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 COMBINING HER WORK as a multi-lingual civil celebrant with her skills as a musician has led to some fascinating and colourful experiences for Sunshine Coast marriage celebrant, Kari.
Meaningful ceremonies that are innovative and creative are her specialty, so she's accustomed to the unusual. But a recent celebration in Montville takes the cake. As a delightful surprise for their wedding guests, the bridal couple had asked Kari to end their ceremony by leading her musical group in an energetic Pied Piper-style race through the top end of Montville.
"It was a lovely ceremony, with beautiful flowers, poetry readings, children speaking. Then suddenly, at the end, my band and I picked up our instruments and launched into this wild Balkan music," laughed Kari.
"The bridal couple grabbed each other and started to run. They ran from The Edge Restaurant through the Mayfield Centre, around the corner, down the little street past the church, and into the gardens of the Montville Village Hall, with the musicians running after them. Then the guests got into it too, and began running after us. It was so wild! Everyone arrived at the reception exhilarated and excited, especially the wedding couple. Amazing!"
Kari, who speaks both French and Indonesian fluently, as well as her native English, is particularly enthusiastic about designing and conducting wedding ceremonies which incorporate special rituals, be they personal or cultural.
"I'm about to do a ceremony for a couple who are getting married at The Spotted Chook in Montville. They were in France when they realised their relationship was forever ... so we're doing a French ritual using French champagne and those little Biscuits Rose de Reims. The biscuits are gorgeous on their own, but once you dip them in champagne, WOW! And this couple says that's representative of their relationship: individually they are very special people, but together WOW! So the ritual of joining is signified by the champagne and biscuits."
Kari is also looking forward to conducting another Sunshine Coast hinterland wedding with a multicultural twist.
"It will be a civil wedding, but one of the couple is Indian so I will incorporate Hindu rituals and sing Hindu blessings in Sanskrit. They also want to honour the cultural tradition of marrying beneath a Banyan tree, so the ceremony will be conducted under a 500-year-old tree in Maleny."
Kari's enthusiasm for weddings held in the Montville Maleny region is palpable.
"It's an incredible place, a most beautiful wedding location. I've done weddings in Mary Cairncross Park, Mapleton Forest, beside a waterfall in Kondalilla, lovely gardens and properties. The environment is part of the reason bridal couples come up here ... it helps connect them with their spirituality, their sense of sacredness."
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