Circles of Blessing
Here are some of the ceremonies Ishara has co-created.
(If you would like me to publish your feedback and/or photos, please get in
touch with me!)
Celebrating love with a commitment ceremony. Palmyra, Fremantle Western Australia. May 2011.
Feedback from Annie Hayes & Stephen Forshaw regarding ceremony held on 15th May 2011 at Our home in Palmyra (Fremantle), Western Australia.
"We were absolutely delighted with the ceremony that Ishara prepared for us. She was thoughtful of our desires and wishes and she conducted the ceremony with love and professionalism. She made it very special for us and it was just what we hoped for.We could not have asked for better."
Annie Hayes & Stephen Forshaw
Posted by: ishara on the 15/05/2011 18:49
| Categories:
Wedding,
Cody & Karine added a touch of colour to their wedding by jumping over a broomstick & a sword. The sword was later used to cut their wedding cake!
An Extract from the Introduction to the Ceremony:-
"Today you will hear Cody and Karine make promises to love and care for each
other as husband and wife. You will witness these promises sealed by the
ancient Celtic rite of handfasting, the exchange of rings and by their first
married kiss...
Posted by: ishara on the 23/04/2011 12:53
| Categories:
Wedding,
Married at Araluen Botanic Park, Armadale Western Australia - March 2011
"The ceremony was beautifully written and was everything we wanted it to be. We loved the suggestion that we include the members of our family in the ceremony as it made the day even more special, as family is very important to us."
Erika Muller and Ross Pearson
Erika and Ross chose to have several close family members (including all of their parents) tie ribbons around their joined hands as part of their wedding ceremony. The contemporary ritual of handfasting is a wedding ritual inspired by the old Celtic custom of 'handfasting' (similar to shaking hands on a deal). Handfasting was the prevalent symbolic ritual associated with getting married in Scotland for many years.
Posted by: ishara on the 19/03/2011 18:59
| Categories:
Wedding,
Beach wedding with ribbons & shells. Bennion Beach, Perth Western Australia. March 2011.
Wedding with Civil Marriage Celebrant Ishara de Garis held on 12th March 2011 at Bennion Beach
The bride's mother and the groom's mother each brought 5 ribbons to the wedding, which were then distributed to five family members on each side of the family to tie around the couple's joined hands with a blessing in a ritual gesture of 'handfasting'. At the start of the ceremony, all the guests were invited to pick up a shell from the beach and hold it in their hands for the duration. At the end of the wedding ceremony these shells were then presented to the newly weds with love and blessings for a long and happy future together.
"Our friends and family came and said to us how much they enjoyed our ceremony. I think they felt proud of us for doing it a little bit differently in a way that truly reflected us." Kamma
"It was a very good decision to choose you Ishara as our celebrant and the process was warmer and nicer than expected." Ilos
"Ishara is unique. Her warm and inclusive personality made us feel at home with her easily. She is especially gifted at writing a poetically beautiful ceremony that makes you feel as though she has known you a long time. I feel she understands and connects with a deeper meaning of ceremony which she shares in such eloquent and spiritual way. Ishara enables all those present to step outside the everyday and into a special space of connectedness, often glimpsed, but brought to full awareness on the day. Thank you Ishara. Our wedding ceremony will be remembered as a very special experience."
Kamma Chapman 
"Ishara did a lovely job of guiding us through the ceremony process from the beginning to the end whilst providing a very individualized, professional, and warm ceremony."
Ilos Eix
An extract from the ceremony:-
Ishara: (to the guests)
As part of this wedding ceremony, each one of you is invited to
find a shell from this beach, or one that you have brought with you, to gift to
Kamma & Ilos as a token of your support for their marriage.
Posted by: ishara on the 12/03/2011 12:58 | Categories: Wedding,Name-Giving & Blessing Ceremony at Blackwall Reach Lookout, Bicton - November 2009
Name-Giving & Blessing Ceremony for Morgan Oswald Wray.
held at 11am on Friday 13th November 2009
on the lookout platform overlooking Blackwall Reach on the Swan River
"Thank you so much for helping us to celebrate the birth of our son Morgan. His Blessing and Name giving ceremony was very special. It was such a memorable day for everyone."
Sasha & Jonathon, 25th November 2009The format of this ceremony was inspired by the Druid belief that our individual human lives are shaped by the actions of five great transpersonal currents of energy - the spirit of our ancestors, the spirit of the our 'tribe' or community, the spirit of the times we were born into, the spirit of the place we live in, and the spirit of the journey - our soul's journey of evolution through many lifetimes.
Read on for a full outline of the ceremony & some more photos...
Posted by: ishara on the 25/11/2010 19:33 | Categories: Naming,Sophie & Robert's Cottesloe Beach Wedding. Perth, Western Australia. May 2010
"I think Ishara offers a very unique service:
a very non commercial, non traditional, simple approach.
She puts a lot of thoughts in the ceremony.
Her text is lovely and well written. I like her office, her calm and relaxed attitude. She had a very open mind attitude towards what we wanted and made helpful suggestions.
For me her office felt like a haven after being confronted with expectations from some relatives of a "big production" wedding."
Sophie Campagna
Posted by: ishara on the 01/05/2010 14:39 | Categories: Wedding,Private Betrothal Ceremony for a Couple Planning to Marry. November 2009
Betrothal Ceremony for Monica & Jack
in the park off Portsea Rise in Mosman Park, Western Australia
at 10am on Sunday 22nd November 2009.
I very much enjoyed creating and performing this special ceremony for a quietly reserved couple who wished for an opportunity to celebrate their love very privately ahead of a big family wedding the following year. This ceremony was to just for the two of them, no witnesses other than myself.
Ishara
"Ishara was lovely and very willing to work with us to design a unique ceremony to celebrate our relationship. Very easy to get along with!"
READ ON for a full outline of the ceremony...
Posted by: ishara on the 26/04/2010 13:05 | Categories: Naming,Name-giving ceremony for a little boy with two mums! Willagee, Western Australia. March 2010
"Our day was made so much more special thanks to Ishara. She helped us plan the ceremony, giving us lots of ideas while incorporating our own. We have had many compliments on how lovely our son's baby blessing was and we are very happy with how the day turned out."
Fiona Haste and Dianne Dyer
Baby Naming Ceremony held on 28th March 2010 at Southern Districts Senior Citizens Center, Willagee.
Posted by: ishara on the 28/03/2010 18:02 | Categories: Naming,Kristy & Bobbies Union Ceremony
Kristy & Bobbie’s Union Ceremony
to be held at 4:30pm on Saturday 30th January 2010under the gazebos at Merv Cowan Park in East Fremantle
- Gathering In
"Today we gather to celebrate the union of Kristy Lynn Groves and Bobbie Lara Janssen. My name is Catherine Ishara de Garis - Ishara for short - and it is my pleasure and privilege to have been invited to be the celebrant for today’s ceremony. What a joy it is to see so many smiling faces gathered around and feel the love and good wishes that you bring to what is probably the biggest day of Kristy and Bobbie’s shared lives.. their wedding day.
- Procession of the Brides
Ishara: And now, if you will please stand for the arrival of the brides! Can we please have the music?
Music – “Today” by Joshua Radin
Kristy arrives.. escorted by her son Jesse
Soon to be followed by Bobbie on the arm of her father Tim
- Words of Welcome
Ishara sets the scene for the ceremony
"Love knows no boundaries of race, class, age or gender. The yearning to consecrate true love in a ceremonial way is so deep and so natural, that no amount of societal disapproval can hold back the tide. This is why Kristy and Bobbie have asked you to gather here on this their wedding day. Each of you has been invited here to support them with your presence as they take this big step together. Although under Australian law same-sex couples do not currently have the right to legally register a marriage, Kristy and Bobbie want you to know that they consider the commitments that you are about to witness to be every bit as permanent and binding. You are the loving circle of family and friends whom they have invited to bear witness as they each make a solemn commitment to love, honour and cherish the other for as long as they both shall live."
4. Giving Away
"Who brings these women to be joined together today?"
"We do!"
- Blessing of the Rings
The wedding rings are secured together with a ribbon or in a small bag and passed to each guest in turn. The guest with the rings gets the opportunity to offer a prayer, blessing or wish for the wedding couple, either silently or aloud. In this manner the rings are "warmed" with good thoughts before being returned to the officiant and either blessed or simply handed to the couple to exchange with each other.
- Handwashing Ceremony
"From today forward, your lives and fates will be joined in ways you have only barely begun to glimpse. At times such as this, whenever a significant spiritual passage in life is made, the wisdom traditions of the world recommend a ritual cleansing or purification to make ready for a new beginning..."
- Reading – “The Art of Marriage” by Wilferd A Peterson
- Consent
"Today’s ceremony is intended to join you in a union that is both intimate and enduring. The promises you make here today will set the seal on the bonds of love that have grown up between you since first you came into each others lives. The choice that both of you have made - to stand here today and publicly make these promises to each other - holds the potential deepen your relationship in ways that are both subtle and profound. This is not a step to be taken lightly. And so it behoves me to ask you… Do you, knowing this woman’s love for you and returning it, realising her strengths and learning from them, recognising her weaknesses and helping her to overcome them, choose her to be your wife?"
- Vows & Exchange of Rings
- Signing of the Certificate
- Kiss to seal the Union
Ishara announces the Union and invites Bobbie & Kristy to seal their union with the traditional kiss
- A Blessing – read by Erin
May the sun shine on all your days.
May the moon bless all your nights.
May you always remember to say something kind,
And forgive each other when you fight.
May the dark be warm and welcoming
and always give way to the light!
13. Becoming a family - Sand Pouring Ceremony with the children
- Closing blessing
Ishara: Kristy, Bobbie, Erin and Jesse..
May your joys be as bright as the morning,
your years of happiness as numerous as the stars in the heavens,
and your troubles but shadows that fade in the sunlight of love.May your home be filled with laughter and the warm embrace of a summer day.
May you find peacefulness and beauty,
challenge and satisfaction, humor and insight,
healing and renewal, love and wisdom, as in a quiet heart.May you always feel that what you have is enough.
- Presentation of the newly united family
"Family and friends, I now present to you the newly united family.. I am sure you will all join me in wishing them the very best for their shared future."
Posted by: ishara on the 08/02/2010 22:48 | Categories: Wedding,Rachael & Anthony's Wedding - October 2009, Yanchep National Park, Western Australia
"Family and friends, welcome! Please gather around. The ceremony is about to begin. If you have a mobile phone or pager with you, this would be a good time to turn it to silent… If we could please make sure that those who need a seat have one? And those who are standing, please gather in close so that you can all hear..."Rachael & Anthony chose a spring wedding in the open air in the beautiful surrounds of Yanchep National Park. Perth weather in spring is changeable, and although the wedding rehearsal earlier in the week had been a perfect sunny day, the day of the wedding itself was cloudy with passing showers. So instead of performing the ceremony by the lake-side, we ended up moving the chairs under the verandah of the old homestead, now a visitors centre.. The effect was a little like being in a chapel, and guests afterwards commented on the intimate feel which being contained in that smaller space had created.
Rachael chose "Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann, a long-time favorite of hers, to open the ceremony. After the exchange of vows and the ring ceremony, Rachael and Anthony chose to incorporate the lighting of unity candle to commemorate their union in marriage. A special highlight was when Rachaels rather shy sister Madonna bravely took up her guitar and sang a rendition of "Into My Arms" b Nick Cave as a special wedding gift to her sister and new brother-in-law. To conclude the ceremony, each guest was given a small rose quartz 'wishing stone' to charge with their love and good wishes for the newly married couple, and these were then collected up and presented to Rachael & Anthony as a keepsake reminder of all the love and support that surrounds them as they embark on the adventure of married life together.
In keeping with the pastoral feel of the setting, the final words of blessing were inspired by the four elements - earth, air, water and fire:
May the foundations of the loving marriage that you have laid through your actions here prove solid and enduring as the earth beneath your feet this day. And may these small pebbles remind you of the support of family and friends that is always there for you.
May the breath of life breath through your marriage, like the air on this spring day in the park, keeping it fresh and playful, and may the song of your love for each other keep singing in your hearts for as long as you both shall live
May the overflowing feelings that are in your hearts this day become a flowing fountain of love, like a rich sweet wine, running through all your days, teaching you to bend and shift with the challenges of life and never losing the taste of essence that binds you together this day.
May the flame of passion burn strong and steady in your marriage, like the unity candle that you have lit together this day, enlightening and enlivening your shared life with creative energy and the warmth of enduring love.
‘Many waters cannot quench love; flooding rivers cannot sweep it away.’
What love has brought together let no turn of time or fortune break asunder!
"Everybody commented on how lovely the ceremony was and many people actually told me it was the best wedding they had been to.
So, thank you for the lovely, if, improvised ceremony. I think you did a marvellous job and I wish you all the best of luck in your future ceremonies."
Our kindest regards,
Rachael and Anthony22/11/2009
Posted by: ishara on the 28/12/2009 20:30 | Categories: Wedding,To view more of our portfolio of past ceremonies.. click here
