Temecula Wedding Officiant at Ponte Winery in Temecula, CA

Congratulations, Mar. and Bri.!  These two attorneys from the East Coast were wed in front of Ponte Winery's vineyard in Temecula.

Photo by Joel Austell.

As they were planning to write the ceremony text themselves, the couple needed an officiant who was willing to read just a few passages, since most of the ceremony was to be performed by friends, loved ones and the couple themselves.  As more of a host or master of ceremonies (as well as a professional qualified to solemnise the marriage), my job was to introduce the various sections of the ceremony, as we transitioned from speaker to speaker. 

You may have found this wedding unusual, but the ceremony not only reflected the couple, and the significant people in their lives, but it accomplished what ceremony, tradition and ritual were originally designed to do.  It actively involved those who were undergoing the transition and experiencing this new passage in their lives.  And, friends and family were given an opportunity to be included in the ceremony as participants, rather than merely as spectators!