Chrissy

During a difficult time in my life, I decided I needed a holiday. After browsing through the brochure of a well-known singles holiday company, I gave them a call.  Well that one phone call changed the entire direction of my life because instead of booking a holiday, I was offered the position of Tour Leader!  

 

For over 20 years, I had the privilege of assisting single travellers in fulfilling their dreams and aspirations, helping them overcome their fears of travelling alone and ensuring they had a fun and memorable experience. I even managed to ‘broker’ a few marriages along the way but sadly, their weddings were not performed by me (although I did get invited to the celebrations :).

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What I enjoyed the most during my time as a Tour Leader was of course the people I met along the way. I loved hearing their stories, some happy and some sad. Some joyous, some inspiring and some, downright incredulous!  Ever mindful, I enjoyed helping them be at ease, to relax and unwind and to gain confidence within themselves. I loved watching the transformation that would inevitably occur after a few days into the holiday.  They would return home renewed and rejuvenated with a sense of beginning and belonging.  Some even found their life partners in the process and some happily have remained in my life and are dear friends to this day.  

 

I feel that my compassion, care and my ‘listening ear’ have benefitted many over the years and once my career as a Tour Leader ended, I decided I wanted to continue making a positive difference in people’s lives and to participate in their joy.  So the transition of working with singles to becoming a wedding Celebrant has been a perfectly natural progression for me.     

 

I feel I’m an expert on the ‘business’ of getting married not just because I’ve tied the knot a couple of times, but because Love has always been at the the core of my life and marriage is our ultimate chance to express Love in Action.   By making a commitment to someone and then keeping that commitment as both parties grow into new people, is the ultimate gift.  Sadly, too many marriages end before they’ve had a chance to reach that potential and that says much about the difficulties of living in the modern world as it does about our capacity to find and keep partners.  In my role as a Celebrant, I want to call into question all that we’ve come to take for granted when it comes to thinking about marriage as an ‘institution’ and return it to its roots as a promise to the community, to family but also to friends and ultimately to all of us who need each other.  

 

Who am I to do that? I’m a woman who went from the typing pool to the wife of a lawyer (sadly deceased), to the mother of the most brilliant daughter anyone ever had, EVER, to a single woman who had to start all over again with fearless abandon.   

 

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