When Jack and Madi got in touch with me, it was 3 months before their wedding. They had just had a change of plans - they needed someone else to help them create and deliver their dream ceremony...the person that they had been working with just wasn't right for them. I reassured them that I was fully committed to listening to and understanding what they wanted for their October ceremony at Beechwood Hall in Cooksbridge, Sussex and making it happen!
"Choosing Beth as the celebrant for our wedding was the best decision we made."
Madi, Bride
Jack is Jewish, Madi was raised in a Christian family, they are both incredibly talented creative souls. They wanted their ceremony to embrace both of their cultures, include lots of friends and family and celebrate the two of them and the things they value in life. They described it to me when we first spoke as a 'Jew-ISH wedding ceremony'.
We had an amazing planning session, hearing all about the different rituals they wanted to include and discussing how we might adapt some of them to feel more relevant to them and their lives (and I managed to avoid being attacked by their cat!). We also talked about how to balance the content to make sure they they both felt represented.
When they separately completed their questionnaires, they were filled with the most gorgeous memories and reflections of each other and of experiences they had shared. I used a lot of this within their ceremony and felt that it was appropriate to write in a fairly cinematic style when it came to re-telling this couple's love story, describing it like the plot of a romantic comedy film!
The ceremony we created was packed full of gorgeous elements, including (but certainly not limited to):
- Musical performances from friends and family, including Jack! Two great sing-a-longs.
- A beautfiul Chuppah made by the couple
- Hakafot - the circling of the Chuppah which we adapted so that they each circled the other three times before completeing the final circle together.
- Gorgeous personal vows which the couple wrote and read together
- Ring warming - Jack's younger brothers invited all of the guests to share their own personal blessing for the couple before the ceremony began
- Sheva Brachot - the traditional Hebrew blessings which we complimented with an equal number of modern English blessings
- Of course, the breaking of the glass!
This ceremony really was a celebration. Of cultures, of music, of family, of friendship and most of all of LOVE. I absoltuely loved being part of it, I am so glad that they found me when they did and I made two wonderful friends along the way.
The day was incredibly captured by Claire Vogeli of Girl and Glass .
"So many of our guests came up to us and said it was the best wedding ceremony they've ever been to, and that they felt like they had been a part of something really special."
Madi, Bride