Wedding diaries of a marriage celebrant in Margaret River….
Hooley dooley the ripple effect of Coco-19 is still wreaking havoc on the wedding industry, but there is a silver lining — our compassion, patience and flexibility muscles are fully activated. Stories of quick adaptability, and pivoting with a full heart, abound in my wedding diaries of 2021-22.
Caroline & Jonathon: Gatherings are limited as we move tentatively forward in this Covid-19 world, but couples are finding ways to celebrate with Plan B scenarios. For this couple, it meant marrying on the porch of their Yallingup AirBnB, and enjoying in-house catering with their immediate families.
Kylie & Amar: Cute as a button couple, wanted it super low-key, snagged a glorious winter’s day in the Australian bush in Yelverton.
Mike & Sei Lui: It’s not often I get invited to the post-ceremony celebration of couples, but I couldn’t say no to a brunch yum cha on the Swan River. The sun peeked through the storm-clouds for long enough to say the “I Do’s”, then it was inside to feast. Such a shame I had to run after a few minutes for another wedding!
Mark & Deborah: I always joked that *one day* I would marry someone under the ornate gazebo at The Grove, and today my 20-year forecast came true.
Jonathon & Cherie: Another low-key beauty at their AirBnB in Yallingup, before his deployment and a bright future ahead.
Roger & OOnagh: Proof that you can do your wedding, your way. The couple arrived in the vintage Mustang, as part of a full-day elopement experience. It was a spiritual ceremony, calling in the elements and archangels, and ended with a happy little dance from them both 😀
Jiri & Jessica: This couple came to me in distress when they discovered their original Celebrant was suddenly unavailable. I met them that afternoon, and married them the following day. Talk about down to the wire, but after finding a connection with flamingos and colour schemes, they were rapt that I ended up being the Celebrant for them.
Shelley & JP: Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy, we all emerged from a series of lockdowns and uncertainty to an AFL grand final in Perth — and this couple’s ceremony was smack bang scheduled for half-time. The cheers from Optus Stadium could be heard at Matilda Bay, and from the amazing happy vibes of this couple’s crew, their cheers could be heard right back.
Shannon & Angie: This ocka Aussie boy found his dream-come-true when he realised Angie could out-crab him. And she loves boating, fishing, camping as much as him, so it was a match made in heaven. There was nothing that could dampen their spirits on their wedding day — not even the pouring rain at Caves House! They married in the rain, regardless.
Lauren & Steven: Unlike Shannon and Angie, this couple did opt for their rainy-day plan, and married in the foyer of the Vasse Felix art gallery. It was just big enough to make everyone feel snug and cosy in the space. I was so jealous they were heading upstairs to celebrate with a degustation by chef Brendon Pratt, I walked from the ceremony to reception and booked a lunch for myself and hubby for the following day 😉
Joe & Donna-Jo: Married on the grounds of the family farm, Joe and Donna exchanged heartfelt vows they wrote themselves. The guests loved being able to walk from the ceremony amongst the vines, to the incredible reception set-up featuring a giant teepee and live band.
Grace & James: Excuse me for not talking about Grace and James so much as their groodle Henry. Henry stole the show with his effortless good looks and charm. What a cutie! Photographer Freedom Garvey was a bit biased too, just quietly.
Daniel & Renee: Married on the porch of their AirBnB overlooking the Margaret River, Daniel and Renee got exactly what they were wanting — low-key, intimate, sweet, and a bit of a romantic tear jerker 😀
Elle & Wheels: Sooooo good to see these bigger weddings starting to come back. Elle and Wheels made a their guests feel like rock stars in this stunning set up by Gem Events at Chandeliers on Abbey.
Bill & Ann-Marie: I got to wear a pasta strainer on my head at one point in this ceremony, to marry this pastafarian to his beautiful bride. (The rest of the ceremony was serious, and intimate, and heart-stirringly gorgeous, but I got to say “ramen” at the end.)
Arabella & Ryan: The couple eloped with their two daughters to Bunker Bay. They snagged a sunshiney bit in the middle of a stormy day, which made for spectacular photos, and a very deep sense of gratitude of it all being in flow.
Casey & Jordan: Lucky me, I get to go back to Bunker Bay for another little wedding. Popular spot! Keep this up and I’d have a great excuse to set up camp here 😀
Nathan & Lilian: Little did we know that within days, the Boranup Forest would go up in flames… So grateful I took some footage walking into the little elopement spot — who knows when we’ll be able to walk that trail again?
Deb & Ed: Spoke too soon — back in the Dunsborough region for a sweet little elopement, this time on Eagle Bay beach. I didn’t tell the couple (didn’t want to distract everyone), about the dolphins swimming past during their vows. Maybe they’ll read this one day, and then they’ll know 😀
Imogen & Reg: The last big wedding for the foreseeable future in the Boranup Forest. The couple married in “nature’s cathedral” and have the bittersweet claim to be the last couple to do so. The forest was claimed by bushfire just days later.
Maria & Gordon: Super quick, legals-only, under a tree on the Cowaramup oval. Didn’t stop their friends joining the fun though — about 10 of them turned up in a stretch limo to celebrate!
Ian & Tarli: This couple took advantage of having all their family in one place on Xmas Day, to surprise them with a pre-lunch wedding. Ian introduced me to the gathering as a Xmas orphan, and despite it being a family-only gathering, my goodness I felt welcomed. There was a big cheer when Ian announced I wasn’t actually a guest, but a Celebrant, and here to unite them in marriage. I didn’t take the cheer personally that I wouldn’t be staying, but a cheer for happiness that they are *finally* tying the knot, ha ha.
Beau & Karina: Hollywood glamour to the max, on the grounds of the brand-new Frui Momento. I felt a little star-struck watching Karina float towards her Beau, the epitome of vintage glam.
Nicole & Wade: Far out brussel sprout, what a girl can’t achieve when she sets her mind to it. In the middle of avocado season and all, this bride pulled together a mammoth wedding day, on Australia Day, on the family farm. Wade said some words to me just prior to the bride walking down the aisle, that I’ll never forget. I still draw on that memory and feeling, whenever I have moments of self doubt.
Jayde & Henry: Cutiessssssss. Jayde’s mum and I rocked up in the same dress, so we had a spontaneous “who wore it best” competition. (She won LOL). Henry proposed to Jayde with a cryptex cylinder, and she had to solve the clues to open it. She describes that day as the best day of her life…. up until her wedding of course 😉
Sean & Siónnann: There were only about two dozen guests on the beach with this couple, but about two hundred zooming in from Ireland. As part of the ceremony timeline, we built in enough time for the couple to have “zoom time” with their relatives back home.
Richard & Danielle: Signed the dotted line at 2.22pm on 22.22.22, on a 22 degrees Celsius day. The couple were not surprised — the number 22 follows them everywhere.
Bethany & Shaun: The first wedding for the new owners at Silversprings Cottages and it was a cracker. Bethany and Sean stopped caravanning around the south west for long enough to gather with family and friends on the grounds of this amazing place in Metricup.
Sarah & William: Another super low-key, legals-only style wedding on the beach at Point Peron. The couple were so low-key, they waited for me to do some jobs in Perth, then marry them on my way home.
Ryan & Ella: I was a Plan B Celebrant for this couple, but they were so open to me, and so authentic and real during their vows, I felt like I’d been involved in their planning for months and months.
Matilda & Jamieson: The bride’s dad approached me after the ceremony and said, “I knew I recognised you from somewhere — you did (A and B)’s ceremony 10 years ago.” I was blown away that someone would recognise a stranger from a decade ago!
Ellinor & Lachlan: This couple chose to marry on the stage of the ampitheatre at Driftwood Estate. I hadn’t seen that venue for 20 years or so, so that was seriously a blast from the past.
Beau & Renee: Another gorgeous little elopement by the Portal sculpture at Margaret River Heartland. That place just adds a little extra to those low-key “Registry Office style” ceremonies.
Laurance & Jemima: This couple wanted the anti-wedding of all weddings. I wed them over a coffee at the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury, and despite our best intentions, we all cried anyway LOL.
Pip & Denis: A self-described autumnal couple, their adult kids gathered at Black Brewing Co, and her grandies escorted her down the aisle. So cute.
Madison & David: The rains cleared just long enough for the couple to marry lakeside at their accommodation. It was still damp, but to them, it was perfect 😀 The bride wore a velvet-embossed kimono, which was next level stunning.
Richard & Catherine: The couple actually had this venue booked two years ago, and had to postpone when the Coco-19 shut down the whole world. In the meantime, the trees at the “landing pad” up the hill from Chandeliers on Abbey had grown, the lawn got established, and the location looked better than had they married two years previously. Funny how there are silver linings in almost every situation…
Hector & Helen: My 500th wedding, and my 17th wedding anniversary too! Their theme was “tropical peacock”, so it was fun dressing up in vibrant colours for their beach wedding in Fremantle.
Wendy & Ant: The couple married on their property in Margaret River. The Plan B singer (Plan A had come down with the spicy cough), sang the bride down the aisle to “you feel like home to me”, which brought a tear to many an eye. Their puppy frolicked around, stealing hearts, and to my relief, left the fluffy white aisle decorations alone. I couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving white marshmallows around the lawn later on!
Kev & Anna: Plan B Celebrant again, stepping in for a huge wedding at Twilight Cove in Esperance. Turns out we have heaps of friends and acquaintances in common, so it turned out super well. The bride arrived on her moped, with the classic simplicity (yet exoticness) of an Audrey Hepburn. At the time of writing this, it ismy joy to report: I still have a fan-girl crush on her LOL.
Robert & Natasha: Being shy, they just wanted a very simple ceremony by the river’s edge in Margaret River. Their family and friends had other ideas though, and gathered on the other side of the river to watch on. They couldn’t hear anything, but a “first kiss” is a first kiss… it was uncanny how they knew when to clap and cheer 😉
Jac & Dani: Another teensy weensy at the rivermouth in Prevelly. Their children created an aisle with sandcastles and pretty stones, and my friends from Sydney acted as witnesses. They then climbed back into their caravan, and continued on their big lap around Australia.
Amy & Trent: Super simple, yet super stunning, in Big Love the tiny chapel, parked up by the forest at Margaret River Heartland. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.
So there we have it. 2021-22 season done and dusted. Off now to visit my grandson who I haven’t seen since 2020. Big loves and cuddles are coming my way, and I’m totally here for it.
See you again on my return, my lovelies,
Shine on,
Anita Revel
PS If you want me to organise a pop-up wedding, a quickie wedding, a Registry Office style wedding, please get in touch! No doubt you’ll end up in my wedding diaries in the future one day!