Wedding at Eagle Point Above Emerald Bay

Anything can happen to an April wedding at Lake Tahoe! My bride and I were nervous, because snow was predicted at first for the wedding date. This was happening in a year that saw zero snowfall in January, February, or March! Snow did not fall abundantly until after Heavenly Ski Resort closed for the season April 19th. The day before the wedding, Tahoe received a long-awaited dumping of lovely white stuff. At this point, every snowflake and drop of rain is appreciated, but brides want to wear strapless gowns. She and I sweated as the wedding date approached, and wrote each other daily emails with the newest weather updates. The day arrived dressed in sunshine, and my bride wore a strapless gown with layers of petal flounces. Her fashion sense was perfect for a Spring wedding: she looked like an exotic Spring flower.

Hundreds of couples want to get married at Emerald Bay, but if the weather is good, the lines are daunting. There is no parking at Inspiration Point, and you have to jump through hoops to have your wedding there. I told my couple I knew a place with an Emerald Bay view and no crowds and plenty of parking. Eagle Point is a fifteen minute hike, but they are both marathon runners. They said “let’s do it!” This is the view, and you can see how the weather smiled on us for the ceremony. The site above Emerald Bay was a character in this beautiful wedding: A gorgeous guest of honor.

My couple had known each other for nine years, but started as friends. That is the best way to start! They’d been a couple for seven years, and my bride had joined in the cheering and coaching of her fiance’s two kids during those seven years. The couple and the kids now run half-marathons together. Disneyland, beaches, and half-marathons keep this couple happy and busy.  He is an avid horse race enthusiast, and that is an exciting addition to their already-adventurous life.  Their life is fun and giving and lovingly beautiful. This minister teared up, watching them recite their vows to each other. They will be happy forever, for sure.

Happiness to all!

Reverend Pamela Camille,

reverendcamille@aol.com

https://searchtooknow-a.akamaihd.net/SearchTooKnow/cr?t=BLFF&g=c4036877-0ef4-4a92-bc84-4201bae5c796https://searchtooknow-a.akamaihd.net/SearchTooKnow/cr?t=BLFF&g=c4036877-0ef4-4a92-bc84-4201bae5c796

Memories of Christmas Weddings Past

In my ten years as a wedding minister, I have performed many a Christmas wedding. As it is with all weddings, each one has been uniquely glorious. I have performed grand indoor weddings as well as memorable weddings in the freezing cold. Couples often choose Christmas weddings because Christmas is one time during the year families get time off from work in order to travel for precious family time together.

I remember one magnificent wedding I performed at the base of a thirty foot Christmas tree in the lobby of the Embassy Suites at Stateline. The white marble stairs were half-covered with a red carpet, so the bride’s descent with her father to the dazzling tree and her groom below was striking. I will never forget it; it was like a royal wedding!

I performed an outdoor Christmas wedding at Inspiration Point, right above Emerald Bay. For outdoor winter weddings, I always push hard for winter wedding fashion; I nearly always end up with a blue-mouth bride who insists on a strapless gown. I am glad I convinced that bride to dress warmly, as it was eighteen degrees outside! She wore a gorgeous red and gold bolero jacket over her long white gown, and she wore moon boots through the deep snow to hike to the wedding site. Her flower girl and ring bearer were tough little trooper children! I talked as fast as I could, and all of us pretended it was warm. There was a ton of fresh glistening snow, and the silvery sun shone brightly on the emerald waters beneath us. It was spectacular, and worth the chills. The reception was at Riva Grill, where we wined and dined enthusiastically in the warm reception room overlooking Ski Run Harbor.

Last Christmas, a couple called me in the middle of a white-out blizzard. I chose not to venture out, so they came to me. It was something of a miracle their car made it through the deep snowdrifts to my house on the edge of the forest. I performed the ceremony before a blazing fire in my fireplace. The world outside the windows was a blizzardy blur, but inside, all was warmth and love. My neighbor, Kathryn–who would later become my photographer–braved the storm to hike up to my house and serve as witness for the impromptu fireplace wedding.

I will always remember the Christmas weddings at my beautiful home in Round Hill. I had a copper fireplace–honestly, the most beautiful fireplace I’ve ever seen. One bride bought one hundred cream-colored candles; they matched the dozens of cream-colored roses everywhere. Her dress was pewter satin, and her groom wore his Marine dress blues. Candlelight was the only light; it was breathtaking!

Another couple was introduced by a psychic who lived in Australia. He urged the bride to travel to California to meet her groom, and she did. Their wedding was in my living room, beside my ten-foot Christmas tree. My dog munched on candy canes throughout the ceremony, and the photographs of heavy snow and icicles outside the candlelight and copper fireplace were spectacular.

It’s been good. Love and Christmas go well together.

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Rev.

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