Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's finally here... that time of year affectionately known as "Wedding Season."  While I have already officiated 8 weddings in 2016, the month of May seems to be the unofficial "kickoff" for weddings here on the North Fork of Long Island.  Limos and party buses abound; couples, along with their families and friends flock each weekend to the wineries, farms, and summer homes.  

Love is truly in the air!

                                                                                              May you all have a wonderful, joy-filled
                                                                                               and blessed 2016 Wedding Season!

So, you just got engaged and everyone is asking the question of the hour, "So when are you getting married?  When is the big day?"  We all know that weddings, whether big or small, take planning (even though I went from engaged to married in 10 short weeks, every single day was full of planning, whether cake tasting, or talking to the DJ, or having a mid-week meeting with the caterer).  Most of the time, if you go to a venue that you both really connect to, their "prime wedding dates" are already taken (sometimes, for the next 2 - 3 years!)  Have you ever considered the opportunities that exist in having a winter wedding?

Just a couple of great reasons to consider a winter wedding:

• You are probably getting a venue at the "off season" rates and discounts from many vendors, which can save you a considerable amount of money.
• You are giving your guests, family, friends, and significant other something to really look forward to in the dark winter months.
• You really have a reason to honeymoon in a warm location!
• The color palette for your flowers, dresses, and decorations are exquisite!
• You won't be battling through massive amounts of wedding traffic during "prime season" in the spring and summer months.

When I think of winter, I think of pine cones, snowflakes, snowmen, cranberries, hot chocolate, candles and fireplaces.  I think of the brightest color palette possible to stand out against a white snowy winter backdrop (evergreen, cranberry red, midnight blue, silver, gold).  Have a hot chocolate bar; have the bridal party engage in a snowball fight for the pictures; include candles and fire for the prettiest glow.  For more ideas, check out this link from Buzzfeed: 42 Lovely Ideas for a Cold-Weather Wedding

How can I best serve you in creating a ceremony for your winter wedding ceremony?

Happy 2015 all!  I know my posts have been scarce, few and far between since June of 2014.  In that time, I performed 26 wedding ceremonies to some of the most beautiful couples in the world.  Additionally, I got to actually be the recipient of a beautiful ceremony when I married my fiancé on October 26th, 2014.  My darling Christopher and I were married at 67 Steps Beach in Greenport, NY; our reception was held at Hallockville Museum Farm in Riverhead, NY.  Then there were birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, bouts of the flu for my husband and myself, and of course, Winter Storms Juno and Linus blanketing my hometown in 30+ inches of the white stuff.

Groundhog Day goes back to the ancient Celtic celebration of Imbolc, also celebrated on February 2nd.  Also know as Candlemas or Brigid's Day and celebrated halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, this is the day we celebrate the passing of the Winter and the path we create for the Spring to arrive; in other words, we are celebrating the beginning of the agricultural year.  We also celebrate the Celtic Goddess Brigid on this day - the goddess of fertility and abundance.  On Imbolc Eve, Brigid was said to visit virtuous households and bless the inhabitants.  The Goddess Brigid represents the half of the year when we see light - her power was believed to bring people from the dark season of winter into the Springtime.  To celebrate, many Wiccans and followers of the Goddess Brigid will light multiple candles and lights throughout their household, in remembrance of the passing of the Winter and the beginning of the Spring.

So, during this time of moving into the light, what challenges do you currently have that need to move into the healing light?  How can you move, spiritually, emotionally, and physically into the light and out of the darkness?  

For all of you crystal healers and lovers out there, it is also a wonderful time to re-charge and re-energize your crystals with the light, beauty, essence and energy of The Universe and Mother Nature in its purest form.  So get those crystals on your window sill, sit back, and allow the unknown to happen!

According to the calendar (maybe not so much Mother Nature), SPRING HAS SPRUNG!  For a lot of people, that heralds in the tradition and ritual of "Spring Cleaning."  Typically when we hear this term, we think of scrub brushes, mops, dust bunnies, and that lovely bleach smell that means we have aired out the house from the winter and we can face the rest of the year knowing we have made our living quarters pristine.

However, for me, Spring Cleaning is a great deal more than this.  I invite you to see this time of cleaning as expunging the old habits, the old "tape loops" inside your head (your personal room) that might be holding you back from taking the next steps in your journey in this body.  Are there default habits and responses that are no longer working for you?  Say "Thank You" to them (for they worked for you in the past) and then clean them out with some "virtual scrub brushes" - whatever that means for you ... if that means meditating on them, praying, rituals to clean the inner heart and sanctuary that is your body...

Spring Cleaning doesn't just mean the physical surroundings... we must also cleanse ourselves - our minds, bodies, souls and spirits - so that we can move forward on the path we were destined to trod.

What cleansing rituals will you be doing this spring?