Madonna sang about it…. Lionel Ritchie sang about it….Kool and the Gang sang about it
Verb – to Celebrate – is to acknowledge a significant event with a social gathering or activity to show the importance of the occasion.
Noun – Celebrant – a person who celebrates, or in official cases, officiates weddings , but can also celebrate other social gatherings or activities that are important: funerals, baby namings, vow renewals, or anniversaries – even the launching of a boat. Anyone got a boat they need launching?
The best thing about being a marriage celebrant is the joy that comes with it: the joy of the celebration, the joy of being with people who are planning their ceremony, people who have chosen to go public, either with a full-on ceremony, or just a quiet ‘elopement’ or ‘legals only’ celebration. They are all with me for the one purpose, to commit to each other legally, in front of witnesses. And when I deliver the ultimate announcement and see the happiness and love ripple through the couple and their guests, or simply their witnesses, I can say that my job is (nearly) done and I’ve loved doing it.
For other ceremonies, the joy doesn’t falter – people who want to make a celebration public, to acknowledge it with family and friends, bring the delight, the love, the excitement just the same.
There has not been a ceremony that I haven’t loved and valued. Full scale weddings with large bride’s and groom’s parties and many, many guests, to legals only across a kitchen table – each have had their own special qualities and I have come from away from them all with a smile still plastered on my face.
And you may think that presenting a eulogy for a remarkable woman who lived a wonderful life might have been a sad occasion: it was, in fact, an absolute pleasure to deliver. To be able to give those words and that time to someone so loved by so many was, indeed, an utter delight. It was, indeed, a celebration and I helped make it so.
I can’t pick favourites but I can say that all my celebrations have touched my heart and I carry their love and joy with me each day.
With love ….
