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
Filed under: Green, Handfasting, Marriage, Wedding Suppliers, eco-friendly products, ecological, environmentally friendly, sustainability
Well its a far cry from the Talking Heads song.
But thanks to Denise Robinson from the Lakehouse in Daylesford, we shall find ourselves garlanded in the most beautiful and exquisite arrangements of fauna and whatnot.
We haven’t seen any of it yet, but she keeps repeating “Winter wonderland” over and over again. Lots of Yuletide kind of stuff like Holly, Ivy, etc as well as native bits and pieces.
And of course, the stark neutrality of the marquee will also be transformed to look like a homely pavilion…
So a huge thanks to Denise for lending her wonderful talents. I’m sure if you’re looking for a floral arrangement for your next do, you wouldn’t go wrong with getting her expertise!
Just wanted to drop in a plug for the excellent team at Aroma Bar Restaurant who are providing the food and drink (other than the beer, courtesy of Mountain Goat Beers and Ravenwolfe United Beverages).
The new menu is out, and they have a very hearty Guiness ‘n’ Beef Pie which is just awwwesome!
They also provide some of Australia’s finest wines by the glass (something I’m told is quite rare).
Below is a list of what food will be available on the day. We are catering for Vegetarians, Coeliacs, and Carnivores so everyone should be happy. This menu may change in the coming days, so stay tuned…:
Nibbles
- miniature hand-made sausage rolls
- arrancini balls (gluten-free)
- meatballs (gluten-free)
- mini pizzas
Dinner
- Roast Lamb and Pork on the spit
- Nona’s Pasticchio
- Nona’s infamous yemista (stuffed tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums) - gluten-free
- A variety of salads
- Mum’s famous Greek-style Chinese Fried Rice
- Mediterranean Baked Vegetables
See you on the day….!
A few people have commented on the fact that they are looking forward to trying the Mead I made up. I have to apologise for the fact in advance that it most likely will not be ready in time for the day….. alas, it took a lot longer to brew than I anticipated, and come Yule (the week before the Handfasting), it will only have been in the bottle for 4 weeks. Hopefully we can find a local supply of Mead that will do the job.
There is of course a close link between marriages and Mead. In olden days, the wedded couple would be given a enough Mead to drink for a month (28 days, the period of a moon cycle), and they would go off somewhere private to drink (at least) a glass every night. Within a year, the couple (hopefully) would have a child: if it was a boy, then the Mead-maker was rewarded well (remember, this was in the days when male heirs were important for the continuation of family lineages). This is the origin of the Honeymoon!
Well, we have 2 daughters already. Perhaps when the Mead is ready…. 
But seriously, the first batch of The Nymph’s Knickers will be ready definitely by July 1, 2008 (a year and a day from the Handfasting) and perhaps we plan to celebrate our 1st Anniversary with a night of Mead drinking!!
For those of you keeping tabs on the homebrew, there will be a limited amount available to drink:
- The Black Devil (dark ale)
- Arrogant Aardvark (amber ale)
- Uncle George’s Apple Scruffs (gluten-free apple cider)
- Ravenwolfe’s Old Fashioned Ginger Beer (gluten-free)
- Golden Happy Pils (Czech-style Pilsener)
- Grumpy Hobbit (English Bitter Ale) – this was bottled only last week, so it will be quite green….
There will also be a keg of local microbrew Mountain Goat Hightail Ale. And Also a selection of other Australian Beers such as Cascade Premium Amber Ale, Matilda Bay’s Beez Kneez and Rooftop Red Lager.Possibility exists of a Stout also (can’t have a cold Winter’s night without a fine pint of Stout!)
For those of you wanting something a little less grass-roots, there will be a fine selection of local wines and bubbly – I will endeavour to get the names from Mum….
Hopefully, this will be enough to loosen everyone’s inhibitions enough to partake in a little Greek dancing…. 
Filed under: Handfasting, Marriage, Wedding Suppliers, environmentally friendly, sustainability
One important aspect to our Handfasting ceremony is of course the cord (or ribbon) with which our hands are bound together.
Handfastings were the ceremonies that most people did to get married, as weddings (as we know them) could only be held by the aristocracy and affluent merchant class. As they couldn’t afford rings, the ancient folk tradition of binding the hands together was incorporated into the ceremony, and this is where we get the phrase “tying the knot”.
Strangely enough, we found our cord on Ebay. Lauren in Wendouree makes and sells Handfasting Kits, which include the handmade and custom-made cord.
In keeping with the alchemical theme of our ceremony of two people/energies coming together to create a whole – wegot our cord made from the two colours we have chosen to represent us: green (Pete) and burgundy (Deb). These two colours wind around each other to form the cord which will be tied around our hands.
I am also attaching feathers at either end of the cord, each one representing aspects of each of us – I won’t reveal here which feathers I am using, but see if you can work out on the day which feather represents whom…
There has been a slight change in terms of the celebrant. Joanna unfortunately was unable to continue to be our priestess, due to personal reasons. So we needed to find someone with the right energy to facilitate this important ceremony for us. We eventually got on to Seline - those of you ensconced firmly in Melbourne’s Pagan scene may be familiar with her from her work at Gatherings such as Euphoria. Seline is a legal celebrant, as well as a Priestess, so now she is going to be running the ceremony for us. However, we still have to say a big, warm thank-you to Livia, who did all the preliminary paperwork and was happy and flexible enough to work with us.
We will be keeping the ceremony brief, and it won’t be full of pagan terminology or rites that may be unknown or misunderstood by our friends and family – the focus is more on us performing something sacred with our community as witnesses to the fact that we are choosing to make a heart-felt commitment to each other. But we will be including a lot of symbolism in the ceremony, following the theme which I have written about so much. Again, see if you can spot the symbols and work out how it all applies…
Filed under: Wedding Suppliers
What do you mean, you ask?
Well, thanks to the lovely blue-rinse ladies at the Victorian Animal Aid Trust Op-Shop in Blackburn South, we managed to pick up enough plates for the feast for next to nothing – and certainly a lot cheaper than hiring them!
It also means we can give them back to them after the day, so they can be re-sold to raise more money for this worthy organisation.
VAAT are light years ahead of the RSPCA in terms of real animal welfare! They run ‘no-kill pounds’ – a little known fact that the RSPCA actually euthenase hundreds of animals, and adopt out unsound dogs to families. VAAT does not kill an animal unless it truly is a danger (and not just an untrained, bad-mannered animal). Families undergo training and a trial period before they are allowed to adopt an animal, and the animals undergo thorough and proper assessment by trained professionals (not just vets, who have minimal training in such things).
So it was nice to pay less for stuff needed just for one day, and help out a wonderful organisation in the process. And it re-uses stuff too!!
Yes, mead will be on the menu (so to speak).
I have just purchased 5kg of a wonderful honey made not too far away in Heathmont (along Canterbury Rd, on the other side of the new freeway).
Heathmont Honey are a local couple who make honey from their own bees in their own backyard, which go around the local area and get pollen from the rich variety of native and other flowers of the Eastern Suburbs. And best of all, their honey is not heat-treated, meaning it still has all its nutrients intact.
The honey we chose (on their recommendation) was “Bees Own Honey” – naturally blended by Bees from bush surrounding Heathcote. Medium in flavour, darker in colour.
I have found a recipe for a “Metheglyn Sack Mead” over at gotmead.com – a Metheglyn is a Mead made with spices; a Sack Mead is a sweet Mead that does not require a long time to be ready to drink.
So, come the weekend my Methe (ancient Greek Mead) will be bubbling away….
I look forward to it!
Heathmont Honey can be found at the Knox Farmers’ Market (3rd Sat every month). Or contact them on 97380456
Filed under: Wedding Suppliers
…So sung Cheap Trick a long time ago (in a galaxy not too far away…)
The element of Fire is an important one in most pagan spiritualities, and amongst all cultures that had a basis in animism or nature-connectedness, the Flame was recognised as a powerful symbol of a particular force of nature.
What that force is of course, no one can really pin down into a definition; and that’s probably why it is always equated with symboically representing the sense of the “spirit”.
We haven’t worked out the details yet, but the flame will be present somewhere in the ceremony (which we are yet to nut out in any great detail). As such, the idea of a Unity Candle is one which I like.
(And now for the shameless cross-promotion…)
Candles Online is Australia’s premiere online retailer for printed candles for those special occasions. Not only that, they don’t use stickers that blister and peel (unlike other poorer imitations)! They are a caring-and-sharing small local business in the Dandenong Ranges area who also share the ideals of sustainability and conscious awareness.
So next time you are looking for a beautiful candle to help commemorate your special occasion, give Martin a call and he’ll look after you….
…How’s that Martin? Is that enough of a plug?!
