Wedding Costs: An article from The Insider Magazine

 No, this couple is not studying their bills, Jillian and Chris are reviewing their vows before the ceremony. In lieu of wedding gifts this couple asked for donations to an orphange in Pune,India.

                                       

 

 Jenny Creno of The Insider magazine sent me this article about wedding costs. This was my response. So many of the couples who seek my services are first and foremost focussed on their ceremony. 

 

 The ceremony- that's what it's all about (sorry Hokey Pokey.)

 

http://www.creditcardinsider.com/insider/financial-advice-for-wedding-planning/

This was my response to the article.

 

Hello Jenny,

Such an important subject especially when the couple is paying for their own wedding and on a budget.  I was  disappointed to see that the ceremony got the smallest piece of the pie chart along with stationary and cost of alcohol.  (Though I'm in good company.) Without a decent ceremony the day starts off with a thud instead of a celebratory high note with bells ringing,birds singing - everyone is in the mood for love!

A ceremony is truly the centerpiece. The celebrants' words and his or her ability to allow the couple to be present to their moment, sets the tone for the entire wedding day. It is the celbrant's job to get it right so that the ceremony is uniquely theirs not just a fluffy confection of the same old, same old.

It seems so silly that the cake and candy counter costs more than the celebrant.

You should probably know some Rabbis charge 10% of the entire cost of the wedding so they would be taking quite a bigger chunk out of that pie chart.

I would say the average cost for a skilled officiant is @$400.00  ($66 less than a cake.)
(More for destination and if there is a rehearsal.)  I am always willing to work out something for a couple who truly are on a budget. My sweet simplicity ceremony is $275.00 .

Take a look at Jenny's article and check out that pie chart -see what you think.

http://www.creditcardinsider.com/insider/financial-advice-for-wedding-planning/

September: the new June for Weddings on Cape Cod

 For this Cape Cod Wedding Officiant/ Celebrant/ Minister, September has been a very busy month. Such a spectacular time to wed on Cape Cod. Gone is the traffic but the lovely weather remains.

On September 7th I had two weddings, nicely spread apart in time and close by. This is the only way I  book more than one ceremony in a day. I learned this the hard way, as a rookie celebrant, when I was late, caught in Cape Cod traffic- never again.

The first wedding of September was an intimate beach wedding at Ocean Edge Resort right down the street  in Brewster. I had never met Jason and Lauren before the wedding but we had great conversation by phone and I felt comfortable writing them a poem.

Sometimes when I am running in the woods of Nickerson State Park I get inspired.  Imagry and or lines from what the couple has written about each other and their story spark a little poem or what I call, 'An Ode.'  I wish I could say it's the Irish bard in me but more likely, it's because I'm so full of malarkey!)

Here is a snippet and some photos by Stacie Kirkwood. It was so nice to re-connect with Stacie. Here is her blog and more photos.http://www.staciekirkwoodblog.com/

 

 from  An Ode to Jason and Lauren

Like a schooner letting out her sails

 Love alone prevails. 

 So as this darling couple takes their nuptial pledge,

 Here beside the bay at Ocean’s Edge

 Let’s all give a hip, hip hooray

 Lauren and Jason

 Are married today!

Spring Wedding Ceremonies-A Cape Cod Couple say, "I do."

 

May love always bring you home to each other...

Here comes the bride....................

Here comes the bride, Emily, on her father's arm. An indoor ceremony at 28 Atlantic -Wequassett Resort on Round Cove, was the perfect setting for this quintessential, naturally elegant Cape Cod Ceremony.

Emily Ann Ford and James Michael Gallagher wed at Wequassett on a miraculously warm spring afternoon on the crescent on the water. They met working at the Woodshed and that summer job led to their being wed. Enough said for now!

Tying the Knot beneath the Linden Tree at Ocean Edge

Spring Stirrings 

This Cape Cod Wedding Officiant is feeling the stirrings of spring. The dawn chorus has begun in the woods around our house. Tiny shoots are peaking up through the softening earth and white snow drops have blossomed.

During our last snow storm, I met with a couple who will say, 'I do' beneath the Linden Tree on the lawn at Ocean Edge. The bride and I  looked up the meaning of the Linden tree and here's a bit of what we found.

Linden is part of the birch family.......

Scandinavian couples would celebrate May Day by making love in a Birch forest. Birch forests were sacred to Frigga, Goddess of fertility and love. The legendary Celtic lovers Diarmid and Grainne slept in Birch branch huts as they fled their pursuers.

 So as the snow fell and the the fire crackled in the hearth,we imagined a summer wedding ceremony beneath the tree.

Linden is the spirit that can reveal the sweet honey....... In the spring, bees are drawn to the linden nectar, and the honey differs from the honey of other flowers. It is lighter. The linden tree spirit reiminds us of the dreams we have tucked away to the back of our hearts and it awakens the inner desire and strength to follow them.

                                                 Bruce and Tricia burst with sweet glee beneath the Linden tree.