Rosemary Celebrates Weddings

Even when I am on vacation in New Zealand, I am still thinking about my beautiful couples, doing research so I can craft meaningful ceremonies for them and their guests. If you ever get to Christchurch, have the Smashed Avocado at Black Betty Cafe - it’s awesome.

It’s wedding day for Daniel and Tim, and I am feeling emotional about it- always for the couple, for the privilege of being able to be an officiant, but today i...n particular, for celebrating this ceremony at the William Way Center, heartbeat of the LGBT community in Philly. I have been doing this long enough that I did not have the privilege of marrying same sex couples when I first started. I am always grateful law caught up to love, and doing a ceremony here for the first time, during Pride Month, is humbling. I think of all of my couples on each wedding day in which I participate, but today, more than ever, I am thinking of all you members of same sex couples who let me share in the magic of your big day. Thank you.

Sometimes the best parts of being a wedding officiant are the blessings of gratitude- an awesome gift showed up unexpectedly today from a couple I am working with. I am a lucky girl.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife" - the joy of saying those words to my nephew Jeff and his beloved Alexis.

Before the wedding, people who know my relationship with my nephew Jeff said "how are you not going to cry during the ceremony"? I always said I never cry duri...ng a ceremony - it is not the officiant's job. True, he’s the closest thing I have to a son (I never had kids), but he and his fiancée trusted me with this honor and I was going to do it. I held true to my word - I waited until after the ceremony, when I was about four steps from the last row of chairs, to lose it. This picture says it all: how blessed I felt to have found my way into being a celebrant, and how overwhelmed I was at playing that role at the wedding of my beloved Jeffrey.

For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other. This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love: the more they give, the more they possess. Rainer Maria Rilke

One of the blessings of my 2018 wedding officiating was to participate in another ceremony for Gupi and Chris Howie's family - this time, for Gupi's brother Sha...wn and his lovely bride Lindsay, a Western wedding after their traditional Sikh celebration. Chris and Gupi were the very first ones to take a chance on me as an enthusiastic but untried wedding officiant 8 years ago, and for that, they will forever hold a huge place in my heart. To be able to share in another joyous occasion in service to the family, at the same beautiful place, Riverview Farm, at which I performed my first wedding, was just glorious. Thanks to August J. Photography for letting me share the beauty of the day with you.

Traces of love are everywhere...even on the way to morning coffee.

Thinking of the beautiful same sex couples with whom I celebrated, knowing that one of the reasons they were able to be married was because of the efforts of this brave woman. Rest in power, Edie Windsor.

Side by side They fell asleep Decades gliding by like Indians Time is cheap When they wake up they will find... All their personal belongings Have intertwined Lyrics: Paul Simon, "René And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War" Photograph: "The Shadow and Its Shadow" - René Magritte/Latrobe Regional Gallery

Even when I am not celebrating a ceremony, I am on the case- seeing the Israeli film "A Wedding Plan".

On a snowy day in Philadelphia, what could be more uplifting than photos from a gorgeous wedding in Hawaii. Look how cunningly they have worked the pineapples into the bouquets and table decorations. Yep, this is what I do on a snow day - look at wedding sites on the web. How Hawaii is my happy place! If anyone knows anyone who needs an officiant for a wedding in the 50th state, I am there. http://www.100layercake.com//honolulu-hawaii-wedding-oliv/

Wedding #28 was on the 28th of December, and it was special for so many reasons. I watched this love story unfold - Matt, Tara, and I all work together at Peirc...e College - and was delighted to work with bride and groom to create a ceremony which reflected their love not only for each other but also for the city where it all happened - Philly! Welcome to what I call the "progressive wedding": we started with words of welcome at Elfreth's Alley and then went to the Art Museum and the Rocky statue for pictures. Next, we had time at Rittenhouse Square, at a spot very special to them, where they exchanged amazing words of love to each other that they wrote themselves. Then it was onto Peirce where it all started - they exchanged vows and rings, I said the magic words, and voila, they are married. We went over to Broad Street, snapped pics in the middle of the street, and I left them to walk the signed license over to City Hall to register it officially. What a day! On one hand it was so intimate - only the two of them, the photographer and me - but then again, it was like the whole city was invited. People were just so genuinely surprised and delighted to see a beautiful bride emerge in their midst - their joy magnified ours. The whole thing was magical, and so much fun - we laughed hard throughout the day. I must say, the idea to bring snacks and Prosecco was an inspired one, too. Onto the joys which my 2017 weddings will inevitably bring. So much love to Matty and Tara, and to all my wedding couples, past and present and future. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me be part of your joyous wedding day.

So so fortunate yesterday to have officiated the wedding of Danny Sanchez and Patrick Gallo - such a love story, unfurled in front of family and friends at the ...glorious Wissahickon Park. So beautiful, so much fun. And the people - such a collection of the blossoms! I think that was the most intensely emotion-filled first dance I have ever seen - I will never hear the song "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" the same way again. I also improvised a little Madonna at the beginning of the blessing before the meal, so there was that, too. Newlyweds, thank you for letting be a part of your magic-filled day on the Danny and Patio.