by Sharon Q | Jun 5, 2020 | Latest News
Choose Your Ceremony Type
Have you set the date for you big day? Congratulations! Next you will need to give some thought to the style and type of ceremony you would like. Here is some helpful advice which will very useful for you:
a) Civil Ceremony
There is a lot of public confusion in Ireland caused by the use of legal marriage terminology from other countries which has a completely different meaning here in Ireland. In my homeland Australia, a civil marriage ceremony is a ceremony created & conducted according to the wishes and beliefs of the couple, instead of the rules of a Religion. Yes, according to the Australian meaning I can conduct a civil ceremony but only in Australia.
Here in Ireland a civil marriage ceremony has a completely different legal meaning. A civil marriage ceremony in Ireland is a strictly non-religious registry office marriage and can only be conducted by a HSE Civil Registrar or other HSE Civil Registration Office staff.
As a HSE registered solemniser of marriages, I am not permitted to use the term “civil marriage ceremony”, “civil wedding ceremony” or “civil ceremony” when referring to marriage or wedding ceremonies. Any wedding celebrant in Ireland who advertises civil ceremonies is not registered to conduct legal marriages.
If you would like a unique & personalised non-denominational legal marriage ceremony of any style, including the Australian civil ceremony style, created & conducted according to your own wishes and beliefs, I would be honoured to work with you.
b) Non-Legal Wedding Ceremony
A non-legal wedding ceremony can be your best choice if you are living abroad. There was once a time where the only way you could have a unique & personalised wedding ceremony was to have a non-legal ceremony plus a visit to the registry office with your witnesses on a separate day for a legal registry office marriage. In the past 10 years times have really changed regarding legal marriage in Ireland and non-legal wedding ceremonies really are a thing of the past. Other than living overseas there really is no other reason (other than mis-information) why you would need a non-legal wedding ceremony in Ireland. These days there are so many government registered marriage solemnisers who are able to create a beautiful unique and fully legal wedding ceremony for you.
If you are living overseas you may find it much less complicated ( and much cheaper ) to be married at the registry office in your country of residence. If this is the case, maybe you don’t want your family & friends in Ireland to know that you are already married that’s OK too. Your secret is safe with me and nobody will ever know. The only requirement I have for a non-legal wedding ceremony in Ireland, is that you must be legally married before your non-legal wedding day. This is not a legal requirement in Ireland (like it is in my homeland Australia) but is my own requirement based on my own high standard of integrity and ethics.
I believe that every couple has the right to a dignified celebration of their marriage as a married couple and I would never agree to conduct a non-legal ceremony unless the couple was already legally married. Imagine all the fun and excitement of your wedding day celebrations, it would certainly be lost if you were not already married.
c) A Unique & Personalised Legal Marriage Ceremony
If you want the most flexibility with your ceremony design options, including ceremony wording and music, your best option is a marriage solemniser of your choice to create & conduct your unique & personalised fully legal marriage ceremony on any day of the week, at any wedding venue of your choice. I am a registered solemniser, fully authorised to conduct unique & personalised ceremonies which are unique & completely personalised to suit your requirements.
If you would like a non-denominational ceremony of any style, unique & personalised to your requirements, please don’t hesitate to call me for a quick chat so I can answer any questions you might have about getting married in Ireland.
Sharon Quigley
Ceremony Officiant / Registered Solemniser of Marriages
SHAI Registered Sound Therapist, Yoga Alliance RYT200 Registered Yoga & Meditation teacher, MBII Registered Positive Mind Coach, Community Volunteer, Musician, Visionary, Creator of dreams = Earth Spiritualist Interfaith Minister
Tel: +353 (0) 858 313 43
by Sharon Q | May 24, 2020 | Latest News
One of the first questions I ask couples at our first ceremony design meeting is will you be having live music or digital (recorded) music for your ceremony?
Many couples have already decided what type of music, even if they haven’t yet decided on the songs or tunes. But there are also many couples recently engaged who, through being so excited to be making their wedding plans, just haven’t yet had time to give their ceremony music a lot of thought.
Recorded Music
First I’ll talk about recorded music. This can be your best choice if there are certain songs that you dreamed of having in your wedding ceremony which you just can’t reproduce live. Perhaps there is a theme song to your favourite movie, or a song from a band or singer you love which just can’t be replaced.
I use always use a professional quality PA system for ceremonies, and sound quality has never been a problem with recorded music. Many of the bigger hotels will already have a licensed Spotify or other music streaming account and a professional sound system for special events, and a member of staff to play the music.
I have conducted many wedding ceremonies with recorded music simply because the couple wanted certain songs or music which meant a lot to them, which just couldn’t be reproduced live.
One time a particular bride and groom who were both movie fans, chose music from two of their favourite movies – Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, which really created a beautiful effect when played at the appropriate times throughout the ceremony. On conclusion of the ceremony, once they were pronounced married and sealed their marriage with a kiss, as the newlyweds turned to walk back down the aisle holding hands – it was fabulous to hear the Star Wars theme music from the end of the Star Wars movie booming through the hotel’s surround sound system at just the right volume.
Their choice of music really made their wedding ceremony feel like it was part of a Hollywood blockbuster movie, which was exactly the effect the movie-loving couple wanted, you just wouldn’t have had that same effect from live music.
Live Music
If you really can’t decide between live or recorded music for your wedding ceremony, as a musician myself and a qualified sound therapist, I always recommend if you can stretch your budget a little to include live ceremony music you will be glad you did – and here’s my reason why:
There really are healing sound frequencies in live music that you just don’t get from a recorded or digital version of the same instruments. Just like the difference between the sound of a “real” piano versus the sound of an electric stage piano, there is no comparison to the sound of the real thing. Those healing frequencies include the resonance from the instruments themselves, the multi-dimensional qualities of the music. People will tell you it’s “the feeling”, you will definitley notice the difference.
The feeling from live music really adds so much to create the magic and enchantment of the ceremony space, the auspiciousness of the occasion that you just wouldn’t get in a recorded version of the same instruments.
When guests begin to walk in to your ceremony area and the sound of live music is softly echoing through the room, they will definitley feel that something very special is about to begin.
Common choices for live ceremony music include: (in no particular order)
- Ceremony singer
- Classical guitarist playing instrumental
- Irish traditional musician duo, trio or quartet
- Celtic harpist with or without singing
- String duos, trios or quartets featuring Cello, fiddle and/or classical guitar
A common choice for ceremony music here in Ireland, with the abundance of musical talent is to ask musical family members and/or friends, who will happily (or sheepishly!) volunteer to add their expertise to provide the ceremony music. This makes the ceremony music even more special for the occasion.
When making your decision to have either live or recorded music for your wedding ceremony, my advice is simply this – think about the feeling that you would like the music to create for your ceremony, by choosing the type of music which is the most meaningful to both of you, music that you both love.
Congratulations to you both!
www.5starceremonies.ie
by Sharon Q | May 6, 2020 | Latest News
The pandemic is a serious issue. Covid-19 is a highly contagious infectious disease which can result in death in some cases, the pandemic restrictions are in place to protect the public from the threat of this serious disease.
Legal marriages are not permitted during the pandemic restriction period, unless the marriage is considered urgent and has already been notified to the HSE (Notification of Intention to Marry). A marriage will only be considered urgent if it can’t be postponed to a later date, for example terminal illness of the bride or groom.. Special approval is required for an urgent marriage, and written evidence must be provided to show the reason why the marriage can’t be postponed.
Visa expiry is not a valid reason for an urgent marriage during pandemic lockdown restrictions. If your visa is/was due to expire from March 20th to May 20th inclusive, you have been given an automatic 2 month extension of your visa. This will allow you to postpone your marriage to a later date where you can celebrate your marriage safely with your family and friends. For latest details of this automatic visa extension due to pandemic, please refer to “Notice 5” of the Immigration Department press release which can be found on their website here: www.inis.gov.ie
If you believe you have an urgent reason for marriage during pandemic restricted period, please contact me for more information.
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