In the years since, I have been crafting ceremonies to mark
womanhood, ceremonies to mark the death of a loved one,
ceremonies to welcome new babies into the world, and
ceremonies to celebrate the love two people have for each
other. But like myself, I had other people looking for a legal
wedding ceremony that also wanted to celebrate their love
& their spiritual beliefs in an authentic way, with a celebrant
who also held those same beliefs of sacredness.
So I pulled up my green striped socks in 2016, and I
registered as a legal celebrant!
That decision to dedicate myself to my love of ceremony
was easy. Dedicating myself to the wider sacred community
was even easier. Today, I live in the Southern Highlands of
NSW and I am surrounded by natural beauty: the
mountains, the lakes, the national parks. I am enfolded in
the love of my community, and I willingly & joyously devote
my life to serving others in ceremony, whether that is a
wedding, handfasting, funeral, motherhood blessingway,
baby blessing or women’s rites.
And it has been a privilege and honour to support loving
couples as they have crafted unique and earth-conscious
ceremonies.
Welcome to Green Celebrant ceremonies!
Becoming a legal marriage celebrant
meant that I could support other
couples with spiritual weddings.
When I was married in 2006, I wanted a ceremony that
expressed my spiritual beliefs. And I wanted a celebrant that
I truly clicked with, and who understand my love of our
earth, and my spiritual world view. And while I looked and
looked, and I found some beautiful people, I couldn’t find
one who was…well, like us. So, we engaged the services of
the nicest celebrant to do the simple legal thing at our hotel,
and then we went out on the earth, and had a different
person conduct our spiritual wedding ceremony. And that
second ceremony was powerful.
At the time, having two different ceremonies was the best
that I could do, and I sometimes wonder what it might have
been like to have the whole ceremony conducted by that one
special celebrant who saw the world as we did. I imagine us
sharing our story of love, offering our vows to each other, all
within a one sacred ceremony.
And doing it all legally.
While my ceremonial experience grew, I was still living a
separate life in the corporate world. I felt the dissonance
between these two lives – one with uniforms and policy
manuals and staff meeting minutes; the other with
sometimes simple, other times elaborate ceremonies by
moon rises and sunsets.
In 2017 I made a big decision, and I left the corporate
world, dedicating myself fully to ceremony.
As a long time pagan, and passionate creator of ritual and
ceremony, I realised that sharing space with other people
was one of the most sacred things I could do. I wanted to be
the most authentic version of myself that I could be – and
that meant setting aside all the things society told me I
“should” do, and following my heart of what I actually felt
called to do.
I am a pagan, priestess & teacher.
I am a bard & artisan.
I am a woman & wife.
I am a daughter, sister & aunt.
I craft ceremonies that are deeply moving, intensely
spiritual, and shaped with you in mind. And as a registered
celebrant, and practising priestess, I offer ceremonies that
celebrate life & our earth.
In 2001 I discovered the power of ceremony, and practised
rituals with other women that celebrated the moon & the
seasons. At that time I was completing a degree in Visual
Arts, and loved how my art become another way to express
this connection I felt with the beautiful world around me.
In 2012, I began to lead my own ceremonies, working with
many different people who all walked their own paths with
passion and truth. I began to understand what would work
in a ceremony, and what wouldn’t. Those early forays into
leading ceremony were important learning experiences for
me. That, and the patience of my beloved friends as we
tried many different things to see what would truly
enhance the intensity of a ceremony.
As a triple Capricorn, I love that my closest friends describe
me as compassionate, supportive & curious about life … as
well as focused and organised.
I find that having a structured side to myself means that I can
see the way different parts weave together into ceremony,
and I can understand and see that natural flow.
As a very creative person – musician, artisan, graphic
designer & writer – I bring a powerful balance to that
systemised-side of myself. Like walking between two worlds,
I can feel the inspiration, and I can also express it. And I thank
the gods every day for this gift.
As a pagan, I hold a deep reverence for our earth, and all
living beings that we share it with. And as I try to live a life
that is based on eco-ethical decisions, I try to do so with
some compassion for myself too, for sometimes I stumble in
my intention to do no harm to this world.
But why ceremony? Because it is essential and sacred work
in our modern world, and I feel called to it.
To a Wedding & Handfasting ceremony I bring:
⚫ A passion for ceremony & a wealth of ceremony
experience
⚫ Authenticity, honesty, patience, respect &
understanding
⚫ A creative heart & an organised mind
⚫ A sacred outlook to life & openness to spiritual
expression in ceremony
Maybe you’re both passionate about all things medieval,
and you want to recreate that atmosphere of chivalry,
honour, and fair maids on your special day. Maybe you’re
both beloved fans of Star Trek, and you want to hold your
ceremony upon the recreated stage of Enterprise’s bridge
with a Captain presiding. Maybe you wish to honour your
nudist beliefs, surrounded by your intimate community, and
you want your celebrant to share in that skyclad ceremony.
Whether this is a legal ceremony, a commitment
ceremony, a vow renewal or handfasting, a wedding is an
emotionally powerful occasion.
A wedding ceremony is the coming
together of two people in a sacred
partnership of love and support for
the rest of their lives.
Imagine a wedding day of joy, love and sacredness.
Imagine that in the weeks or months leading up to your
wedding, you’ve explored all the aspects of the ceremony,
and have chosen what best reflects the love you and your
beloved have for each other. Imagine feeling that the
wedding started back at that first interview with me, as we
explored your story of love, and that you’ve been on a
journey ever since. Imagine that in our creating your
ceremony, you were both offered many opportunities to
more deeply understand each other, and your love.
A wedding ceremony is the coming together of two people
in a sacred partnership of love and support for the rest of
their lives.
And maybe you live your lives in a beautiful, off-beat
manner, and you want your ceremony to be the same.
A modern handfasting may also be held within a pagan
ceremony. As a certified marriage celebrant, as well as
Witch (member of PAN & Reclaiming Witchcraft tradition),
and Druid (of the OBOD tradition), I offer unique
ceremonies that reflect our spiritual beliefs. I have been
leading ceremony & rituals since 2009, and due to my deep
passion for my pagan beliefs & the work & teaching I do in
my community, I consider myself a pagan Priestess. When
we craft your handfasting ceremony together, we create a
ritual that is powerful, poignant & unforgettable.
A couple may choose a modern handfasting ceremony for a
range of reasons:
⚫ they want a wedding ceremony that harkens back to
their Celtic roots
⚫ they want a legal wedding without all the “stuffiness”
⚫ they want a non-legal wedding without all the
“stuffiness”
⚫ they are a pagan/druid/witch couple who want their
spiritual beliefs included in the ceremony
⚫ they want their wedding to be special, different &
unique
A handfasting offers a couple the opportunity to have a
spiritually non-Christian wedding, whose roots harken to
an older past. Seen as a rural folkloric tradition in Western
Europe, handfastings have become a popular spiritual
alternative to a traditional wedding ceremony.
Writings from the 16th & 17th centuries give us insight to
the original purpose of the handfasting in Britain - a
commitment ceremony performed during either Beltane or
Lughnasadh (depending on location). The whole community
would come together at this time, and it was a custom for
people to ‘wed’ for a year and a day - a type of betrothal.
Once that year was up (during the next Beltane or
Lughnasadh gathering), the couple could agree to continue
the marriage, or separate & choose another partner. It is
the physical act of tying together hands - the handfasting -
that has gained popularity in our modern culture, which
years to put meaning back into (often) bland & legalised
ceremonies.
Modern handfastings may be a simple or intricate
ceremony; include a small or large wedding party; be
civil-minded or deeply spiritual - it is all up to the individual
couple. It typically includes the handfasting act - the binding
of the couples hands together to signify their joining in this
life & marriage. This binding can be performed in different
ways & I am always excited to explore with the couple
which style suits them best.
A handfasting cord is a length of ‘cord’ about
1.5m long that is woven around the hands of the
couple during the ceremony.
You can make your own handfasting cord, ask an
artist friend to create one, or purchase it from
the internet …
You can make it from fabric, twine, hemp,
seaweed, wool, ribbon, cord, flax …
It can be a length of ribbon, a strip of your family
tartan, a cutting from your family wedding dress,
an appliquéd piece of fabric…
It can be crocheted, woven, plaited, knotted,
sewn, felted, macraméd …
It can have pendants dangling from the ends, a
bindrune on a sliver of wood woven into the
middle …
What can you imagine?
⚫ Supply the table and decoration for the ‘altar’ I use
during the ceremony.
⚫ My assurance that I will not book another wedding at
the same time, so you will have my full attention, and I
will not arrive late or need to leave early.
⚫ My guarantee that your ceremony will remain your
ceremony, and I will do everything possible to safeguard
your ownership of decisions and style.
⚫ My full experience, knowledge & wisdom regarding
ceremonies means you can be confident it will be
unique, passionate and profound for you both.
My role as a celebrant is two-fold: to ensure that the
ceremony is conducted in accordance with legal
requirements; and to support you, the couple, and make
sure that the ceremony expresses your values, beliefs and
personalities. My knowledge, experience and guidance are
available to you as we create a unique & magickal
ceremony just for you.
What You Can Expect From Me
⚫ Attend to all the Legal Paperwork prior to & after your
marriage.
⚫ Registration of your marriage with Births, Deaths &
Marriages.
⚫ Solemnise your marriage according to Australian Law.
⚫ Complies with the Code of Practice for Marriage
Celebrants.
⚫ Advise you of information regarding local Relationship
Education Services.
⚫ Make available your Presentation Marriage Certificate
⚫ A rehearsal, preferably onsite at your chosen ceremony
venue.
relationship into which you are now about to enter.
Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of two
people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered
into for life.
This means that the vows you will make are meant to
sustain you both for the whole of your life together. This
union is not just about the children that may be born into it,
or the land you may live on together: it is about the journey
that you will make, together, for the rest of your days.
Personal Vows
Celebrant: In our modern times, we sometimes take for
granted how important, how powerful, and how sincere
vows are intended to be. They are more than just a promise
to make it to the footy match on time, or, “I swear I’ll
remember to pick-up bread on the way home.”
A marriage vow is something we wholly intend to keep, and
be true to, for the rest of our lives, knowing that it will
require work, and that we are supported by all our loved
ones, gathered here today to witness this ceremony. John
and Jane, I now invite you both to speak your vows to each
other.
Whether you’re going for a unique alternative ceremony, a
traditional handfasting, or a spiritual ritual, your wedding
ceremony can include whatever you can imagine! The
following is a general format:
The Welcome
Celebrant: Chris & Ashley, marriage is the coming together
at all levels of being – the mind, the body, and the spirit.
This commitment includes the willingness to be open &
vulnerable, and the courage to take risks. It is a conscious
act of will.
To remain in marriage we must continually renew our will
to be married. We accept the challenges that living together
in love offer. We decide that we will face the fears that are
a necessary part of establishing & nurturing an intimate
relationship.
Chris & Ashley, you have made the commitment to create
and recreate this conscious partnership.
I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages
according to law. Before you are joined in marriage in my
presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to
remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the
present to witness that I, Chris, take thee, Ashley, to be my
lawful wedded partner.
This is then repeated for Ashley.
Celebrant: Ashley, as you place your ring on Chris’s finger, I
ask you to repeat after me: I call upon the persons here
present to witness that I, Ashley, take thee, Chris, to be my
lawful wedded partner.
Handfasting
Celebrant: Chris & Ashley have chosen to conclude their
ceremony with a traditional handfasting. This is a symbolic
binding of the hands that inspired the terms "Bonds of Holy
Matrimony" and to "Tie the knot". Throughout history in
many different parts of the world, the hands of the bride
and groom were bound as a sign of their commitment to
one another. Rings were only for the rich.
For Chris & Ashley, the handfasting is also link, for them, to
their Ancestors of the British Isles, who still practise this
gesture today.
Celebrant: Chris & Ashley: do you both choose to bind
yourselves to the other for the rest of this life?
Chris & Ashley: We do.
The celebrant then wraps the tie around the hands of the
couple, and then holds the couple’s hands between their
own.
Blessing of the Rings
Celebrant: A Circle is one of our most powerful spiritual
symbols. Like the Wheel of the Year, it has no true
beginning or end, and signifies a cycle that continues on
indefinitely. The Circle is also the map for all our lives –
birth, death, rebirth, and so on through many lives. And like
a marriage, there will be new beginnings, endings, and fresh
starts, over and over.
Your rings represent a promise of constant renewal, and of
always coming back to each other. They are also a sign to all
the world of the deep love you have for each other; a
commemoration of the sacredness of these moments
shared here today; and a visible reminder of the vows you
are making.
The celebrant places her hands over the rings and blesses
them saying:
Beloved gods,
Witness these rings forged in fire
I ask you to bless them with Your wisdom and love.
May they who wear them
Be of one breath, one mind, one heart.
Together, may they walk this life in honour and
strength.
The celebrant then offers the rings to the couple.
Celebrant: Chris, as you place your ring on Ashley’s finger, I
ask you to repeat after me: I call upon the persons here
Further Ceremony Options
There are many other unique options that you may like to
include in your ceremony, including:
Acknowledgement of Country
You may like to begin your ceremony with an
acknowledgement of Aboriginal land.
The Story
The bride & groom are asked to share their “How we met”
story with everyone. They can tell it together, or from two
different points of view.
The Question
The bride & groom are asked why they wish to join together
in this ceremony. They might begin: “I knew I wanted to be
with Ashley forever when.....”
Lighting the Joining Candles
The bride & groom take their individual candles and use
them to light a third candle, the Joining candle, together
showing their unity through action.
Combining Waters
The bride and groom (and their children, if combining two
families) bring out individual jars of water. They all then
pour their water into a single larger jar, showing their unity
through the fact that the waters can never be separated
again.
Beloved gods, I ask you to bless this couple
By the passions of Fire
By the strength of the Earth
By the commitment of the Winds
By the ever-living love of the Waters
And by the divine spark of life that is your eternal gift.
May they understand that, together, they will know
both joy and pain, strength and
weariness, direction and doubt, for all the risings and
settings of the sun. Blessed be.
The Finish
Celebrant: Chris & Ashley, before your beloved friends &
family, you have vowed to live, love and grow together for
the rest of your days. I now pronounce you husband and
wife! You may now seal your vow with a kiss!
The couple kiss.
Celebrant: I now invite everyone to stand and welcome the
newly married couple, Chris & Ashley!
Warming the Rings
This works best when there is small gathering for the
wedding. The rings are brought forward, and then they are
passed round all friends and family, inviting the to offer a
brief blessing or such upon the rings. When finished, the
exchanging of rings and vows are done by the couple.
Cakes & Ale
A common practice at the end of pagan ceremonies is the
sharing of food and drink (called cakes & ale). The couple
first offer a “cake” to each other, feeding the other, saying:
“May you never hunger.” They then do the same with a
chalice of drink, saying: “May you never thirst.”
Elemental Blessing
A spiritual inclusion could be the celebrant ‘blessing’ the
couple by the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
Prayers & Poems
You may like to include your friends and family in the
ceremony by inviting one (or more!) of them to read out a
special poem or inspiring words.
The Support
Even though the bride & groom are individuals, and their
choice to be wed is theirs alone, many people make up the
threads of the webs of our lives; encouraging us, supporting
us and weaving their lives with ours.
For example: Two groups (or two single people) come
forward: one holds a candle representing the groom,
and the other a candle representing the bride. Each
group/person is offered the chance to share with
everyone how they noticed the couple’s lives change
when they met each other. They might say, “I knew that
Diana was smitten when....” Once done, the candles are
placed on the altar on each side of the Joining Candle.
The Blessing
A bag if crystals (or other such significant & small objects) are
passed around for guests to take one each (or the guests may
be asked to bring said-object with them to the ceremony).
The bride & groom then walk around the sacred space giving
each person the chance to bless them as they place their
crystal into a bowl that the couple hold. A blessing might be:
“May you always have laughter in your hearts.”
(The crystals can then be taken home by the couple and
displayed as they choose afterwards).
Deposit & Fee Structure
$100 deposit is required to hold the date of your ceremony,
and is due as soon as this date is confirmed with Jenneth.
This ensures that no other ceremonies are booked for that
day. The remainder of the first 50% of the total fee is
payable upon the signing of the NOIM. The final 50% is
payable no less than 1 month prior to the ceremony.
For example, a Southern Highlands ceremony total is $800,
and would have $100 paid to hold the date, and then $300
at the initial signing of paperwork (rest of first 50%), and the
$400 (final 50%) one month before the ceremony.
Refunds
Please note that there is no refund offered for any
payments of the first 50% made: at each stage of the
ceremony preparation, the payments due cover both the
holding of the date & the documentation & planning efforts
already completed. However, the full final 50% is
refundable if the couple advise the cancellation of the
ceremony to the celebrant no less than 1 month prior to the
ceremony. No further refund is available after this time.
Ceremonies are all about people celebrating events that change their life.
www.TheGreenCelebrant.com.au