Autumn can be such a beautiful time of year in the South West, and the day of Erin and Greg’s May wedding was no exception. Donnelly River Village is an historic mill town nestled in the South West Karri forest between Bridgetown, Nannup and Manjimup. It doesn’t take long to spot the local wildlife, with kangaroos and emus casually strolling around the grounds on a regular basis. During our wedding rehearsal a few kangaroos came to check out what was going on!
The clearing up to the left of the village as you drive in is where the ceremonies usually take place, there is a nice winding path that takes you there, perfect for a beautiful wedding party entrance, and a gravel clearing for the ceremony with some gorgeous tall karri trees surrounding the area.
Erin and Greg’s wedding had some wonderfully unique styling and elements which made it perfect for them. Check out the amazing arbour created and styled by the couple, complete with ‘his and hers’ sheep skulls adorning the top!
To mark this step on their journey together they also asked me to incorporate a Handfasting ritual in their wedding ceremony. ‘Handfasting’ is the ancient word for a wedding and was traditionally recognized as a binding contract of marriage between a couple before weddings became a legal function of the government or the church. Today, it is more of a symbolic ceremony to honour a couple’s desire for commitment to each other, and to acknowledge that their lives and their destinies are now bound together.
Erin and Greg chose to have four ribbons as part of their Handfasting. Their children brought forward three of the ribbons, and then I placed the final ribbon over their joined hands, and tied them, along with some specially chosen words of course. The final tied knot created as they pulled their hands apart can be seen on the signing table photo, which is now a lovely keepsake for them to remember the day by.
I loved helping to create this special ceremony for them. Each couple, and ceremony is special and creates wonderful memories for me to reflect on. Have I mentioned how much I love my job?! If you would like to know more about ceremony rituals you can find some more here – CEREMONY RITUALS
Thanks to Erin and Greg for asking me to be a part of your awesome wedding day! Wishing you much love and happiness into your future.
Wendy x
Some photos used are from Henderson Photographics, and some are my own.
Wendy Grace Hendry - Marriage Celebrant 