Buddhist Shell Ceremony

The shell ceremony is part of the Thai Buddhist wedding ceremony. The celebrant soaks the couple's hands in water and wish them good luck. In Tibet the conch shell is used in Buddhist rituals, both blown and as a receptacle for holy water.

Love Letter Rachel + Cameron Wedding Buddhist Handfasting Boomerang Farm Mudgeeraba
Thanks to Marilyn we had a perfect wedding ceremony. We didn’t really know what we wanted but we knew we wanted it to be unique, and Marilyn devised an original ceremony that suited us completely. We felt so comfortable with our Buddhist-themed vows, and so many of the guests commented on what a nice touch the Handfasting was. Preparation was also a breeze: as we were organising the wedding from afar, Marilyn eased the stress with her easy and efficient communication, as well as her intuitive guidance. She really has a talent for picking a couple’s personality, both individually and as a unit, and draws on her wealth of experience to create something distinctive and special! Thank you Marilyn, for making our special day so perfect! love Rachel and Cameron xoxo

Love Letter May + Stephane Wedding Buddhist Handfasting Laguna Park Palm Beach Gold Coast
Hi Marilyn, First of all - what an amazing day! We couldn't have asked for anything better. THE CEREMONY WAS BEAUTIFUL, RELAXING AND TOTALLY US. We are sorry we didn't have time to really thank you on the day! As you would know, it was very overwhelming and there were so many people to see/things to do all at the same time. Ahhh! Thank you so much for everything - you've taught and prepared us so well for the big day and continued to help us all the way until the end. EVERYONE HAD A GREAT TIME AND SAID YOU WERE ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! The ceremony was more than we could have imagined or asked for and was led by the best celebrant out there. Thank you for getting to know us these past few months and for delivering such a memorable ceremony.  All our love, May and Stephane xoxo

Facebook Sonja + Alessandro Wategos Beach
Marilyn. Thanks again for the wonderful ceremony. I loved how moved you yourself were and how brilliantly you adjusted your voice to the sound of the ocean. Everyone could hear you. You truly made us feel very special. Love Sonja x

Love Letter Sonja + Alessandro Buddhist Wedding Wategos Beach Byron Bay - Thai Shell Ceremony
Both of us were rather nervous about getting married in the first place and thus found the prospect of meeting with the wedding celebrant rather daunting. However, when we first met Marilyn, all of our fears were blown away. She had a lovely presence, was totally authentic and let us be who we wanted to be. It was all about us and our ideas, which showed us how sensitive Marilyn is. Immediately, we felt at ease and knew we'd go ahead with her. Her kindness and her support helped us to get through the preparation for the wedding and her professionalism made the journey very easy and enjoyable. Her resources were utterly helpful in composing our vows and the wonderful input she gave us for the ceremony were simply amazing. She helped us to design the ceremony according to our needs and personalities, which ultimately made our wedding an unforgettable day that we will carry in our hearts for rest of our lives. Thanks Marilyn, your presence at our celebration was the icing of the cake. We are so lucky to have had you there with us. Love Sonja & Sandro xox

Love Letter Banthip + Sai Wedding The Lakeside Hut Gold Coast Botanic Gardens Benowa
Marilyn is the best marriage celebrant in the world everything was totally perfect for our wedding ceremony, she did an excellent job in every detail from start to finish. From the first time I contacted Marilyn to after the wedding she was extremely helpful as she is such a kind, cheerful and warm person. I felt like I had known her for many years and she has such a great soul on her. Her celebrant service to us was totally outstanding and so accomplished as she always strives for perfection. Marilyn wrote an brilliant wedding ceremony for us with a beautiful touching poem that brought tears to our eyes that remembered my recently departed brother in law. Marilyn included the Rod Nam Sang Shell Ceremony that celebrated my wife’s Thai heritage and her mother and father began the Shell Ceremony with a water blessing as in the Thai Tradition then the family followed with their blessings. I want to thank Marilyn so much for helping me with my personal wedding vows for the big day 10/10/2013. When I think of my vows on the day it brings tears to my eyes and I cannot believe how powerful my vows were, especially as they came from my heart. I normally never cry but during my vows the tears welled up and I tried not to cry. Thanks to Marilyn also for helping Banthip with her vows as they were so beautiful. I'm very happy and impressed with all the work and effort Marilyn put in for us, it was spot on. Marilyn’s work is totally outstanding, professional and touching with extraordinary attention to detail. We were very lucky to have her as our Marriage Celebrant as she fulfilled all of our needs and expectations and more. Banthip and I love your work and we thank you so much for making our wedding day perfect! We will both remember this very special day for the rest of our lives. Kind regards,  Sai Huynh & Banthip Butprasit xoxo

One day Ananda, who had been thinking deeply about things for a while, turned to the Buddha and exclaimed: "Lord, I've been thinking - spiritual friendship is at least half of the spiritual life!" The Buddha replied: "Say not so, Ananda, say not so. Spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life!"- Samyutta Nikaya

Conscious Marriage

We nourish each other and ourselves in living by the five Zen Buddhist precepts:

From The I Ching

When two people are at one in their inmost hearts, they shatter even the strength of iron and bronze.
And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts,
Their words are sweet and strong like the fragrance of orchids.

Red Thread of Fate - Japanese & Chinese

Love Letter Caz + Robin Wedding Grand Maleny House Maleny Sunny Coast
Marilyn married us in magical Maleny in May. She helped us prepare for the day to allay tears and fears so that on the day it was perfection. The ceremony won the hearts of our guests who remarked on how it was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CEREMONY they had attended. I wholeheartedly recommend Marry Me Marilyn to be YOUR celebrant. You will be very, very, happy that you have entrusted one of the most special days of your life into her hands. Love Caz & Robbie xoxo

Celtic Shell Ceremony

I have written an original shell ceremony based on an old Celtic Blessing. Family and friends can participate and bless you with the water in the shell.

Love Letter Martijn + Merit Wedding Sheraton Mirage Resort Main Beach
Dear Marilyn, We would like to thank you again for your beautiful contribution to our wedding. From the moment we met at your place we knew we had made the right choice to choose you as our celebrant. You helped us answering many questions and provided professional advice and support. It was great to discuss our wedding plans with you and you made it actually very easy to get it all together. You really gave us a chance to make the day exactly how we wanted, intimate, passionate, personal en powerful! We love the fact you are so flexible whether it is the venue or the script. We can imagine that our wedding was about the smallest wedding you have ever done, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way! With our bare feet in the sand! We loved it and we know you did too! Without hesitation we can and will recommend you to everyone who wants to get married! Merit & Martijn

Love Letter Philadelphia + Jack Wedding Charles Darwin Catamaran Darwin Harbour Darwin
Marry Me Marilyn was the perfect choice for us and we can't thank her enough! Our perfect day was on the harbour up in Darwin. What a magical day with fireworks and sunset aboard a boat with all our family and friends. I was so nervous about the vows and with Marilyn's help on the day the words just flowed and for someone who normally hates public speaking this was just an amazing experience. We decided to write our love story for our wedding and this was all new to us as we hadn't heard much about it before. When Marilyn sent us through some examples we knew she was onto something and with her help it ended up being both emotional and funny with some great lines that had the crowd in stitches. Our guests told us our wedding ceremony was the best most interesting wedding they had ever seen. The ceremony itself went absolutely spot on with both my wife and I struggling with all the organising we were overwhelmed how well Marilyn pulled it all together with such professionalism. The ceremony was more in-depth than what we imagined. With some fresh ideas from Marilyn we co-created our own original sand & shell ceremony. This was so special for us and really touched our family. We were so happy with the way she organised our big day via Skype. The prep work all came together far better than we could have imagined :). Prior to our wedding we attended two other weddings of friends that were both good days. Unfortunately both ceremonies had the same bad celebrant that may have been a butcher in a past life and that's how we realised how important having a good celebrant really is. After doing some research we were lucky that Marilyn was available to travel across the country so we could be married by someone who really cares about her work and the couple. It's so refreshing not to be just a job but share in her passion to make your event perfect! Marilyn you made our day and we are forever grateful. Love Jack & Philadelphia x

Love Letter Jodie + Sean Wedding Polly's Kitchen Neranwood Shell Ceremony
Marilyn our ceremony was filled with a lot of laughs as well as tears and our family and friends thoroughly enjoyed our love story. We couldn’t have imagined it another way. Such a beautiful being, we hope many other couples are lucky enough to have you as part of their day! What really stood out for us was the effort you put in to get to know us as a couple and put together our own personalised ceremony. We planned our Gold Coast wedding from Ayers Rock as we live and work there, it was pretty hard trying to coordinate all things wedding via phone calls and email yet Marilyn made the ceremony planning a breeze! Marilyn you were very professional to deal with. When it came to the day her presence was very reassuring and she took a lot of the stress away! Thank you again love Jodie & Sean xoxoxo

Tibetan Ruby Crystal Singing Bowl

Inner peace and tranquillity can be hard to achieve but the power of sound can inspire our spirit, re-vitalise our body and harmonise our being with the universe. Strike the bowl gently and follow the sound for as long as it resonates. Open your heart and just be - don't do.

An outstanding quartz crystal tool of loving protection with the powerful vibration of mystical Ruby, a "stone of nobility". It radiates spiritual wisdom, health, transformation and wealth. The Ruby Bowl sounds a lavish red spectrum that "lights" interior planes of Self. Ruby crystal carries an enduring, perfectly brilliant diamond frequency we crave in relationships, enhancing soul love connection, Tantric practice and unifying root and crown chakra energies.

Love Letter Gillian + Ryan's Wedding An Island Hideaway South Stradbroke Island
Hello Marilyn, Ryan and I  just wanted to say thank you so much for your gorgeous ceremony.  You made us both feel at ease and everyone commented what a lovely ceremony it was, I will definitely recommend you to anyone who is looking for a celebrant.  I also loved the way you gave us our wedding ceremony to keep in beautiful bound paper it is such a nice touch. I can't believe it's all over but it was definitely worth it. Thanks again Marilyn! Kind Regards Gillian and Ryan xx

Love Letter Debra + Mark Wedding Coombabah
When we met Marilyn we felt an instant trust and we were very comfortable in her presence. Before our meeting we had mentioned we would like a Zen Buddhist Ceremony. The day of our meeting Marilyn presented us with the first draft of the wedding ceremony. She had thought of everything it was perfect and our plans all fell into place. We had planned a beach wedding but the weather forecast coming up to the day was not looking good discussing the prospect of facing rain on our day Marilyn gracefully offered her garden for our ceremony if the weather was not on our side. Well the day arrived and it had rained for days and it did not let up for us. We were disappointed but accepting nature as it is we arrived at Marilyn's home to find she and her husband had set up her living room especially for our wedding ceremony with Buddhist style Bali Umbrellas and lanterns and a low Thai style table for the offerings, it was awesome! The ceremony was very special for both of us and we can’t thank Marilyn enough for all that she did to make it so beautiful! Thank you Marilyn, Love & Light to you Debra and Mark Gibson xoxo

Call Your Fun, Friendly, Fabulous Gold Coast & Brisbane Civil Marriage Celebrant Marry Me Marilyn now on 0413 344 134 & say Marry Me Marilyn.