WA Dunsborough Maureen Nicholson

Many thanks to Maureen for providing her snapshot

Dunsborough celebrant Maureen Nicholson - Appointed March 2004

My background is small business in the fashion industry, having owned and operated my own boutique for 19 years.

Becoming a marriage celebrant was foremost on my mind, as the path I would like to pursue at the end my career in the fashion industry, and after about five years of being rejected and being told there were no new appointments being made due to changes to the Marriage Celebrants program, I was fortunate to undertake training with Australian Celebrations Training, at their first training school in Perth.

I was appointed in March 2004, and I now fully understand why changes had to be made, specialised training became a pre-requisite., and ongoing professional development became compulsory. How I sympathise with, and have admiration for, earlier celebrants who had to find their own way. We can now say that we are true professionals in our field.

I feel blessed to have been given this wonderful opportunity to be involved in the most important day in the lives of so many beautiful people.

The challenge, the creativity, the emotion, the pleasure, and most of all the absolute delight at receiving the notes, cards, emails and personal expressions of appreciation and gratitude from families guests and couples , has far surpassed all expectations.

Nearing 500 ceremonies, my most memorable moment was at a very recent ceremony when the groom’s mother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer ,just days before the wedding, had to undergo emergency surgery, and was unable to attend her son’s wedding.

The ceremony was on the beach. At her request her husband left her bedside and travelled 3.5 hours each way to be with their son and his new wife on their special day.

Friends of Bride and Groom, being so well tuned with modern technology, set up 2 laptops-one with Groom’s Mum at the hospital, the other on the chair that Groom’s Mum would have been sitting on at the ceremony, and they “skyped” the ceremony to Mum in hospital.

At the ceremony, there was Mum, (carefully placed on her chair) dressed beautifully sitting up in bed, and guests came forward to greet her, speak to her, send their love to her, daughter kept asking “are you ok mum?” Mum was able to ask Groom to straighten his tie; I was able to meet her, Dad was able to comfort her, and she was able to share the moment, and watch her beautiful son marry his bride.. There was not a dry eye. I will never forget it.

Maureen Nicholson

Civil Marriage Celebrant

Dunsborough WA

More about Maureen see - www.celebrantmargaretriver.com.au

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