Love Makes the World Go Around
“Love makes the world go around” took on new meaning for me in the last few weeks as I traveled to the other side of the world and back. Everywhere I went I saw indications of couples celebrating their love in similar places and similar ways. Love makes the world go around… all around the world.
In traveling to Australia I was visiting the home of the celebrant movement. In fact, more than 50% of weddings in Australia are officiated by celebrants. While I often have to explain what a celebrant is to people when they ask what I do, in Australia my profession as a celebrant is generally understood and even celebrated.
Just as in our area, wineries are in demand as wedding venues. I encountered this one, all set up for the ceremony, with a lovely memorial table set up with pictures in remembrance of loving grandparents.
And on a different day of winery tours I saw this banner advertising a different winery as a wedding venue.
And finally, when visiting the French Polynesian island of Mo’orea our tour stopped at a scenic overlook, and what should I find, but a fence with love locks attached, showing that this ritual crosses from Paris, France to the US, to islands in the Pacific.
We truly are more alike than different when it comes to the important things in life like celebrating love by gathering family and friends for weddings and using ritual to mark these special moments. As we returned home to begin the wedding season here in Minnesota, I’m convinced that truly, love makes the world go around. I’m happy to be a part of the process as both a Humanist Celebrant and a Certified Life Cycle Celebrant, working with couples to make their wedding days special and memorable.