Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 5:30PM 
The sun, the smiles, the autumn equinox-
a stunning happy bride and a handsome happy groom. Not a dry eye in the room. The outdoor room of the garden and a grand entrance down the steps. The cutest flower girl and ring bearer imaginable! Ahhh such bliss as Marie and Michael say "I do, I do " and kiss.
Friday, November 2, 2012 at 9:36AM Ode to Sarah and Evan: September 7th 2012
Giving Voice to Love (Boy meets girl- girl likes boy- Let's all jump for joy.)
.
...........no more the shy, lanky boy, no need to look farther (fartha)
And what a perfect excuse to connect,
the return of Nomar Garciaparra.
So Sarah and Evan met for Sushi, at dinner
her hand shook like a tuna fin,
in the parking lot saying goodnight,
Evan knew, he wanted to see her again,
Sarah sensing his distress she put the question to rest,
on his nervous lips she planted a kiss,
never again would an opportunity be missed .
One year and a half later in that same parking lot,
down on one knee, Evan asked his Sarah,
“Will you marry me?”
And I guess she said, “YES!”
Or we wouldn’t be here at Popponesset,
a marriage to bless.
So let’s all give a big Hip, Hip Hooray
Evan and Sarah are married today!!!!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 1:07PM <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/49993124?badge=0" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/49993124">Siobhan & Kirill 09/01/12</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user12721523">Pat Sheils</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 10:24AM
"Under the Huppah- a symbolic act of intimacy that demonstrates the couple's intention to create a new home and new life." from the New Jewish Wedding, a book by Anita Diamant.
This wedding shelter made from birch branches and adorned with white hydrangeas with a carpet of peach rose petals, provided a sacred space for Evan and Sarah to say, " I do."
They wed in September at The Poppy' Popponnessett Inn on Cape South Beach.
What's with the Soulful?
As this Cape Cod Wedding Officiant /Celebrant /Interfaith minister winds down her 2012 season (slowly for I am happy to say I have two weddings at Chatham Bars Inn coming up in December) I want to thank all the wonderful couples who gave me the pleasure of presiding over their weddings this year.
It has been a truly delightful wedding season and I wish everyone of you the very best of love! I will be traveling abroad from November 5th -19th so I wanted to take time to voice my appreciation.
As the inquiries for 2013 begin, I thought I'd like to share with you the genesis of the name, Soulful Wedding Ceremonies. I am an ordained Interfaith Minister. I don't adhere to any one religion although I respect and honor all faith traditions. I was raised Irish Catholic and Celtic Spirituality is a part of my 'practice.' I truly love God but think God is actually too big and has too hilarious a sense of humor, to be contained in any one religion. Meher Baba summed up it up best when he wrote, "God is Love and Love must Love."
'Soulful' is not a religious word to me. Actually growing up near Detroit and dancing to '60s Motown Sound may have more bearing on my concept of soul then any CCD class ever did. Soul to me is felt deeply but acts without pretense. Soul has a great sense of the humor and humanity. Soul knows how to have a good time. Knows how to stand on ceremony without being stodgy.
Enough of that for now I had a couple who gave me feedback that the name might scare off some deliciously unchurchy couples. Rest assured you are safe with me. Now, let's look at some wedding shelters, archways and chuppahs all sacred thresholds for your wedding day.
This first do it yourself bedoin beach wedding shelter which was way out on Ballston Beach in Truro.This "Just the Two of Us" wedding was colorful, simply soulful and sweet.
The second archway just resounds with anticipation nestled at low tide on Chequessett Neck.
Lots of sky and the Nantucket Sound meet at Chatham Bars Inn Boathouse where Laura and Chris wed beneath a simple white trellis.
The last photo is of the wedding arch featured on my website. The bride's family built that arch over the course of the summer from driftwood on the bayside beach where Kathleen and Ben were wed in September 2010.
These thresholds are just a small sample of the wedding archs, chuppahs, trellises that serve as holy shelters set out in the natural world. As John O'Donohue says "To be Natural is to be Holy."
Soulful Wedding Ceremonies
For Marriage by John O’Donohue
From to Bless the Space Between Us
As spring unfolds the dream of earth,
May you bring each others hearts to birth.
As the ocean finds calm in view of land,
May you love the gaze of each other’s mind.
As the wind arises free and wild,
May nothing negative control your lives.
As kindly as moonlight might search the dark,
So gentle may you be when light grows scarce.
As surprised as the silence that music opens,
May your words for each other be touched with reverence.
As warmly as the air draws in the light,
May you welcome each other’s every gift.
As elegant as dream absorbing the night,
May sleep find you clear of anger and hurt.
As twilight harvest all the day’s color,
May love bring you home to each other.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 2:32PM * Minter & Richter offers FREE “Spa” Treatments for your wedding band for life! Contact us for more details!
“For love keeps the stars in the firmament and imposes rhythm on the ocean tide. Each of us was created of it, and I suspect each of us was created for it.” Maya Angelou
Rev. Kathleen Geagan of Soulful Weddings
MR: You’re a wedding officiant on Cape Cod. No pressure there! What do you do when the sun refuses to appear and the winds are whipping across the sand flats?!
KG: You hope that the couple has a back- up shelter plan but if not, you keep a sense of humor and carry on. I’ve been in a downpour only once and we did just that. The couple really wanted to marry out in the elements. I’m pretty cool about it, but I don’t do lightning.
MR: What led you to take on this special role?
KG: I was hooked after my first wedding for Pete and Kathy in October of 2000. After being ordained as an interfaith minister I was also working as a chaplain. Two years ago I went full time into the wedding presider role. It is a wonderful gift to meet people in love and share this momentous time in their lives. I love to write poetry and enjoy a good love story, so weaving these elements into a ceremony makes it an enjoyable creative process.
“I believe it’s my job to listen for the theme; to sense the thematic thread, to perceive in the story what is being laid down, like a good guitar riff and I hope I get it right.”
MR: I love the above sentiment – pulled from your Soulful Weddings blog. Does meeting a couple for the first time feel a little bit like a first date? How does the process work?
KG: Definitely, it does feel like a bit of a first date. Most first meetings are like that, we get to know each other, it can be a bit awkward at first. Most couples are relieved to realize that I’m not a ‘officious’ officiant. If we can’t meet in person we can talk on the phone, communicate by e-mail. I use a wedding questionnaire that helps with getting information about the couple and what they want in their ceremony. It is a creative process that evolves as we get to know each other. Some couples just want to turn it all over, others like to have more input. I let them lead but take over when I see stress levels rising. (Years as a psych nurse help in reading people.)
MR: Can you share a few of your favorite wedding/love/marriage quotes?
KG: “True love is unconquerable and irresistible. It goes on gathering power and spreading itself until it transforms everyone it touches.” ~ Meher Baba
“For love keeps the stars in the firmament and imposes rhythm on the ocean tide. Each of us was created of it, and I suspect each of us was created for it.” ~ Maya Angelou
MR: You perform many ceremonies on the public beaches of Cape Cod. Any interesting stories about odd spectators (sea specimen, tourists?)
KG: I’ve had some great ones- a tourist who stood behind me snapping pictures over the hedge. I wasn’t even aware of her but the bride kept looking over my head with a look of concern on her face.I’ve also had couples who elope then become friendly with the people at the B and B where they are staying or folks they met on the beach that day. They end up with an impromptu wedding party and guests. Once I did a wedding in Hyannisport and I had some young Kennedy children on a trampoline jumping up and down to get a look at the wedding. The bride loved that at her wedding the Kennedy clan’s youngest were her wedding’s paparazzi.
MR: What is your advice for couples hoping to have the ceremony go as comfortably and smoothly as possible?
KG: Nourish each others’ sense of humor, keep communicating, have a rehearsal and or a point person who likes to be in charge and knows all the players. Don’t burden yourself with the onus of creating your own ceremony from scratch. Find an officiant you trust and turn things over so you can focus on the essential vow and promise you are about to make to the one you chose above all the rest. Have fun, don’t expect everything to go perfectly. Perfect weddings are boring.
Thank you, Kathleen
