Our beautiful gazebo wedding location on the Central Coast, with an ocean view.

When I first started the conversation with the bride about the wedding ceremony, she was a little unsure about the officiant.  The couple had been together for over 10 years, and finally wanted to have a Catholic Gazebo Wedding and have their commitment to be very special and traditional to them.  At first, they had requested a male minister, because sometimes our couples think a male minister is a little more traditional. Actually, Lynda is very good doing all sorts of wedding ceremonies.  In the end, the bride left this comment to me after the ceremony:

“I thought it was perfect ! I have one special request is it possible to get from Lynda the pages she read , we thought it was wonderful and wanted to include it in our album !! she was PERFECT !! and so was everyone on your team !!

Thank you again ! I will highly recommend you !!”

Lynda did an amazing job on their ceremony.  The couple had a request to have the ceremony be a little more Catholic gazebo wedding since that was the faith of the bride.  I love getting special requests from couples about how we can make their ceremony unique and special to them.   

Adding more special elements to the ceremony, the couple involved the groom’s children in the ceremony and his daughter even walked the bride down the aisle! Then, during the ceremony, this couple was joined by the groom’s grown children.   You see, this couple had met eleven years ago, and fell in love very quickly.   But, during those eleven years, the focus of this single dad and the love of his life was on raising his children.   As the years passed and the children reached adulthood, the bride and groom felt the time was right to focus on their life together, serving God through honoring their marriage.   So, this special wedding had a deep, rich meaning for the two of them.

Lynda writes, “As the minister, I was able to talk with the bride several weeks before the ceremony to discuss the ceremony and to get to know their touching story.   It was a privilege to marry them and to see the love that had grown during their eleven year journey, conquering challenges but still staying deeply committed to each other over all that time.   We discussed various bible readings, religious touches to the ceremony, and other traditional elements.   When the bride and I discussed the vows, she became a little teary-eyed.   But, during the ceremony, her eyes were focused on her groom – and she had a beautiful smile that revealed how truly happy she was to be getting married.   Her groom’s delight was also written all over his face.   In fact, all of the guests were delighted to see this couple united in holy matrimony.”

Even though there was a breeze, we were able to have a unity candle ceremony.   The groom’s son lit the two candles and then the bride and groom lit their unity candle that was in a decorative hurricane holder filled with shells – so appropriate to this location.   The two candles represented their separate paths leading up to this day.   As they lit the unity candle, their separate paths were symbolically joined as one, as they expressed their willingness to walk life’s path together.  The bride also carried a rosary during the ceremony.

After the blessing, the pronouncement, and the first kiss, the couple walked down the aisle as husband and wife.   As music played softly, the photographers were able to snap group pictures as well as family photos.   A festive note was added when the guests blew bubbles during the group photos.   After well-wishes by the guests, the photographer and the couple slipped away to a private beach for more pictures.   The fog still hugged the coast, but it did not dampen the mood of this special occasion.   As the groom and his beautiful bride, dressed in an elegant lacy white wedding gown and carrying a bouquet of red roses, disappeared for their private photo session, love and joy still continued to linger in the air.  

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