WEDDING: La Quinta Officiant at CTR Ranch Wedding near Indio and Palm Springs

Celebrant Venus sharing laughs with a fantastic couple!

Congratulations, Dar. and Al.! i had the honour and privilege of officiating (yet another)dream come true for a wedding Celebrant. A private home that sleeps 20 (but probably more) called CTR Ranch was the venue for this incredibly intimate ceremony that would beat any larger wedding in terms of love, friendship, family, celebration and partying!

Food truck Crêpes Bonaparte came out to feed the guests, as well as local hot dog business, the Riverside Hot Dog Company.  Fullerton musician Brett Cain provided entertainment.  Photography by Jake Ogle (not image at left).  More details to follow... i promise!

Operation: Secret Wedding!

Congratulations to this Washington state couple, married in a wedding ceremony at a Southern California Amusement Park, also known as the "Most Joyful Area on This Planet".

Discreet Los Angeles Wedding Officiant, originally uploaded to FLICKR.

The day they chose in November 2010 happened to be their 15-year anniversary to the day!  The couple brought just two other people to witness the special morning event. Best of all, the bride and groom each wrote their own wedding vows and read them to each other off their own Blackberry.

Mission impossible?  NO, because you CAN have your wedding your way!  If you are seeking a discreet Orange County officiator or Los Angeles Wedding Officiant to make your non-traditional ceremony vision come true, even at Disneyland, underwater, or any place of your choosing, please contact www.ceremonyceremony.com .

DISCLAIMER: The above wedding was planned solely by the couple, and i complied as their officiant.  Please note, some private and public properties do not encourage, nor allow, impromptu weddings and other gatherings to occur on their premises.

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.

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!

ALTERNATIVES: To Exchange Rings, or NOT to Exchange Rings?

Tattooed 'rings' may be the best option for you, especially if you want to avoid the cost, convention, maintenance and/or discomfourt of wearing a wedding ring.

On left: from TATTOOED BRIDE blog, via Allebach Photography
On right: from MANOLO BRIDES via Leigh Miller Photography

Many people are led to believe (incorrectly, at least in California) that one must exchange rings as part of the marriage ceremony.  Not everyone likes to wear jewelry, even if it is your wedding ring. Do you work around electricity?  A metal ring may not be a good idea.  And what is a more permanent symbol of your love, than a tattoo?  You can't lose it, since you won't need to take it off to paint your house.  You also won't be able to take it off or throw it after an argument with your other half...  ;-|  

The act of tattooing rings to indicate betrothal or marriage is a fairly modern trend, but has gained popularity in recent times, especially in the UK and Europe. Ancient Egyptians would tattoo wrists and fingers to ward off illness and bad luck. Slaves' hands were sometimes tattooed to indicate ownership. Ancient Egyptian women have been found with tattoos on their bodies to promote fertility (from Ancient Egypt: Personal Ornaments website).

At a cost of about $100, tattooed wedding rings are an economical way to go, but may require some touch-up work down the line, especially as they fade and evolve with time.  The palm side of the hand is quite sensitive, pain-wise, and tattoos also tend to fade and blur faster on the palm side.

Check out these other tattoo wedding bands!

From WPIC website

 From TATTOOAHOLIC.com

If you seek a non-traditional wedding officiant, for your Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire, Ojai, Catalina Island, Ventura, Big Bear or greater Southern California ceremony, please contact venus, certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® for more information.

Officiant for WEDDING: Outdoor Ceremony at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, CA

CONGRATULATIONS, Jessica and Matt!
This was a perfectly simple and lovely ceremony, tucked away in the MINERAL WELLS PICNIC AREA of Griffith Park. The bride and groom stood alone and exchanged vows in front of their friends and family, with the trees and grass and sky as their backdrop.

One of the beautiful things about this particular wedding was how the ceremony text itself was created.  Most all of the wedding words and ceremony sentiments were from the couple's letters to each other, over the years. They also incorporated a poem written by David Whyte, which was read by a friend.

After the ceremony, Hall & Oates' recently revived You Make My Dreams Come True was blasted through a portable powered speaker.

Photography by LISA DRAGANI.