Richardson, Marion

How I feel about being a wedding Celebrant     
I take my part seriously but enjoy it enormously. An ability to think on one’s feet and cope with the unexpected is an asset.

My approach to weddings     
At the outset the client and I decide what the input will be on both sides. I am prepared to do as much or as little as they want. I always send sample ceremonies as a starting point on first contact and like to meet clients fairly soon. My priority is to see that they have The Day they really want.

What I love most about conducting weddings     
The joy of it all! I relish the chance to read the lovely poetry clients often choose and i6t’s a real buzz when they say their day was just what they wanted.

My advice to you    
Start early, do your homework and remember your celebrant wants what you want.

My favourite piece of wedding poetry     
Humorous: Ogden Nash
To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
Whenever you’re right, shut up.

Beautiful (especially when the ceremony includes handfasting): ‘Wedding Day’ by Rowena Eden White
Now comes the knitting, the tying, entwining into one.
Mysterious involvement of two, whole, separate people
Into something altogether strange and changing; new and lovely.

Nothing can be, we will never be, the same again.
Not merged into each other irrevocably, but rather
From now on we go the same way, in the same direction,
Agreeing not to leave each other lonely,
or discouraged, or behind.

I will do my best to keep my promises,
To treasure you and keep you warm;
And we will make our wide bed
Beneath the bright and ragged quilt
Of all the yesterdays that make us who we are,
The strengths and frailties we each bring to this marriage,
And we will be rich indeed.

My most unusual location for a wedding to date     
Beside a waterfall, Cassley Falls, in Sutherland.