Great Wedding Idea

What is the ideal location for your wedding?

Couples usually think about a church, a hall, home, the beach. You know the places. Well how about this?

Yesterday evening I performed a wedding ceremony at what could best be described as a rented party house. Located in the Fort Lauderdale area this was the perfect place for a small wedding.

The couple live in New York and were having their wedding here in south Florida.

This is the third wedding I have done in the past year in which the chosen location is serving as both a residence( while they're here) as well as the wedding location. The couple rents a very large home for a week. Their friends and family( as many as possible) stay in the home with them and they have a beautiful spot for their special event.

These houses are all high dollar houses. Great locations and spacious. Some of them are a little run down at the heels (so to speak) and many are being rented out in this manner in order to enable the owners to maintain ownership and have the house pay for itself either until they can sell it or until they are ready to renovate it for their own use.

Last night's house was truly unique. From the street it was barely viable because of the lush foliage. I sort of wandered my way in through a side entrance but once inside it was truly eye opening. It was more like a small estate with the main house, two separate guest wings and a beautiful pool (free formed to fit the space) multi level decks running everywhere and an orchid wall at the end of the house. There was a circular stairway leading to a sunroof and even a male body statue (no arms, legs or head but with the rest fully displayed) standing in the center of what looked to be a spa at one end of the pool.

Even though the guest list was quite small, probably no more than perhaps twenty, the couple had spared no cost in making their day special. Several photographers and caterers, food tables, bars, nicely set tables ...all set up around the beautifully landscaped pool. The bride even had her own special hair and makeup person in attendance.

Hey I was impressed. It was very pretty. My only complaint is a little disappointment in the failure to organize the little things that can make such an event special. Such as no music ready for their coming in and going out (even though there was a music system).

These weddings do tend to be loosely organized.

In a very large house, just across the street from the ocean in Fort Lauderdale I performed a wedding for a Russian couple. About the same number of guest. I arrived on time, which turned out to be quite early. They didn't have it together yet so I just stood around and nodded at all the people who were speaking Russian. They were a very friendly group and actually it was a rather amusing affair. I had a good time.

The girls had prepared their own food, all of which was ethnic and from their region of the world. Mostly vegetarian (which works for me) and very interesting.

The Miami wedding was catered with tents set upon a large lot in what had at one time been a very wealthy estate but which was in need of renovations. However even though it was not what it had once been it still had an ambiance all it's own, and had the feel of the roaring twenties.

It was well catered with tents and tables and chairs set out overlooking the waterway.

Each wedding is unique. Each couple is unique as are their guests.

If you're married where did your wedding take place? If you're planning a wedding what is your dream location? I hope you will share your interesting wedding stories.

If you're planning a wedding in south Florida remember TheSimpleWedding . We offer wedding ceremonies in English and Spanish. WE will soon be offering setups of chairs and arches for beach weddings. Please visit our website or call me at 954-254-6216

Including Children in the Wedding

As this picture shows sometimes a romantic beach wedding includes a ready made family.

Many of the weddings I preform are second, sometimes third time around weddings and in many cases children are a big part of the wedding and ceremony. In a formal wedding of course it is quite natural to see children as ring bearers or flower girls, but in small intimate weddings where many times there is only the bride and groom and the children we have a different arrangement.

I see many very small bridesmaids and best men. And it is lovely.

When the wedding is on the beach and the couple is from up north it is often hard to keep the small wedding attendants from running into the surf rather than quietly holding the rings or flowers while the ceremony is underway.

I remember one small bridesmaid that spent the time pounding her flowers into nothingness, in the sand, while we continued on.

Usually though the children behave beautifully, if sometimes sort of trance like, while we carry on.

If you're getting married and there are young children who will be uniting into the family, right

along with the bride and groom, I think it is nice to really make them a part of the ceremony. There are several ways to do this. One would be a sand ceremony with a jar of sand for each child. They would then pour their sand in turn along with the bride and groom. It makes a nice impression on the children and they feel that it is their wedding too.

Another nice way to help children feel included is for the "step" parent to present, as part of the ceremony, a small gift to the child (children). A special reading or words of presentation from the giver can be included in the ceremony.

Many times children of the bride walk their mother down the isle. Children, no matter their ages, find this a very special thing to do.

So regardless of the age of the child or children which are about to become a part of a new family, be sure to give thought to how they can be made to feel special about this day and about the new family member.

A day as special as this day can go a long way to making the new family life more comfortable and to making the child feel more included. If handled badly, ignoring the child can create hurt feelings and resentment and just make a sometimes difficult adjustment all the more so.

Lazy Sunday...It's Cold...Again

Well since nothing is happening this cold weekend I thought I would tell you, and show you, a wedding I did last summer.

This was such fun. I thought they had decided to get married on horseback because they were both really "horse" people but I was wrong. They were both just beginners but were having so much fun with it that they decided that it was the way to go.

I was so delighted to be able to do their wedding because my parents were married on horseback many years ago. Their's was not planned that way. They were going to be married in a little country church and they rode horse to get there. The minister, who rode a horse also, was running a little late and said to them that if they didn't mind he would just stand between the horses heads and do the ceremony. I've always thought it was a really neat thing so I was happy to be a part of a similar wedding.

My parents wedding took place in West Virginia many years ago. Their wedding was very successful and they shared well over 50 years together.

I have been performing weddings for quite a few years now and I really enjoy each and every ceremony which I have the honor to perform. Most of the weddings I am involved in are small, many times just myself and the bride and groom. And they're lovely.

If a wedding is in your future and I can be of service please contact me by email and please visit my website TheSimpleWedding.com

I hope you'll comment. If you haven't blogged...there is a little bit of information at the bottom of this page...look for comments and click on it.

I look forward to hearing from you.

When I tie the Knot... I tie the Knot

Meet David and Debra, newly weds...newly connected... Look closely at the picture

I married this couple this evening at their home in Tamarac. They were surrounded by family and friends at their small intimate wedding ceremony.

The couple wrote their own vows which were very personal to them. David had worked hard on his vows. They were lovely and very meaningful. He had them ready, on index cards in his pocket. Debra did her, equally meaningful vows, without the benefit of cards. The love in their eyes for one another was there for all of us in attendance to see and feel.

I truly enjoy my role as a wedding officiant. It gives me the opportunity to share in such a special moment in the lives of the couple. I can look in their eyes and see the love that they feel for one another. I get to listen as they tell one another of their love. It's wonderful.

I sensed that David and Debra had both been looking for this very special relationship and were both so happy to have found it. They are a lovely couple and they were surrounded by people who were special to them. Don't ever think that a wedding must be big and expensive to be special. It doesn't. The thing that makes a wedding special is what made this wedding special. That is the love that the bride and groom feel for one another and the love that exists between the couple and their guests. It makes for warm vibes.

Congratulations David and Debra. Thank you for letting me share your moment.

More on Key Biscayne Wedding

In yesterday's blog I failed to mention the bride and groom. I only gave you the dog's name. Well here they are again. It's Doug and Rita. What a lovely couple they are. I had met them only once before the day of the wedding but by the end of the wedding day, after taking them up on their generous offer to join them and their friends at their reception, I felt that I had known them for years.

I think the picture I have used here is so beautiful and so "Florida" . I want to thank Wick Beavers photographer for giving me the opportunity to use some of his pictures. Wick is a well know and acclaimed photographer doing high end photography and if you visit his site www.wickbeaver.com I think you will be impressed. I had a great time getting to know him a little at the reception.

I will be performing a wedding ceremony this afternoon. At the moment I don't know if it will be a home or a park wedding. Our weather, usually so nice and warm is now cold, cold, cold. I will be prepared for an inside or an outside wedding. The choice belongs to the bride and groom.

I'll let you know about it in my next blog.

Remember if you're planning or dreaming of a Florida beach wedding give me a call at 954-254-6216 or visit my website .

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Thanks for reading and please forward my blog to friendswho like to blog.

A Wedding on Key Biscayne

Sunday was a beautiful day for a wedding on the porch of the caretakers cottage at the foot of the Lighthouse. The wedding took place at dusk, in the Bill Baggs State Park on Key Biscayne.The bestman was a wonderful dog named Jason who wore his bowtie proudly.The gulls were at their finest...flying overhead. Thank goodness we were on the porch with a roof over our head.The bride and groom were so in love and surrounded by a group of loving friends and family.If you're thinking of a beach wedding in south Florida we are just running over with really nice places. Visit my websitewww.thesimplewedding.com for information about great locations.Lots of good info there and if you don't find what you need by all means give me a call at 954-254-6216. .

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