Love Wedding

We have just spent a brilliant weekend getting all loved up at a wedding!

We were delighted (and amazed) when our dear friends and next door neighbours finally decided after  12 years of living together, to  tie the knot and get married.   They have been very much part of ours and our children’s lives and are living examples of how it takes a village to raise a child, being so generous with their time and attention to our children. We co-built our houses together and have been neighbours ever since.   Will and Angie we thank you for helping us for being there for our family.  When our son was born  six years ago, we asked Will to be a Godfather and without a hesitation it was a resounding Yes!

So now as they prepared for their wedding they asked if our two  children and myself could be part of their ceremony alongside several other children and two other speakers . And we had  a resounding Yes! It meant a special trip to come  off the Island of Erraid (where we are discovering new neighbours of Goosie and the sheep) and living for a year, to come back to Findhorn for the wedding weekend.

And what a delight and an honour for our 10 year old daughter to be the “chief” bridesmaid and start the ceremony by walking into the Universal Hall all alone with a candle and Waterboys music “This Light… is for The World” playing in the background.

Then my 6 year old boy, his courage and sense of pride as he came down cloaked with a black cape and pointy hat and proudly carried the glowing crystal Wizard’s staff on which he bore his Godfather’s wedding ring.

And then the tearful moment when the Bride and Groom  entered the room to gaze at each other and then turn to look at to all the people in the Hall, to further music from The Waterboys “I see the Christ in you…”

I  presented a speech honouring and loving them, they asked me to include both the good points and the challenges that they have for each other. I tried to make it both funny, heartfelt and honest.  I think it did the trick.

And what  magic!  To be at a wedding where the vows were meaningful, honest and written by the couple themselves.  Will and Angie themselves are interfaith ministers and professional wedding celebrants, so of course they  co-designed and drew up a beautiful  ceremony which was held by a colleague of theirs – fellow interfaith minister Ilse Marie Weber.

I don’t have any photos yet but Will is an amazing wedding photographer so it will be nice to see him in front of the camera instead of always behind it.

And  I thought – this is what I want my children to witness as a wedding.  To witness the way in which two individuals can express their love,  can create a ceremony for  marriage as a sacred space, can really make it a sacrament – a place for grace, but not by following any rules or readymade words, but by allowing their hearts, and the hearts of those who love them to speak for them .

I saw this beautiful pair open themselves up to the people who filled the Universal Hall as they invited their love for each other to be witnessed and they tapped into how love is not a commodity just for them, but available to each and everyone of us. They dedicated their love to peace,  and asked us all to remember that love is what we all are….  What a gift it was to show this to all the children there, that their love was our love.  How amazing that all the children and  families, all the friends and community around them were also bathed in the joy, the light and the love of their union.  It truly felt like we were all celebrated, amplified and rejoiced in love.

We felt very lucky this weekend to have known Will and Angie all these years.  It was very wonderful for us to be included in their intimate circle of friends and we were so honoured to  partake in this very special ceremony on this very special day.