an evening and want to stay.

Utterly Romantic- Perfectly Flawed: Matthew and Mary Wed, at last, on Downton Abbey

" Matthew, I know you will never be happy with anyone else, as long as Lady Mary walks this earth."

Ahhh, I dare say Tom really saved the day when he fufilled his best man duties and spoke this words to Matthew.

What joy to see such fidelity to the real essence of marriage. To remain true to one another even when it appears that you are worlds apart. To take a leap of faith, to be carried over the threshold into the shelter of marriage......Even when you are arguing over money ...can you imagine!

Tom really embodied the duties of the  'best man' with his interventions to bring Mary and Matthew back together. No, they are not the perfect couple, there is really no such thing, but as Katie put it when asked about her relationship with Kevin "we are perfectly flawed." 

Kevin and Katherine wed at Chatham Bars Inn on December 15th. Their Great Gasby meets Downton Abbey, meets Massachusetts South Shore wedding, complete with a sea glass, white hydrangea and peacock feathered theme, was utterly romantic and perfectly them.

 As I said at the end of the interview with Lynn Holgrim on Full Circle the blog of Minter and Richter Rings," Don't pressure yourself to have the perfect wedding."

 What is more memorable and meaningful is a 'perfectly you' wedding. 

 Every wedding ceremony should have a touch of spontaneity and heartfelt sincerity a few unscripted moments.  This provides a perfect counter weight to the solemnity of the vows of fidelity you are about to take. As my British groom put it,

 "We want our ceremony to be joyous but contain the proper gravitas." 

Weddings like every unique couple have an alchemy all their own.

Mary and Matthew certianly do and did, as they said, "I do."

For all you Downton Abbey enthusiasts out there. Here is some reassurance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/arts/television/downton-abbey-audience-swells-for-seasons-first-episode.html?_r=0

 "Back in November, NBC ordered a drama called “The Gilded Age” from Julian Fellowes, the creator of “Downton.”

 For public television, too, “the success of ‘Downton’ has increased the number of projects in the pipeline like it,” Ms. Eaton said.

Fear not, “Downton” fans: a fourth season is in production.

"A Dream Come True" Jillian and Christopher say," I Do!"

http://www.stylemepretty.com/massachusetts-weddings/2012/11/13/cape-cod-wedding-from-nicole-chaput-photography/

Setting in motion many long happy days with

noteworthy achievements and a tender flow-

Like Chris said, “When you know, you know.”

And so we gather here today at the crescent on the bay

To say, “Hooray, Chris and Jill are married today!”

   From the Bride… Chris and I were married at Wequassett Resort on Cape Cod on July 7, 2012, on a humid but otherwise perfect day that was exactly three years, two months, and one day after our first date. We were so excited as our wedding day approached, for the usual reasons of course, but also because weddings play a big role in our lives together. Chris is a wedding photographer by trade, and we actually met when he was hired to photograph my cousin’s wedding (yes, I was a bridesmaid!). A friendship, and eventually love, blossomed as he photographed my sister’s and several additional cousins’ and family friends’ weddings in the years that followed. We both spent lots of time on Cape Cod as children and have wonderful memories of times we’ve spent together down Cape. Chris has worked at Wequassett too many times to count, and deeply respects his friend (and catering director) Kalson Pang’s talent when it comes to coordinating flawless events. Having our wedding on Wequasset’s Croquet Lawn overlooking Pleasant Bay was a dream come true, especially because of the beautiful, deeply-personal ceremony written and delivered by Rev. Kathleen Geagan, complete with an original comedic poem telling the story of our courtship. http://www.nicolechaputphotography.com/

The Vows

The wedding ceremony is built around the cornerstone of the vows. A promise to be faithful to the one you choose above all the rest. The one to whom you give your word. 

 The Meaning of Marriage: Wendell Berry

The meaning of marriage begins with the giving of words. We cannot join ourselves to one another without giving our word. And this must be an unconditional giving, for joining ourselves to one another, we join ourselves to the unknown…you do not know the road; you have committed your life to a way.