Colorado Wedding Ceremonies
What is the intention behind your wedding day? What do you find beautiful? To whom (and what) do you belong? Who and what belongs to you? Colorado wedding ceremonies have an exquisite foundation, simply because of the incredible beauty to be found in this state. Why not have a ceremony that matches the majesty of those breathtaking backdrops?
I think that ceremonializing rites of passage is important, and hold that a rite of passage such as marriage deserves to be slowed down, celebrated and honored. If you are choosing to have a wedding to celebrate your marriage, then you deserve a ceremony that is unique to your vision and commitment, a ceremony that is full of meaning and depth to you. The best wedding ceremonies are deeply personal (within reason, of course) — a reflection of your unique story, values, intentions and reasons for choosing the path of marriage. And there’s a magic that happens: the more honest and authentic your ceremony is, the more your community gets pulled into presence and belonging. Simply put, a good ceremony is good medicine for everybody present. (Seriously… I have had bartenders shed tears on behalf of a couple and community, even though they “know” no one.)
When humans participate in ceremony, they enter a sacred space. Everything outside of that space shrivels in importance. Time takes on a different dimension. Emotions flow more freely. The bodies of participants become filled with the energy of life, and this energy reaches out and blesses the creation around them. All is made new; everything becomes sacred. – Sun Bear
What I don’t do: I don’t use standard photocopied ceremonies where I simply plug in your names to a routine script. I am not the kind of wedding officiant that starts with “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…” (Unless you are having a “Let’s Go Crazy” themed wedding, and want me to wear a purple suit, a la Prince, may he rest in purple paradise.) I don’t ask who is giving the bride away in marriage, because, well — that feels a bit too patriarchal for my taste. I try not to use empty words that have no meaning to you and your guests.
What I try to do: I love to create a feeling of reverence and magic and celebration, and I don’t believe that you need dogma in order to do so. I love to discover who you are as a couple, what is important to you in your lives, why you are choosing to marry, what you love about each other, and I craft your ceremony from that. I love to make people laugh and cry. I love to include your community as much as possible, so that they get that they too are an essential part of the ceremony, and they are not there to simply “watch” you get married. I love to think of new and interesting rituals, that are relevant to you, that we can add to your ceremony. I love it when you have the feeling that your wedding was officiated by a friend, by someone that understands who you are as a couple and as individuals. I love to write your love story, or what brought you together as a couple, and share that. I love to help you craft/select your vows, so that they are deeply meaningful to you and your beloved.
Nutshell: I want your wedding ceremony to be spectacular, a true threshold experience, and I will do everything in my power to make it so.
Rituals and ceremonies help us celebrate how we live, how we grow, how we change, how we thrive, how we make family, and how we experience our limited time here on Earth. Your wedding ceremony is the ground on which your marriage is built — and it is nice for that ground to be as nurtured and fertile as possible. Your vows to each other are really the heart of your wedding ceremony, the peak moment, and truly, it is YOU who are declaring yourselves to be married. If there are any powers vested in anyone — they are vested in you and your word. I am here to facilitate the process, so that your wedding ceremony reflects your love, commitment, and connections, and bolsters you for the journey ahead.
You may want a wedding ceremony chock-full of ritual and community sharing, or you may want just a simple reading of your vows in the presence of your loved ones. I officiate ceremonies for both secular and spiritual, ornate and simple, traditional and unconventional, gay and straight, old and young, serious and playful, last minute and planned well in advance, elopements, vow renewals & re-commitments — well, you get the idea.
I am also a bilingual wedding officiant (english/spanish) and love creating bilingual wedding ceremonies that flow between the two languages.
Take a look at some recent wedding ceremonies, and please get in touch if you’d like to discuss working with me as your Colorado wedding officiant.