The Story By Terri

After many years of being an event planner and marriage celebrant, you sense the personality of couples and what is most important to them. Doreen is as spontaneous as me and she had found her true love and not even the Covid 19 epidemic was going to stand in their way to celebrate their love for each other. The date was important to them for a number of reasons and as we were in level 3 lock-down, weddings in New Zealand were not permitted at all. The frustration was apparent and there comes a time where you must weigh up what is important to you and what can wait. For Doreen the date was important and expressing their devotion and celebrating their love together was the key to this decision. So, I suggested we create a virtual commitment ceremony, almost exactly the same ceremony but without the legal deceleration and paper work. Rather than at the beach with friends as first imagined, it would be in the back yard with their 4 children and family pets. A ladder was erected like an arch to house the device where I would orchestrate the ceremony from. We used Zoom and it was perfect. The children were all dressed up wearing their gum boots (wellies) their youngest son holding a beautiful little wooden box, Doreen had created to house the rings. The emotion of the experience was almost more intense because of the journey to get to that point in their lives and of course with their children witnessing that love, something most children are not around to witness.

The WiFi did crash as I announced they could kiss and it wasn’t until later that we could laugh about that. We completed the legal aspects of the marriage once lock down was lifted and small weddings could continue. The two older boys were their witnesses, which is always very special.

Photo Credit - within their bubble and Doreen Rudolph edited

Testimonial

Wow...
Terri made our special day not only possible but also perfect!
In lock-down via video-call...very extraordinary times that needed an unusual solution! Thank you so so much! We can highly recommend Terri for her warm words, inviting personality and the laughter we needed to make our day so unforgettable!
Lots of love!!!!

Croydon & Doreen