We Tied the Celtic Knot on Yule

Some of you already knew and maybe some of you wondered: David and I tied the Celtic knot on Yule. Literally: our rings are from Dublin.

Since we began our relationship as housemates, we have never not lived together, but a series of both subtle and not-so-sublte synchronicities recently revealed to us the time, manner and place of our sacred union.

We wanted our ceremony completely private, just between us, and I am not a wedding kind of gal. I’ve often said, “The only way I would have a wedding would be on Halloween so that everyone’s in costume, obviously reflecting their respective roles.” All true, but we wanted more than a courthouse experience to sanctify our marriage. Heaven, Earth and especially the Faery Realm aligned. It just so happened that we got married at midweek, at dusk, on Winter Solstice, by a hearth, as close as possible to the Indiana-Michigan state line, in a very Faery, highly liminal ceremony led by a fellow Reiki Master Teacher and her lovely daughter (also a Reiki Master Teacher).

In case we needed anymore sync winks, our officiant’s leaf earrings nearly matched the new Elven necklace I wore for the occasion, and the first photo of us as a married couple has the same time stamp as my birth date. A giant, antique clock behind us confirms that time stamp, even if iPhone snapshots didn’t.

When David’s coworkers first learned we were having a private ceremony, they generously gifted us an hour with Carla of Behind the Lens Photography, whom they originally intended to send to our actual marriage event. We both thought photos would be fun, but we wanted to maintain the uninterrupted sacredness of the ceremony itself. Grateful to have photos to share, though, we opted to have these taken before our ceremony … and what better location than a theater whose costumes and roles make it Halloween every day?!

We had a great time inside and outside the restored, historic Goshen Theater. We’ll get access to those photographs in a week or two, and I might share some of them here for people wanting to see us together. We will keep the photos immediately following our ceremony for family (by birth or otherwise). Here are some iPhone photos we’ve agreed to share:

First, the one my sweet faery twin, Tania Marie has dubbed “Marylin Faery”:

When David saw my dress on the way to the theater, he said, “It almost looks like Marylin Monroe above the vent,” so when I got startled by the heat coming on, he couldn’t help laughing and taking photos as our photographer began setting up for our shoot. Apparently, “Marylin Faery” now pops up whenever I text Tania — and btw, for any other vegans or vegetarians out there, that is faux fur, much appreciated during our outside snow shots!

Phoebe of Flowers by Phoebe did a beautiful job making both a boutonniere for David and a seasonal bouquet for me:

We changed and ate dinner at our favorite restaurant in South Bend, and then finished with a gluten-free, “bee-gan” buche de noel (Yule log) wedding cake, I had made for us the day before:

Although we had spoken of getting married “at some point,” everything came together in only three weeks, so we took a mini-honeymoon at Haus Am See. We already have some big events and shifts intended for 2017, to which our marriage is apparently a key, so we look forward to seeing how and where the longer honeymoon plays out. Meanwhile, we’re both so grateful for a day that was everything we’d hoped and more, with synchronicities galore.

Jolly Yule, Blessed Solstice, Merry Christmas, and Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Boxing Day with warmest wishes from the lovebirds at Faery Hof and Haus Am See!

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