Morning, noon or night… Theoretically you can get married anytime of the day. Provided, of course, you have an authorised celebrant on hand!
Most wedding ceremonies seem to take place in the afternoon. Probably because that gives everyone plenty of time to get hair and make-up perfect, dress shirts ironed and the friends and rellies organized.
Few get married at night or the wee small hours of the morning. Well, maybe they do in places like Las Vegas or Amsterdam (wonder if the celebrants charge double for that?!!).
But I was privileged to officiate at a “sunrise wedding” last weekend – my first such event. And once I’d got over the shock of getting up before the crack of dawn to make my way down to Noosa Main Beach, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The sea was calm and beautiful, the sand nicely groomed if a little chilly under bare feet, and the breaking light was just awe-inspiring.
OK, a few of the guests looked a little disoriented as they arrived (like, what am I doing here as this time of the morning!) and some of the kids were still half asleep. But once the bridal party walked down the boardwalk and the ceremony got under way, the new sunlight warmed things up and everyone got into the swing of things nicely.
It was probably quite a novel spectacle for the many joggers, walkers and swimmers who made their way past. We even had two special surprise guests – a couple of dolphins clearly visible playing in the sea behind us added an extra bonus to the proceedings.
So, all in all, it made a refreshing change to the normal afternoon routine. Not for everyone, of course, but for well-organized early-birds, a sunrise ceremony followed by a wedding breakfast could be an attractive proposition.
So reading this, it might ‘dawn’ on some couples that this is the way to go!
