Friday, May 01, 2009 Standing on the headland looking over the sandy beach, watching the waves rolling in, I smiled as I saw the men in the bridal party preparing the love heart for the bride and groom to stand in for the wedding ceremony. They carefully selected the rocks, for the right size and shape and placed them in a heart shape, creating a sacred space together.

Just before the bride walked down the aisle the two mum's scattered rose petals inside the circle. I had spoken with them prior to the ceremony and invited them to think of what it is like to be on this journey of marriage, of close partnership, the ups and the downs... I encouraged them to think of a blessing for their son and daughter as they scattered the petals in the love hearts. It was a lovely quiet moment we shared before the ceremony started.

There are many ways we can invite the sacred moments in to the ceremony.

On Sunday, the bride and groom I am marrying, are having a candle ceremony where the two mother's will light the single taper at the beginning of the ceremony and then after the vows have been exchanged the bride and groom will light the marriage candle using the tapers. The mum's have thought about the following prompts I gave them: What do they love about their son/daughter? What do they appreciate about the relationship they witness? What do they see as the strengths in the relationship? And lastly, what they would wish for them? Using these ideas the mum's have crafted a beautiful blessing that each will say as they light the individual tapers. The mums have just emailed me their blessings and it will be a very special moment.