Looking for a traditional celebrant

What exactly do you mean by 'traditional'?

Do you mean that you want a priest/minister, or that you want it to look and sound like you are getting married in a church but without religion?

I have met couples and even Celebrants who have differing ideas of what constitutes a traditional ceremony and so it will be helpful for you to be clear in what it is that you want so that you can be sure that your Celebrant meets your needs.

I am on the South Coast and so far from the Hunter Valley but I am happy to sent you some ideas and you can decide for yourself however, here are a few traditions:

Here are few traditions you might have a laugh over or you may still wish to include:

·         Walking down the aisle was the only way to get to the church altar and so the father escorted the bride to hand over her care, custody and control to the groom, along with any property that she might have been entitled to as an heir. Anything she might have owned, became the groom's property (including the bride).

·         The first White wedding gown was worn by Anne of Brittany in 1499 but white became more popular when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840. The white material demonstrated affluence (white material was very expensive) but came to symbolise chastity after Albert’s death when Victoria refused to remarry.

·         Handfasting existed long before ring exchanges or Christian marriages.

·         Veils covered the Bride’s face, to protect her from evil spirits, hide her from rescuers, and so that a groom could not reject an ugly bride.

·         In some cultures it is the man who wears the veil and arrives on a white stead.

·         Bridesmaids dressed the same as the Bride complete with a veil, to fool rescuers and evil spirits and to this day, bridesmaid still often dress the same as each other.

·         Flowers, now carried for decoration, were a bouquet (aroma) used to hide odour because bathing was rare as there was no plumbing and it was too cold to wash in winter.

·         The ‘Best Man’ was the best fighter in the village who helped kidnap the bride from a neighbouring village or castle and he stood guard to prevent her rescue.

·         The Bride, when forced to be there, stood to the Grooms’ left so that he could hold her in place with his left hand to prevent her escape while also leaving his (right) sword arm free in case he had to fight off her father and other rescuers.

·         When a father escorted the Bride it was because he was ‘giving away’ rights to his assets but as the Bride was not allowed to own property upon marriage, anything she might have owned or inherited, immediately became the property of the Groom, including her.

·         The Bride and Groom faced the altar & Priest who stood at the centre as the couple made their vows to God and not to each other. It was a prayer service that included a wedding.

·         Readings create a loving theme relating to the couple but in a religious services there are typically three Biblical readings, the Old Testament, New Testament and the Gospel.

·         Women didn’t wear underwear but wore garters to hold up their stockings. A garter being thrown from the bedchamber was considered proof of consummation of marriage.

·         A marriage could be annulled if it was not consummated and so courtiers and parents stood around the bed to witness the ‘deflowering’ or just outside to catch the garter.

·         If a Bridesmaid placed a slice of the wedding cake under her pillow she would dream of her future groom.