WEDDING: Officiant at Marmivon in Los Angeles, CA

Congratulations Jen. & Jai!  It was an honour to officiate for this fun-loving, relaxed couple at this fantastic venue:

Asian Wedding Officiant in Los Angeles, CA. Photo by Herman Au

Big THANK YOU to Dana/Michael at Marmivon; Elsa, Melissa and their crew at ME Weddings & Events; Herman Au photographer (above) and Ken Shin Films videographer.

SYMBOLS & TRADITION: L.A. Roadside Memorials

"Homemade monuments to those we’ve lost are all over town, built by friends and loved ones as reminders to be careful—and as a way of saying good-bye."

-- from Los Angeles Magazine

For more detailed information about this artistic roadside memorial, and the motorcyclist whose death unfortunately affirmed the dangerousness of Mulholland Drive, see Shrines: The Giving Tree in LA Mag.

NEWS: 405 Freeway Wilshire Ramp Closures and Los Angeles Wedding Season

Beginning Friday, June 22, 2012 until at least the end of September 2012, the I-405 NORTH off-ramp to WESTBOUND Wilshire and the WESTBOUND Wilshire on-ramp to I-405 NORTH will be closed for a majour reconstruction project.

Multiple ramp closures will influence traffic flow for miles, extending well beyond the 90 days anticipated to demolish and rebuild these first two of eight total ramps joining Wilshire Boulevard and the 405 freeway. Demolition and construction of all eight Wilshire ramps is expected to take more than ONE YEAR.



View CLOSURE: Wilshire Blvd ramps at 405 Fwy in a larger map
Be sure to plan ahead more than usual if you are attending, planning, working or participating in a Southern California wedding or ceremony. Inform others and be aware of alternate routes, as the closures and reconstruction of these two and the other six Wilshire ramps are expected to create significant impacts to Wilshire Blvd. and adjoining streets, such as Federal Ave., Sepulveda Blvd. and Veteran Ave. Sunset Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd may be alternatives, but we all know how crowded Los Angeles streets are already, during heavy traffic periods!

And don't forget to plan accordingly around other ceremonies, including graduation and funerals, plus parades, rallies, sports games, concerts, attractions, points of interest and other public and private events, too. For more information, consult Los Angeles Metro's website (But be warned mobile phone users and browsers, the site uses Flash. Yuck.) and on LA Metro's Twitt'r: @I_405 .

Good luck out there, and happy wedding-ing! :)

Contact A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY: A modern officiant and certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® to create and perform your custom-written ceremony. Serving Los Angeles, Orange County, Ojai, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Catalina Island, Malibu, Temecula, Big Bear and beyond!

NEWS: Los Angeles Magazine's wedding announcements section

Los Angeles Magazine is now accepting proposal stories from local couples. If you've recently proposed marriage, or have been proposed to, they want to learn about your story.

So far, (as of 1 May 2012) there are only NINE stories posted on the website , so don't hesitate, get up there!  This is a much easier process than the New York Times wedding announcements, for sure.  :)

FYI to submit your account of the proposal, you need to be registered with the magazine website.  You can get more information at Los Angeles Magazine.  Good luck and have fun!

WEDDING: Los Angeles Arboretum Officiant in Arcadia, CA

Congratulations, Pa. and Jn.!  This couple was married in a rose garden ceremony in front of a few dozen of their closest loved ones.

Arcadia Wedding Officiant

The wedding included a ringwarming and a ceremonial passage through archways, or gates, attended to by four sets of significant people, to mark the couple's transition from single to married life. (Please see the (horribly backlit) photo here. ---->)

It was a beautiful, and meaningful, ceremony, especially when the couple crossed the thresholds together.  Hope to have more photos soon!

NEWS: June = (the first) LGBT Heritage Month in Los Angeles!

Thirty years ago, a newly identified cluster of symptoms and illness was first given the term 'Gay Related Immunodeficiency', or GRID, by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  This first week of June 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of when these disease clusters became recognised as the first cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). 

You can listen to a fantastic account of this time in history in two parts - first with a doctor of infectious diseases, and next with a man living since the early 1980s with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV): on Dick Gordon's The Story on APR.

From the mayor's website

Perhaps coincidentally, June is also officially declared as LGBT Pride Month by President Obama's White House and by communities throughout the country.  On Friday, Los Angeles (finally) proclaimed June as LGBT HERITAGE MONTH.

According to the LA Times, Bill Rosendahl was the first openly gay candidate to run and be elected to the City Council in 2005.  On Friday, the Councilman, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck,  along with other city officials, honoured LGBT Angelenos and publicly celebrated the launch of June as LGBT Heritage Month.

The Times went on to say that the "City Council also passed several resolutions on Friday, backing state and federal legislation calling for LGBT equality, including a state bill that would add questions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity to state demographic surveys", but when i tried to authenticate or source this statement, i couldn't find any proof.  (But i did find a very odd and somewhat disturbing comment thread...)

WEDDING: Officiant for Intimate Westlake Village Inn Ceremony

Westlake Village Inn Wedding Officiant, originally uploaded by dj venus.

Congratulations, No. and Jo.!

These two were wed on a patio within the lovely grounds of the Westlake Village Inn.

There was no music, no elabourate choreography. The couple simply exchanged rings and a kiss, surrounded by friends and family. Photography (although not on the left) by JEN of Laurie Bailey Photography.

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!]

WEDDING: Officiant for Hollywood Writers' Ceremony at the Elegant Ebell of Los Angeles

CONGRATULATIONS, Christine and Eric!

Officiating the 23 October 2010 wedding of Christine Boylan, writer and story editor of TNT's Leverage television show and Eric Heisserer, screenwriter of 2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street and 2011's the Thing at the EBELL OF LOS ANGELES was truly an honour and a very special experience!

Via email, i collaborated with Eric and Christine to create a wedding ceremony fit for (and out of the minds and hands of) two writers. In the processional, the bride walked down a staircase alone, and proceeded unaccompanied until the groom walked up to meet her halfway down the aisle.Together, they completed the journey to the altar together, to "signal their conscious choice to walk together in their lives". The ceremony included a community vow, where the officiant asks the friends, family and other loved ones in the audience to affirm their love and support for the two people about to be married:

Eric requested we not ask if anyone present objects to his marrying Christine, since there was no room in the budget for trained snipers.  Instead, I would like to invite you, the cherished guests, to give your support to this union.

As they go forth in their life together, Eric and Christine will need each of you to embrace them, help them and lift them, as they experience all the joys and challenges that lie before them.  And so, as their community, do you pledge your support and caring to Christine and Eric?

COMMUNITY: Yes, we do!

i have never performed, nor attended, a wedding filled with more applause!  Gotta love Hollywood people.  ;-P  And, as they stood together beneath their 'chuppah-cabana',  a Khalil Gibran passage, On Marriage, was read by a cherished friend.

Please see the happy couple's New York Times wedding announcement (if link does not work, please see pdf on our website). 

Event coordination and planning by Michelle Buckley herself, of MINT JULEP SOCIAL EVENTS.  Ceremony music by string trio from Essence Entertainment.  Cocktail hour jazz ensemble: _______  Reception big band: the Fabulous Esquires.  Photography by MAX WANGER (not above).  About the location:  The Ebell, originally founded by women in 1864 as an educational and philanthropic organisation, is a historic venue on Lucerne Ave. at Wilshire Bl.  Be sure to see this gorgeous facility with rich wood interiors and details straight out of glamourous old Hollywood's yesteryear and vintage Los Angeles.

WEDDING: Ceremony Officiant at Hotel Figueroa in Downtown Los Angeles, CA

CONGRATULATIONS: Giselle and Franck!

This couple's nuptials were celebrated at the historic Hotel Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles.  G & F chose to include a reading from On Relationship by J. Krishnamurti as a part of their non-religious, multicultural ceremony.



The Hotel Figueroa special events director, Juno, possesses an ideal combination of detail-orientated organization and unobtrusive oversight.  Thanks to DJ SAM for his skills and accessible personality.  Photography by PATRICK CHAI.

CONGRATULATIONS: Isaura and Jason! (Los Angeles)

Much love and congratulations to Isaura and Jason, a politically active couple who were married on Saturday at the LOS ANGELES ARBORETUM.

There are so many areas to the arboretum! It's 127 acres of beautiful grounds. Their ceremony was in the lovely rose garden, with a reception in the Sunset Room. There are peacocks and peahens running around everywhere, and they make the coolest cries and display their feathers so beautifully. It was a stunning location for a wedding.