LGBT: HRC Wedding Registry Offers Gifts with Equality

Support the work of HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN while celebrating your marriage! You've seen charity wedding registries, honeymoon registries, gift card registries...why not sign up for an equal rights wedding registry?

"Each couple gets their own page with their personal story and photo. Loved ones can donate to HRC in their honor and help us move toward the day when all people can marry, no matter who they love."

For more information, go to HRC's wedding registry page.

STYLE: Artesia Bridal Fashion with Saris, Drapes and Glamour

Designer ROHINI BEDI is a true artist who reveres the human form and lets her ideas flow from her imagination to her design pad...then onto the runway and into wedding ceremonies all over the world. Check this segment from SHOWBIZ INDIA about a recent bridal show featuring South Asian fashion.

One component about Rohini's artistry: she wants her designs to be functional, as well as beautiful.

The other designer featured in this segment is Shekhar Rahate (flash warning!), who is showing his western bridal design collection alongside Rohini's.

INFO: Your Friend as Officiant - Good or Bad Idea?

An officiant who's a friend of the couple...for real!

Last week, i had the privilege of officiating the wedding of two dear friends. It is rare to have such an opportunity, and an extra special occasion when i do!

This week, you may have seen a story about musician Kelly Clarkson's decision to be wed by a friend, fellow musician Blake Shelton. The Clarkson officiant story was rampant in the social media universe.

CELIA MILTON, a friend, colleague and fellow Life-Cycle Celebrant®, posted this in reply to the article:

"Just because someone legally can officiate doesn't mean they should. Creating and performing an inspiring, meaningful, personal ceremony takes more talent than most people think. Despite the way it looks, it's not 'just 20 minutes", and the fact that someone knows you doesn't necessarily mean that they will be able to craft and deliver a significant ceremony that will start your celebration (and your marriage) in a way that is memorable and exciting for the guests.

As a trained officiant who has performed close to 700 weddings in settings as diverse as Yankee Stadium and various backyards in New Jersey, I think I speak for my colleagues when I say we get really, really tired of hearing that anyone can do this, that merely knowing the couple can assure a personal service, and that this is a great place to DIY.

Very often, it's not. The reality is that when the Champagne is gone, the high heels are under the table and the guests have gone home, the memory of a really terrific, well crafted ceremony remains (along with the license). It's not a place to skimp. And when the ceremony day is looming? That confident family member may just decide that they are too nervous to do the ceremony. And that's when they'll call me..."

Most all the couples who hire me as their Celebrant/officiant are from the Los Angeles and greater Southern California areas. This means a number of couples i have married work in show business: the music, television, gaming or film industry directly, either as talent, writers, producers, executives etc. or in the production, voiceover, post-production, design and technical fields that go into making tv, movies, games and music happen. Showbiz couples have tons of friends and know plenty of people who they have known for years who they trust will show up and can throw a party and give a toast...people who are funny, confident, outgoing and photogenic; people who won't show up under-prepared, choke under the pressure of public speaking, or succumb to camera/mic shyness.

Ari and Barry get married on Beverly Hills Nanny.

i always ask these couples, "Why are you hiring me to do your ceremony?"  Their answer is always a variation of: "Because we want someone who knows what they're doing, and someone who's done it before."

Even if you don't work in Hollywood, even if you want the simplest ceremony, hiring a professional officiant will save you potential headache and future trouble. The true pro is the person who will go through all the steps to make your wedding ceremony happen (at a minimum), fun (if you want), less complicated (cos we know this stuff already) and...legally binding (if necessary).

Most people, even do-it-yourselfers, tend to leave certain tasks to the professionals. Think about the last time you made repairs or improvements to your house or automobile: usually, there is something to be left to a contractor...think concrete pouring, roofing, or your timing belt. Those pros know about how to file for a permit...when, where and why to post signs for their trucks...and how to troubleshoot, because of their experience. And this is why i remind you: DON'T FORGET THE OFFICIANT.  Consider hiring a professional officiant, Celebrant, minister, pastor, reverend etc. to perform your wedding ceremony!

POETRY: Epithalamium for Weddings!

A wedding poem written in honour of a bride and bridegroom is known as an epithalamium, or epithalamion. According to the Poetic Terminology website, the term is of Greek derivation, composed of epi meaning 'upon' and thalamium meaning 'nuptial chamber'.

In Greek literature, one of the best examples of epithalamium is a work celebrating Menelaus and Helen's marriage in Ancient Greece, known as the 18th Idyll of Theocritus.

Edmund Spenser wrote his famous work Epithalamium was written in honour of his marriage in 1594.  Poet Robert Graves also wrote an epithalamion called A Slice of Wedding Cake.

And now here's a Valentine's Day heart from me to you:

"There's something beating here inside my body and it's called a heart..."

INTERESTING: Is it news that online daters research online?

Increasingly, couples who choose me to perform their wedding ceremony IRL met each other online. This is a fact that most couples are happy to tell me about, but some are reluctant to include the details about their online courtship in the text of their wedding ceremony.  NO problem!

 Following some recent public relations issues, the dating site matchDOTcom released the above infographic, which i found via mashable . Whatever it takes to find your 'one', ladies and gentlemen, do it...just be sure to be honest about your snooping if it comes down to it.

It could be a funny story to tell the kids...or at your wedding. It is your choice, so don't be bullied into or out of leaving out (or keeping) details to make it the wedding YOU want!

TRADITION: New Year's Eve Ball Drop...why?

Did you know the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. drops its own time ball every day at noon?
 

 Pardon the lateness on this one.

According to the US Naval Oceanography portal, the USNO time ball was one of the first systems to enable the Observatory to support remote users. The ball was dropped at the astronomically determined instant of Mean Solar Noon in Washington.  Back in the day, this enabled the navigators of ships anchored in the Potomac River to rate their chronometers...or in other words, synchronize their timepieces.

The USNO is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the country. Its primary mission was to care for the U.S. Navy's chronometers, charts and other navigational equipment, and was first established as the Depot of Charts and Instruments back in 1830.

Photo from Astronomy Picture of the Day.  Thanks to Margot Adler's NPR story for the inspiration.

JAPAN: White Weddings Require White Officiants?!!?

The term 'western' equals fashionable, trendy and white...as in Caucasian. A fascinating story on PRI's The World goes on to say:

"The “white wedding” in Japan copies an archetypal Western ceremony...But perhaps the most essential part of the event is a minister who looks the part. In other words, a white person."

The wedding industry is in full effect around the world, and according to the report, "Wedding services often use white grooms in their advertising material. It’s a common scheme to sell the “white wedding” fantasy to Japanese women".  Let alone the wedding fantasy in general! Hear the full story below.

SO weird, but to me not a good weird...  Maybe i'm taking it a little too seriously, but this makes me a little embarassed to be Japanese (albeit i'm actually Japanese-American). Heck, i'm just AMERICAN!

If you simply want a modern officiant to provide the ceremony you want, race or ethnicity aside, please contact A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY for your Southern California wedding.

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.

PHOTO: 30 Rock Wedding - Liz Lemon Marries Criss Cross

from Season 7's episode "Maazel Tov, Dummies" on NBC, originally uploaded by dj venus.

"I reject the wedding industry's phallocentric fairytale grotesquerie."

As one should!

Liz Lemon, left, in her Princess Leia wedding dress, married boyfriend Criss Cross in a civil ceremony last night. With Jack Donaghy, far left, and former boyfriend and pager king Dennis Duffy on far right.

YOU can reject the grotesquerie, too! Have the wedding ceremony YOU want. Contact A Non-Denominational Ceremony for your wedding officiant in Los Angeles, Orange County and greater Southern California.

Via Flickr.

VIDEO: NYPD's "It Gets Better" for LGBT Youth

In light of today's Supreme Court discussion to consider whether or not to take on the same-sex marriage issue, i discovered this video featuring New York Police Department's Gay Officers Action League president; NYPD Commissioner Kelly; their LGBT community liaison and NYPD officers.