WEDDING: Spiritual Wedding Officiant for Inclusive 1/31/11 Ceremony

CONGRATULATIONS Stephanie and Sean!  This incredible couple was a complete joy to work with, and their ceremony was a Celebrant's dream-come-true!

The ceremony, held at the Santa Ana Doubletree Hotel near Orange County's John Wayne Airport, was full of symbols and traditions of special meaning to the couple, from around the world, and from the entire human spectrum.  The date itself, 1/31/11, held its own significance.

Where do we begin?  First of all, it was very important for the ceremony to acknowledge and honour all the world's faiths, rather than to exclude any of them.  Both Stephanie and Sean are fortunate to have large extended families and close friends who all agreed to participate in the wedding ceremony.  This presented an ideal way to present the readings and passages from the world's religions, spiritual leaders and thinkers: by having loved ones read them.

Sean and Stephanie chose to include the Japanese San San Ku Do sake ritual, with her maid of honour pouring the sake for each cup sipped.  They also had a sand ceremony, where Stephanie's father and uncles (his brothers) each recited one of the seven Hindu Precepts of Marriage as the couple poured their containers of black and white sand into one.

More details to come, as i find more photos of the wedding to share with you!  Ceremony music by JOY VARGO (harp) and JESSICA HADDY (violin).  Photography (not above) by Smith.  Event design by the bride.  Day-of event coordination by Amy at EVERY LITTLE DETAIL.

NEWS? : And What the Heck is BHLDN?

As you may remember reading here last year, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie announced plans to launch their bridal line sometime in 2011.  Now, according to company PR, the new wedding fashion line will launch on 14th February 2011, Valentine's Day, and go under the brand BHLDN [Warning: loud unstoppable automatic website music!  Their FB page is much quieter.]. Established and up-and-coming guest designers, with Fleur Wood, Tracy Reese, and Catherine Deane contributing exclusive designs, will be featured as well as BHLDN's own brand designs.  Retail prices will range from $1,000 to $4,000 for gowns, and $200 to $600 for event dresses.

BHLDN is not yet confirmed to stand for, but is believed to represent the word beholden.  (Think a la the vowelless domain names recently: 'flickr.com', 'gdgt.com' etc...)

Also interesting was the following passage found at the bottom of the press release:

"This news release is being made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Certain matters contained in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Any one, or all, of the following factors could cause actual financial results to differ materially from those financial results mentioned in the forward-looking statements: the difficulty in predicting and responding to shifts in fashion trends, changes in the level of competitive pricing and promotional activity and other industry factors, overall economic and market conditions and the resultant impact on consumer spending patterns, including any effects of terrorist acts or war, availability of suitable retail space for expansion, timing of store openings, seasonal fluctuations in gross sales, the departure of one or more key senior managers, import risks, including potential disruptions and changes in duties, tariffs and quotas and other risks identified in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that actual results may differ materially from any projected results expressed or implied therein."

WEDDING: Officiant at Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum

Officiant for Asian Wedding in Orange County CA, originally uploaded by dj venus.

Congratulations to JY and TL, married in Yorba Linda, CA!

The fun-loving couple didn't shy away from laughs, nor tears, during their ceremony! All three groomsmen bent down and 'low-fived' with the groom three times. Then they both rose up together and saluted each other.

Then during the ceremony, the groom broke down and cried just before the vows...  :)

You CAN be married YOUR way! If you would like to inject some lightheartedness into your wedding or any other ceremony, please contact A Non-Denominational Ceremony, Orange County and Los Angeles officiant.

NEWS: More Private Sale Websites Focus on Wedding Fashion

Other members-only sites are now emphasising the wedding market, following The AISLE NEW YORK's successful launch.  Although the AisleNY is entirely wedding-based, IDEELI just announced they will have a wedding-centric sale coming up on Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 featuring items from Big Day Dresses, Brilliant Diamonds, Beau-Coup Party Favours and others.

Get an invite to ideeli's all things wedding sale!

INTERESTING: Pre-Wedding Passive Aggression...Love, Mom & Dad

Occasionally, we post wedding and funeral (and other ceremony-related) submissions from the POST SECRET website.  Today, check out one of the most-loved posts of 2010 on PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE NOTES.COM!

There was a check enclosed with the above note, which was written by parents to their daughter and the bride, Katie (although Katie says it was 100% 'the way my Mom is. She signed my Dad’s name too, but it’s from her…just her.').  In case you missed it, the note states:

"...We are sure you will be a beautiful bride.  To help insure our wedding dress investment, please buy some scales of your choosing with this money and weigh yourself once a week..."

VIDEO: Vow Renewal from Curb Your Enthusiasm

"I promise to love you for all eternity." That's all he had to say...!

Thanks to TotallyWeddings.com for the link!

NEWS: Officiant / Celebrant / Clergy on 2011 Wedding Professional Hot List - MomentVille

A Non-Denominational Ceremony is Named to the 2011 Wedding Professional Hot List

13 Jan, 2011 - MomentVille.com, one of the world's leading wedding websites, has just announced that A Non-Denominational Ceremony has been selected for the 2011 Wedding Professional Hot List.

The annual Wedding Professional Hot List recognizes excellence within the wedding industry, as determined by reviews from tens of thousands of brides and grooms. A Non-Denomin- ational Ceremony was among the best reviewed vendors in their area in the past year.

"The Wedding Professional Hot List recognizes best-of-class wedding professionals," says Geoff Evason, MomentVille's CEO. "Highlighting the success of the top wedding professionals is an exciting way to spread the word and help newly engaged couples find the right professionals for their own weddings."

A Non-Denominational Ceremony's officiant, Venus Kitagawa-Stojsic, feels "honored for this recognition and grateful to all the couples who allowed me to create and perform their ceremony in a way that reflected their wishes, their selves, and their relationship.  Since every couple is different, every ceremony stands out."

About  A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY:
Venus Kitagawa-Stojsic is an experienced and professional Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® and ordained secular minister serving Los Angeles, Orange County, Malibu, Ojai, Catalina Island, Big Bear, Temecula, Palm Springs and greater Southern CA. Any and ALL beliefs, preferences, tastes and styles welcome: not religious, traditional, interfaith, spiritual, simple or unusual OK! Include loved ones, literature, create rituals, etc. No-obligation meeting, all travel, mic/amp and rehearsal is all included. Contact A Non-Denominational Ceremony for more information: http://www.ceremonyceremony.com/weddings.html .

About MomentVille:
MomentVille.com offers engaged couples and wedding enthusiasts a one stop place for planning and sharing a wedding. Offering personal wedding websites, wedding planning tools, a gorgeous gallery of wedding pictures, a searchable list of reviewed wedding vendors, and lots of helpful and inspiring wedding content, MomentVille helps newlyweds with all aspects of their wedding. For more information contact media@momentville.com.

Try a modern, individualized approach to the ceremony tradition!

READING: "On Marriage" by Khalil Gibran

On Marriage

Khalil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.

Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though

they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

EXPLAINER: What is the Meaning of the Word 'Nuptial'?

What is a nuptial?  Or, what are nuptials?

NUPTIAL is a word used to describe or refer to things of, or relating and/or pertaining to, marriage or the marriage ceremony, as in 'nuptial vows' or 'nuptial celebration'.  The word originated in the 15th century and is derived from the word nuptialis (singular form; nuptiae is plural) which is Latin for 'wedding' and nubere which means 'to marry'.  "Nuptial" can also mean something characteristic of mating or relating to the mating season of animals, such as 'nuptial displays of plumage' when peacocks show of their feather arrays.

How do you say it?  "Nuptial" is pronounced with only two syllables: [NUHP-shull], with an ending that sounds like the words "partial" or maybe "official".  You may also have heard it pronounced similar to "actual" or "mutual": [NUHP-choo-uhl] or [NUHP-shoo-uhl] but these are not considered standard pronunciations.

Sources: Merriam-Webster online dictionary and reference.com's online definition.

Other interesting nuptial stuff:
The 17th century classical music composer GEORG MUFFAT wrote the lovely Splendid Nuptiae as the fourth Fasciculi movement from his work, Florilegium Secundum.  Check out the website Societas Via Romana for insight on marriage in ancient Rome.  And this Gregorian Chant passage is performed by the Gregorian Choir of Paris:

TRADITION: College Football's Rose Bowl and Prime Rib = the Beef Bowl?!

American society has so few ties to custom and ritual in this day and age.  That's why it's so interesting to see how sports and athleticism is the one area where tradition is not only expected, but it is also honoured and perpetuated.

An article from the Los Angeles Times wrote about the Beef Bowl, a five decades-long tradition of serving prime rib dinners in a fine dining setting to players of both teams competing in the Rose Bowl (on separate days, of course!). The two teams are invited in to a Los Angeles establishment to communally feast on a prime rib dinner with Yorkshire pudding, potatoes, salad etc.  Inevitably, the event turns into a eating competition each year.  (Here's a tip for you wagerers: supposedly, the team with the most amount of meat consumed is statistically significantly shown to become the winner of the Rose Bowl game...)

Photo by Todd Wawrychuk of ESPN.com

[PLEASE NOTE:  For the record, i have been a vegetarian for over 20 years, and do not personally approve of such overt displays of excess when it comes to something like food and hunger...but i DO enjoy tradition and so i wanted to share this story with you!]