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.

A Valentine's Day Reflection

One Spirit Community of Sacred Practice A Daily Practice of Sacred Reading & Meditation February 14 The human heart is surely a most precious and mysterious reality. It can be strong and yet it can be hurt. It can open and yet it can close. It can include others in love and yet it can exclude others because of fear. Such polarities need not discourage us. Instead they can point us to our splendid evolutionary task: We humans are here to go beyond fear and limitation so we can become ever more open to love. Indeed, we were given a lifetime just for that.

Update on Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 8:26AM by Soulful Wedding Ceremonies

A December Wedding 

   

Sweet Simplicity

Just the two of us saying, 'I do'

a promise, simply, but sincerely, to be true

 Photos by Stacy Hedman Photography

Valentine's Day Greetings from Soulful Wedding Ceremonies

In praise of Eros -a day that was made for lovers! There is still time to grab a marriage license and get hitched. These two hearts say it all. Hope you all made it through the storm. Here is a little prayer I often say at my weddings.

Bless this couple as they unite in marriage and create a family.

Please protect them and guide them through the challenges and storms of life.

Let their days together be happy and all their words to each other sweet

May they comfort and encourage each other in good times and bad.

May they always know Your loving presence and find shelter in each other hearts.

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.

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.