Rohan’s sent me this link to his photo album where he’s put the photos he took at our handfasting….
http://picasaweb.google.com/rohanwholt/BeautyAndTheBeast
They’re great!
Filed under: Gift wishlist, Green, Updates, eco-friendly products, ecological, environmentally friendly, sustainability
For those of you who brought us fruit trees as gifts, this is just to let you know that they have been planted and are going quite well.
The worm farms are chugging away producing a fine vintage of worm-wee which the plants are drinking up thirstily, and all the environmentally-friendly packaging and wrappings are putting much needed carbon back into the soil (via composting).
Thanks heaps to you all…..
Love & Lite,
Pete, Deb, Sophia, Jess & Maggie
Filed under: Handfasting, Marriage, faith, paganism, religion, spirituality
Its been two months now, and people are still asking us, “How’s married life?”
The answer in a nutshell is “great!”
But it is interesting when folks pose questions like, “is it any different?”
Strangely, it is. Perhaps it is the act of ritual and ceremony which changes how one feels about a relationship, but there is now more of a sense of permanency and seriousness to our relationship. The best way I can describe it is like the difference between a Dress Rehearsal and an actual Performance in the theatre: in both situations you are performing your production to the best of your ability, however in the first instance you have some allowance for stuff-ups, but in the second you are really doing it – and of course if things slip up, you improvise and get on with the show and hope the audience don’t pick up on it.
Jokes aside, there has definitely been some manner of energetic shift with both Deb and I about our lives together. We appear to be more focussed on long-term goals and issues – perhaps because of the intensity of short-term vision we had in the months leading up the Handfasting! 
But we are now considering what to do and where to be, whereas previously we didn’t. Perhaps we have also undergone a certain level of maturing also, where the lead-up to marriage meant we had to each consolidate our individual paths and integrate what we have learned into a new life as a ‘partner’.
Needless to say, we are probably more in love today than we were two months ago. And that day was so wonderful, we often feel like doing it all over again… but then we remember all the planning and logistics and breathe a sigh of relief that its all done! HAHAHA!!!
Thanks heaps again to all our family and friends who came, and thanks heaps for the wonderful gifts, and for making that day so memorable. See you again for the anniversary perhaps……?
Love & Lite,
Pete, Deb, Sophia, Jess, & Maggie
Filed under: Handfasting, Lawful union, Marriage, Updates, paganism, photos, spirituality
“Where’s the park? Has anyone got a copy of the invitation?”
Here’s the bridal party (and horse) rambling through the suburban streets.
Sophia smelling the roses.
The ‘Men in Black’. Waiting for the fashionably-late Bride.
“Here comes the Bride”
The Ceremony
Tying the knot
After copping flack for not updating this blog, I have gotten it together to post the script for the ceremony.
Some of you folks couldn’t hear Deb on the day, and have been waiting to hear her lovely words, so here they are in all their glory on the Handfasting Ceremony page.
The photos are on the way.
I’m not sure exactly what else we can put up here, other than stuff related to the day… but feel free to drop in from time to time (or subscribe to the feed, and that way you’ll know when its updated.)
We’re also hanging to hear some feedback from all of you who came, so please leave comments and let us know how much fun you had!
Filed under: Uncategorized
OK we have a lost property box going.
A light/cream-brown coloured knitted jumper is here, and we presume someone belongs to it.
There is also a set of keys missing, with a small compass and nail-clippers as a keyring (with only 4 or 5 keys on it).
If anyone knows anything about either, give us a call!
Filed under: Gift wishlist, Green, Handfasting, Lawful union, Marriage, eco-friendly products, ecological, environmentally friendly, paganism, spirituality, sustainability
OK, OK…. its taken me a few days to recover, but I have finally updated this site….
WE DID IT!! HUZZAH!
And what a wonderful day it was for everyone. The weather deities kept up their part of the bargain and gave us a wonderful rainless day; our friends and family that were stuck behind flood-waters in East Gippsland made it up at the eleventh hour; and there was enough food and drink to satisfy everyone’s tummies!
Thank you heaps to all our friends who came to both ceremony and feast; it meant so much to us that you came to share with us this day. And of course thank you to everyone that assisted in some way. It really was a communal effort, and for us that was one of the most important things: that our community would gather and help bring it all together, just like in old times where weddings/etc were seen as community events.
And thanks also to all of you re: gifts. We were so pleased to see that you all put so much thought into how your gifts would impact environmentally. There were so many inventive ways of wrapping gifts, and giving cards, it was truly inspiring. And we estimate that the carbon-footprint left behind by our event was minimal compared to most weddings.
We are still trying to bring the house back to a relative state of normalcy, but we’re pretty much there. It seems strange not to see the marquee in the back yard! We will be heading down to Bruthen for a break next week, so we’ll finally be able to let our hair down.
We’re meeting with Niki (photographer) tomorrow to check out her pics. I will endeavour to post some images up when we get them. If others have nice photos they’d like to share, let me know and we’ll work out how to post them up.
A few people also asked for a copy of the ceremony. I’ll get onto posting that up too.
So even though the event is over, there’s still a few things that can be done here.
Again, thanks all for coming. We are truly blessed to count you all as part of our circle.
Mitakuye oyasin,
Pete & Deb
Filed under: Handfasting, Lawful union, Marriage, Updates, Weather, Wedding Suppliers, faith
Its Nine O’clock on saturday morning, and the sky is clear, the sun is shining and we’ve got nothing better to do today than celebrate! Hooray!
We are in the park for the ceremony folks – but just in case the “showers” predicted come through, bring an umbrella and other appropriate rain gear.
Also (for those of you who have been waiting eagerly) we have a case of very fine Mead from a small family-run business in South Australia: Martin Mead . So there will be some mead-tasting for those who veer that direction….
Well, there’s not much else to talk about now. We’ll take some photos, shoot some video, and then I will endeavour to post up here as soon as the hang-over clears.
See you in a few hours…..
P
Its now quite late Friday night.
The Marquee is up.
The Food is in the cool-room.
The tables and decorations are set.
The Beer is on ice.
The music playlists are set.
Folk from interstate and afar have arrived in Melbourne.
All that’s left is to get on with it!
As of this moment we don’t know if the ceremony will still occur in the park, but we will asses the situation first thing in the morning. The forecasts have been altering all week, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Friday’s fine day came early, our friends and family from the flooded region of East Gippsland would not have made it up for the weekend.
So if you do read this, check tomorrow morning for an update – we’ll also SMS, phone and email everyone. If it does look like hideous weather, the ceremony will be held at home where the reception is planned (see your invitations).
Oh, and dress warm – it’ll be cold either way.
See y’all tomorrow…..
Well, we had our rehearsal on Sunday and all went well. It was a glorious day – praying hard for something like that on Saturday. I know that BOM are saying showers, but computer-simulated forecasts aren’t as reliable as they make them out to be.
But a few things got worked out, and we’d thought we’d let y’all know….
- Meeting: When you rock up to the park on Saturday, head straight for the BBQ area. Its on the eastern side of the creek, at the Bowls Club end (opposite end to the Uni). You should all still have your invitations – maps and Melways references were on that; if you need more info, let me know directly. The ceremonial space will be just nearby, but chapas and nibblies will be at the sheltered BBQ area. We would ask that you go there (there is an ulterior motive for this…)
- Time: Please allow yourself plenty of time to get there. We have said 1:15pm. We really do wanna kick the ceremony off at 2pm, so please allow yourself that 30-45 minutes (again, we have our reasons…)
- Parking: there’s a fair bit of parking scattered all over the place surrounding the park. However, as most of you are responsible, mature adults you probably will be taking public transport to save the environment and drink more in the evening….
Now why am I being so pedantic about the timing and the gathering area? Well, two reasons.
Whilst you all gather and gossip and sip on your champagne and nibble on your nibbly-bits, my good friend Daniel (some of you know him) will be coming around with the rings, and ask you to give them a little blessing. The purpose of this is for all our friends and family to put their loving energy and goodwill into those talismans that will for us symbolise not only our commitment to each other, but also to the wonderful energy of the ceremony. It doesn’t need to be some grand, Shakespearean soliloquy about eternal love and whatnot – just a sincere, genuine well-wish from your heart. This is how you too will be a part of the ceremony and it saves time later, so the ceremony will be shorter, and we can get back and start eating sooner…..
The other thing is that the ‘Men in Black’ – Daniel, Damon, and Jay – will let you know when it is time to head to the ceremonial space. We will be standing in a circle (chairs in the centre will be for the immediate family, elderly, infirm, lactating mothers, expectant mothers, etc). Before entering the circle, you will be asked to step through a gate of smoking censers. Also known as “smudging” or “smoking”, this is a ritual act of purification that is common to nearly all cultures (yes, even the Christians! What do you think Frankincense and Myrrh are used for?). Please allow the smoke to ‘bathe’ you before taking your place in the Circle. There will be plenty of folk there who are familiar with such acts, so watch, learn and feel free to ask! There’s no trick to it, and it won’t ruin your dress, hair, nails, etc. perfectly harmless – but other than cleansing your aura, and the space, it triggers something hidden deep in one’s Collective Unconscious that we are about to do something sacred (which of course is what we are doing, more or less….)
Of course, all this will be explained on the day too… but we thought it would be important to let you know in advance.
Keep tuned to this site for further updates as the week rolls on….
5 more sleeps….
See you on the day!
Pete
