Other Ceremonies

My Celebrant services extend to the following celebrations and ceremonies:

• Baby Namings

• Blessing Ways

• Funerals/Life Celebrations

• Memorial Services

• Significant Anniversaries (Eg: Renewal of Vows)

• Same sex relationship commitments

Whatever the occasion, if you need an officiate, I can happily be of service.

Baby Namings

Many of life’s important events are honoured through ceremony and the arrival of a child is one of life’s most treasured events. A Baby Naming ceremony welcomes and celebrates the coming of your precious child into their personal world, into their loving family, and into their wider community.

A ceremony to honour a child is an ancient tradition conducted around the world to welcome and embrace a new life. Family and friends are brought together to greet the new family member and the importance of the event is expressed through ceremony.

The Baby Naming ceremony marks your intentions and wishes for your child’s life and gives public recognition to the responsibilities that you face in bringing up a child. It acknowledges and strengthens the bonds to your child with your family and friends.

The ceremony also provides your child with an occasion where she or he can look back in years to come and see that an event was held in their honour, where their family and friends showed their care and love for them by pledging their lifelong love and support.

There is an African proverb that declares: “When you have a child, it’s not just your child; it’s the child of the community”. The role of Godparents/Guardians/Mentors in a child’s life is to connect your child to people who will take a special lifelong interest in their welfare and development. They provide a retreat for the child that is outside of their immediate family: a unique place where your child can find individual attention and guidance from another perspective. Therefore it is important that you, as parents, choose people you trust and who will take their position seriously in your child’s life to fill this role.

A Baby Naming (or Blessing) day is a beautiful cherished event that brings great pleasure and joy to all present.

Blessing Ways

A Blessing Way is a spiritual tradition used to mark the transition of a woman into motherhood. With a blessing way the emphasis is moved from traditional gift giving to offering blessings for the baby and family.

During a blessing way ceremony the woman's close female friends are asked to gather together to honour her and her baby. The mother to be is often pampered by her friends with foot and hand massage, hair brushing and foot baths. Friends are invited to honour the mother to be with words of acknowledgment of her special qualities. Woman can be asked to bring a bead and a necklace is made on the day for the mother.

The ceremony is usually followed by eating delicious food and beverage that friends have bought to the event.

Here is an extract from a Blessing Way ceremony I conducted for Jessica:

“We gather together in this circle, as Jessica’s close friends, to create a container of support for Jessica and her baby. Our intention for this ritual is that Jessica can explore the challenges and joys that lie before her as she approaches birthing and motherhood. Drawing upon the feminine energy that surrounds her today she will gain a sense of power, confidence, and support that will help her rise to motherhood. "

Funerals

I have been conducting funerals since 2003. My work as a grief and loss counsellor affords me immeasurable skill and sensitivity in guiding you through this important and often challenging event.

A funeral ceremony is often called a ‘Life Celebration’ as while we mourn the loss of the person we have loved we also honour the life they have lived. It is therefore important that the ceremony reflects their life and leaves the guests feeling that they now know that person a little more.

The location of the funeral ceremony, when using a celebrant, is often in the crematorium chapel or by the graveside. It can also be outdoors on a favourite headland or beach, in a park or bush land setting or in the intimacy of yours or a friend’s home.

I can also provide you with information and resources for the following:

• Do-it-Yourself -Funerals

• Dying at home

• Advanced Care Directives

• Natural Burial Grounds

Renewal of Vows

Many couples who have been married a long time find great affirmation in holding a ceremony to renew their wedding vows and celebrate their loving enduring relationship. It is an opportunity to share the value of relationship with family, especially children, and friends. And it is a special moment for couples to shout it from the roof tops that they are still in love!

Same sex relationships

Under Australian law marriage is the union of a man and a woman. However this does not prevent couples of the same sex from declaring their love and commitment to each other in a celebratory fashion. A same sex ceremony holds all the same or similar sentiments as does a legal marriage, with “legal” being the only valid difference. In my eyes, love is worthy of acknowledgement and celebration under all and any circumstance.