Rock Star Wedding in a Horse Drawn Sleigh

I promised these two rock stars I would not divulge their names, so I never will. To be honest, I didn’t know what her name was, but I did know him.  Whoa!  (“Be still, my beating heart,” I whispered to myself. I like his music, but his big dark eyes tore into a place deep inside my soul.)  It was about fifteen degrees outside, and my bride and groom were both dressed in rich, cognac-colored furs. (PETA would have been pissed, but they looked like Russian royalty.) They wore matching fur hats; it felt soooo Dr. Shivago! They were magnificent.

The wedding was scheduled for dawn, which occurred about seven in the morning. This is what they had to do to avoid a media blitz. They wanted to be married in peace. My witness—besides the beautiful horse—-was the jolly driver of our sleigh. We sleighed up to the top of a rise, where we were treated to a splendid panorama of a wintry-looking Lake Tahoe. The sky wore every imaginable shade of pink, gold, and tangerine; magically, my fur-wrapped bride carried flowers in tropical colors that matched the sky perfectly.

They were sweet and dear enough that a few tears trickled from my eyes and froze to my cheeks during their heartfelt ceremony. They recited promises from papers that were frozen to their mitten fingers. Toward the end of the ceremony, just after I’d recited the Native American Wedding Blessing, the snow on Mount Tallac blazed bright neon orange across the lake. The wintry sun bolted high into the sky with golden promise.  Not every minister would get up in the dark to perform a ceremony in a bitter cold dawn, but it is a memory I will prize forever.

Happiness to all!

Reverend Pamela Camille

http://www.laketahoeminister.com

When Children Are An Important Part of the Ceremony

In my mind, there can never be too many adorable children in a wedding ceremony. I remember one beautiful ceremony I performed in Carson City; the blended family included seven children. I remembered all their names, and they were all regally joyous in their tuxedos and princess dresses. We performed a sand ceremony that was very important to the children. Each child had chosen his or her special color of sand, and I called each child separately to pour the colored sand into the large vase. With my bride and groom, there were nine different colors poured and blended in the vase. “Once the sand mingles, it can never be separated,” I said when all the sand had been poured. The design, created from nine different colors of sand, was magnificent.

I performed another spectacular ceremony for a blended family that included five boys. They were all within that wonderfully scruffy age for young boys, roughly six through twelve. They were like wild wolf pups, and I loved them.  They wanted to celebrate the wedding on the Tea Island in Emerald Bay; I told them the only way we could do this was if we reached the island at dawn.  This was actually somewhat illegal; it was summer, the island’s busiest time. Ours was quite the stealth exercise, and this was the wedding that gave me the reputation I am proud of: I became the Rebel Reverend, that morning. We rented a boat that left Tahoe Keys before dawn, and as the sun crept over the mountains and the sky’s rosy fingered dawn painted the mountain sky, the five scruffy boys, my couple and I were climbing the tiny mountain on Tea Island. The five boys each carried a bouquet of flowers, which they used to decorate the Tea Island Castle. We put votive candles in each open stone window. It was the most beautiful wedding I have ever witnessed!

Love is magical, and children bring the magic to life. If you have children, celebrate them in your wedding. If you can borrow some children, your wedding will be enlivened and rich.

Happiness to all!

Reverend Pamela Camille

http://www.laketahoeminister.com

 

A Mystical Dawn Wedding

To the Washoe Indians, Cave Rock is a sacred place. When you are at the tippy-top of the rock, you can feel it. I was excited when my couple told me they wanted to marry at the top. There is a very easy trail to the top that only takes seven minutes to walk. The sky was rosy with dawn light. I love dawn weddings, because the new day brings a new life to the wedding couple. From the top of this sacred rock, still waters stretched before us, and coves were just beginning to emerge from shadow into the rosy light.

My groom raised pigeons, and he’d brought a beautiful, decorated wooden box that held a dazzling white pigeon. She seemed startled by the cold of the morning, but she trusted her handler implicitly. She was the purest, whitest white, with big gentle eyes. My groom was tender with her, and he told us that after the ceremony, he would release her. Most likely, he said, she would return to him.

My bride had made flowers of felt that she’d sewn charms to; each charm sewn to a felt flower held a meaning that was sacred to the two of them. The flowers were very colorful, and the charms made her bouquet stunningly spiritual. There were bird charms, and one elephant charm. Each charm signified a special moment between them.

The marriage ceremony was special, for they were a very special couple. I recited the Native American Wedding Blessing in honor of the Washoe Indians and their sacred place. When it was time, the beautiful white bird was released. She circled around us, then returned to us and landed very near us on the ground. The couple lived two hours away, and her handler said he expected her to fly there. My son was able to capture a photograph of her flying into the sky above the lake. Walking down the trail to our car afterwards, we both agreed it had been an amazing beginning to the day.

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Reverend

http://www.laketahoeminister.com

 

 

Glen Alpine Falls in Lake Tahoe

I have performed many weddings at this incredibly dramatic site, which is just up the road from the Fallen Leaf Lake store and boat dock. Stanford University’s Retreat Center is also nearby. This wedding site is for a romantic couple with a very small party, because there’s not much parking. (Should you happen to be staying at the Stanford Camp, it’s an easy walk from the camp to the falls.) I did one wedding with a couple who loved dogs, and wanted several dogs–including mine–in the wedding party. The ceremony was great fun, with dogs of all colors and sizes!

This is my dog, Chewbacca, who has attended many of the weddings I’ve performed. He absolutely loves Glen Alpine weddings, as does everyone else. The water’s roar and the breathtaking scenery on a sunny day make the wedding uniquely memorable. To stand before such beauty and power inspires a couple to feel all the mightiness of their love. As you shout your promises of forever to your beloved, the water shouts its promise of eternity to you. Here is a site to feel the spirit of the wind and the spray of water on your face.

Of course, if you marry at Glen Alpine Falls in August or later, the falls are tiny: A musical babble rather than a roar will sing to you as you wed. Your visual background will be a wide expanse of gorgeous red rocks with many small veils of water descending. Your words will be heard, should you choose to record them. I urge my brides to walk the small distance from the road to the rocks in good walking shoes; this is not a site to approach in spiked high heels. Once in place, any shoes–or no shoes at all–will be fine.

If you are a spontaneous couple, which I have enjoyed the honor of wedding many, lately, I recommend an early morning, sunset, or weekday wedding. This spot gets very crowded during the day.

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Rev.

www.laketahoeminister.com

Dawn Weddings at Lake Tahoe: A New Day, A New Life Begins

Some people love mornings; they love rising to greet the new day. For those couples who wish to marry at Lake Tahoe when all the world is quiet, there is nothing more spectacular than a dawn wedding. The dawn bride must be one with a simple hairstyle, although I’ve performed dawn weddings where my brides enlisted stylists willing to meet them at four in the morning. Dawn weddings work best with small audiences, although I’ve performed ceremonies for dawn brides with a pretty good-sized entourage. Your people must really love you if they’re willing to rise before dawn! The rewards are immeasurable:  The sky, the mountains, and the lake are drenched in soft pinks, lavenders, and rosy mauves.

I love the symbolism of a dawn marriage: A new day begins as a couple begins their new life together. The couple’s faces are bathed in the softest, most flattering light, and their sleepy eyes glitter with love for each other. The sacred and the spiritual aspects of the ceremony are heightened enormously by the dawn wedding’s magical light.

Having performed many dawn weddings, I find the best colors are from the east, facing west on the lake. This photo was taken by Bill Stevenson from the East Shore (Highway 28, near Sand Harbor) facing West.

I always tell my couples that dawn weddings are a great way to go, because the lake is so uncrowded and so incredibly beautiful. I only get a few takers each year, but they always tell me afterwards that it was absolutely worth it. Most dawn couples take their wedding party to breakfast–Lake Tahoe has some amazing breakfast spots!–and then they all get in a boat or hit the beach for a relaxing day.

Happiness to all!

Reverend Pamela Camille

www.laketahoeminister.com