YOUR WEDDING !

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

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A beautiful, stunning, breathtaking panorama and background for that very special wedding ceremony, whether you have a smaller gathering or wanting to elope alone together, has to be Joshua Tree.

Private vacation rentals with stunning scenery can be a wonderful venue for a ceremony, often stepping right out on to the desert floor. Rentals can vary to fit the budget and the occasion from small, simple to larger homes yet all with an eclectic desert beauty and magnificent views.

I have officiated several weddings in the Joshua Tree area. Most recently, on a beautiful clear and crisp January afternoon when I officiated a beautiful, private ceremony for a beautiful couple Eduardo and Adelle. We drove into the Park itself late in the afternoon, and in a magical location standing by a large Joshua Tree, a special seamless personal ceremony was celebrated. As I pronounced them to be husband and wife, the moon was full and glowing brilliantly, resplendent high up in the desert dusk. The glow from the moonlight and fading sun reflected on the rocks below which were bathed with an array of glorious pink and golden shades, highlighting the desert floor, the Joshua Trees and, most especially, the beautiful bride and groom. It was an awesome, memorable moment for Eduardo and Adelle and for those of us who shared it with them.

In the vivid winter landscape their ceremony was captured with beautiful images by the amazing photographic team of Micah&Megan who provide their photographic service in Southern California and Worldwide. Micah and Megan are husband and wife, beautiful and so obviously in love with each other and life itself. Their radiance extends to their work and they capture love and life with ease, grace and beauty as you can see from some of the images they captured of Eduardo and Adelle in Joshua Tree.

To learn more about Micah and Megan or to contact them direct visit their website at: www.micahandmegan.com

The next wedding I will be officiating in Joshua Tree is at Rosa Muerta, the desert home of Architect Robert Stone. A definite hideout for the romantic couple. For further information check the internet for the Rosa Muerta House Joshua Tree.

For more information on a wedding ceremony in Joshua Tree or any other area contact me at www.palmspringsweddingminister.com.

Photograph courtesy of Teresa Heath: www.teresaheathphotography.com/blog

And now for a little more information on the awesome area of Joshua Tree which can be found some forty miles north east of Palm Springs. Joshua Tree is a distinctively unusual, expansive region stretching out over almost 800,000 acres, comprising of raw, rugged and majestic California beauty.

According to legend, it is said that it was early pioneers travelling through the area in the mid 19^th Century that gave the name Joshua to the unique tree, as the outstretched limbs of the tree reminded them of the raised arms of Joshua showing the way to heaven. The Joshua Tree is, in fact, a variety from the Yucca species.

In 1994 Joshua Tree was declared a National Park. It is one of the last great wildernesses in the continental United States. Its mountains support mounds of enormous boulders and jagged rock formations. An abundance of natural cactus grace the area and lush oasis areas, shaded by tall fan palms mark the meeting place of two differing deserts.

The two deserts have two different ecosystems and characteristics that are determined primarily by elevation and altitude. The Colorado Desert, with area well below sea level, therefore the low desert encompasses the eastern area of the Park with slightly warmer temperatures and home to many unique flora and fauna, many of which can be found nowhere else on the planet.

The higher, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert has the unique habitat of the Joshua Tree itself. This western part of the Park has amazing, beautiful rock formations with fascinating geologic scenery.

Joshua Tree National Park is filled with plants and wildflowers, particularly in the springtime, when the hills and washes are blooming with color. Hiking, climbing, and just simply being in this magical wilderness is a wonderful experience of nature in full glory.

For more information go to the official website of Joshua Tree National Park at: www.joshua.tree.national-park.com

Or, simply use your search engine of preference and look for “Joshua Tree”

If you are considering a wedding in Joshua Tree and looking for the right person to officiate your special ceremony, simply call me so we can discuss this in more detail.

Sallie Albertina

Wedding Officiant

760 327 5927

www.palmspringsweddingminister.com

ANCIENT OR MODERN CUSTOMS TO INCLUDE IN TODAY’S WEDDING CEREMONY

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A contemporary popular addition in today’s wedding ceremony is to include a symbolic ritual between the bride and groom. This custom can have ancient or modern roots and come from a variety of cultural traditions such as :

Hand Fasting

An ancient wedding ritual often associated with Celtic or Pagan roots. The wrists of the bride and groom were tied together during the ceremony until the pledge had been made between them at which time the couple are untied. However, some traditions the cord was not untied until the marriage was consummated!

Today, the Hand Fasting ritual (also referred to as Handfasting or Hand Tying) typically consists of tying the right hands of the couple to be to be married with ribbon(s), chord or sash while they exchange their vows.

At the recent Royal Wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London, William and Kate’s hands were bound together with a golden sash by the Archbishop of Canterbury as he proclaimed them to be joined as husband and wife.

The colors selected for the cord, ribbon or sash for the Hand Fasting ceremony each have a significant meaning:

White is for peace, sincerity and devotion

Grey is for balance and neutrality

Gold is for intelligence, energy, prosperity, and longevity

Silver is for values, creativity and protection

Light Blue is for understanding and patience

Dark Blue is a safe journey and longevity

Pink is for romance, honor, partnership and happiness

Purple is for sentimentality, faithfulness and goodness

Green is for health, prosperity, luck, fertility and beauty

Red is for courage, strength, passion and fertility

Yellow is for wisdom and harmony

Brown is for earth, grounding, telepathy and home

Black is for wisdom, vision, success and strength

WEDDING RINGS

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As you plan and prepare for your special wedding ceremony you will probably also be selecting the rings you wish to exchange if you both choose to wear rings.

A ring is a circle which is also the symbol of the sun, the earth and the universe. It is also a symbol of wholeness, of perfection, of harmony and balance.

The exchange of rings is symbolic in so much as it is a symbol of the circle of shared love into which you enter together and a reminder of the vows you pledge and exchange.

It is said that it was the Egyptians who began the symbolic ritual of presenting a ring to the bride as a sign of never ending love. The space in the center of the ring was considered to be an entrance or gateway leading to that which was known as well us unknown.

Rings were made of leather, bone or ivory. The greater the value of the ring, of course, reflected the wealth of the giver.

In time, the Roman’s adopted this tradition, however, the significance for the Roman groom to present his bride with a ring was not as a symbol of his love, but to claim his ownership of his woman. Often made of iron to symbolized strength and permanence, the Roman wedding ring was called Anulus Pronubus and it is thought that the Romans were the first to engrave the ring. The Roman wedding ring was worn on the left hand, on the finger that had a vein that was referred to as the Vena Amoris, the Vein of Love said to be directly connected to the heart.

Despite this myth, today, this finger is known as the ‘ring finger’ and is the most popular finger for wedding rings in western society.

However, throughout history, wedding rings have been worn on different fingers on the right hand as well as the left including the thumb too! And so it is today, wedding rings are worn depending on the culture, religion or society, although, the rule of thumb is that if both partners choose to wear a ring, they wear their respective rings on the same finger.

YOUR WEDDING !

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YOUR WEDDING !

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TYING THE KNOT!

Congratulations, you have decided to celebrate your love by exchanging vows and pledging your intent in the special ceremony of marriage. In so doing, you have become engaged.

Becoming engaged means you are planning to unite your love for each other in front of your invited guests on your wedding day, in more light hearted words, you are going to “tie the knot” !!

A light hearted expression, but where did the words “tie the knot” originate?

Various suggestions for this include the fact that knots have been a common symbol in marriage ceremonies in many cultures for many centuries and usually symbolize unbreakable pledges.

Knots are sometimes used in the actual marriage ceremony with the tradition of tying the wrists of the bride and groom as a symbol of lasting unity. History and folklore tells us that in the past this has been done with simple twine or cord. Today, however, more often than not, a ribbon or sash is used by gently placing over the bride and grooms wrists tying their hands together during the ceremony while the couple exchange their vows. This symbolic ritual dates back to medieval times when it was known as ‘handfasting’ a possible origin for the common expression “asking for her hand in marriage”.

To 'tie the knot', has been associated with marriage since at least the 13th century. The Legend of St. Katherine, circa 1225 used the Middle English 'cnotte', i.e. 'knot', to mean 'the tie or bond of wedlock; the marriage or wedding knot'.

In the Hindu marriage ceremony, the bride and groom tie a ribbon or necklace of flowers around each other’s neck.

In ancient Rome, the bride wore a girdle or belt that was tied in a knot. The groom would then unfasten it on their first night together as husband and wife.

There is a suggestion that the expression “to tie the knot” derives from the nets of knotted string which became the main support for a bed (prior to the introduction of more modern beds!) with the theory being, in order to make a marriage bed, you needed to 'tie the knot'.

It has been said that illiterate sailors and soldiers in yesteryear would send a piece of rope to their sweethearts when they wanted to get married. If the rope came back with a knot in it, that meant she said "yes".

So, to tie this all together in a nutshell. You are soon going to tie the knot!

But, in reality you are two individuals coming together in love, entering into a marriage which symbolizes the ultimate intimacy between two people, when you become united and yet remain individual, this is a beautiful reflection of a deep and tender mystery of our universe.

For further information on weddings visit my website at: www.palmspringsweddingminister.com or click on the photo above .............