Christmas Day Magic at Nevada Beach

Drought is a bad thing, except when you’re a bride in a sleeveless dress who wants to get married on the beach in Lake Tahoe Christmas Day. It is hard to believe this photo was taken Christmas Day, but it was! The lake was like glass, and the sun shone brilliantly.

My couple was a spontaneous one; they’d just moved to Tahoe two weeks before Christmas with their bird, whose name is Birdie. They had been together for eight years, and her grandmother had prayed fervently throughout 2013 that this was the year they would finally tie the knot.

They consulted a seer who told them December was a very auspicious month for them to wed. What day of the month could be more auspicious than Christmas, when the whole world is just a bit more jolly and peaceful and filled with hope and goodwill? Christmas it was, then! Birdie had a chest cold, so he could not attend. Chewbacca the wedding dog was happy to fill in for Birdie.

I love all my couples, as anyone who’s read my wedding blogs knows. I love my loud couples and my fierce couples. I love the feisty couples. There is a special place in my heart, however, for my gentle couples. This Christmas couple was the gentlest of couples; they make me hope it’s true the meek shall inherit the Earth. May it happen during their lifetime together!

Kathryn was in rare form as the wedding photographer; maybe it was the day, and maybe it was the couple. The wedding started at noon, which is the hardest time of day to shoot. People end up with Pinocchio noses from the shadows of a sun that’s directly overhead.  She wasn’t thrilled about the big Bernese Mountain Dog attending the wedding, and thought he might pose problems. He has attended so many weddings, though, so he knows to just lay at my feet and gaze up into the couple’s eyes. He was no trouble at all, and Kathryn was able to shoot some spectacular shots of a spectacular day. The wedding made our Christmas joyful!

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Reverend

http://www.laketahoeminister.com

 

A February Wedding With Contractions

February in Tahoe almost always includes many warm, sunny days like this one. The temperature rose to a balmy fifty degrees, which feels like 70 when the sun lazes in a cloudless sky. This was such a day: The perfect day for an outdoor wedding at Lakeside Beach.

I’d spoken to my bride, who mentioned she was pregnant. We had enjoyed many conversations, but when I saw her, oh, my! She was clearly just about to give birth. That baby had dropped, and was ready to greet the world. I told her I would talk fast.

I have performed many ceremonies where couples “never got around to the wedding” before children were born. One couple had seven children before they “got around to” the ceremony, and their children really made the ceremony precious. We performed a massive sand ceremony, with each child pouring his or her favorite color sand into the vase; the mom and dad each poured their favorite colored sand into the vase, and the finished product—a sand-filled vase with an intricate design—was stunning.  I had never, however, performed a wedding during a birth, so I was a bit nervous.

My bride looked gorgeous, as all pregnant women do. She wore a white and blue sari trimmed in gold that caught the sunlight.  She definitely glowed, but she was sweating a bit. Her family and friends watched her face carefully. There was no doubt in my mind that the wedding reception would be at the hospital!

I started to welcome everyone to the wedding in this glorious location when the bride moaned loudly. Everyone laughed.

“Hang on, Honey!” Her loving groom shouted.

We decided that after every contraction for the duration of the ceremony, she would shout “Glory Be!” The crowd and myself would answer with our own shout of  “Glory Be!”  What could be better than a wedding and a birth on the same day?

Her contractions were coming about every ten minutes, and my ceremonies last twenty minutes, so it was fabulous that when I said “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” she shouted, “Glory Be!”

All of us answered “Glory Be!” The bride and groom kissed, I had a witness sign the documents quickly, and then I said, “Now get yourselves to the hospital and have that baby!”

They texted me a few hours later with a photo of a beautiful baby boy. Life is good!

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Reverend

http://www.laketahoeminister.com

 

Style and the Outdoor Wedding

What I love most about performing weddings is that every couple is unique, and every bride has an attitude about style. I just met at the roller derby park to confer with a roller derby bride about her style ideas. She told me many times she wanted “no mushiness,” as she and her groom are not mushy people. Her wedding will take place at the park in North Shore, and her bridesmaids will wear orange and white, halter top polka dot sundresses with bridal flip-flops. Her short gauzy sundress will be white, and she’ll also wear bridal flip-flops. Since the park is at the beach, I strongly recommended platform flip-flops; the platform keeps sand and dirt off newly painted toes.

The lovely couple in the photograph above married at Kiva Beach in Autumn; all those golden aspens provide the most gorgeous backdrop you would ever want. Autumn is a good theme for colors in the bouquets, and you simply don’t need to do much decorating for an outdoor wedding at Kiva in Autumn.  Spawning red salmon add another color to the style palette in October. I have one Kiva couple this October who are hoping to get bears in their photographs. (The bears have so much fun, fishing for salmon in Taylor Creek in October, my couple will probably get thier wish!)

The time and the light of your ceremony is part of the wedding’s style, especially so for outdoor weddings. The soft, peach light of summer sunsets makes everyone’s faces beautiful and becomes a character in the ceremony. In Autumn, the color in Tahoe is gold: The sand and the light are both gold, and the aspens are gold. If you are marrying on a green grassy lawn, green is a strong color that will also become a character in your wedding. The green grass sharpens the green of the pine trees, and you’d better have colors that go with green in your ceremony! Playing with colors and light and attitudes and style has a lot to do with why wedding planning is so fun.

Happiness to all!

Reverend Pamela Camille

http://www.laketahoeminister.com

Zephyr Cove Beach Weddings

Zephyr Cove beach weddings can be elaborate and costly, or they can belong to the splashy budget wedding category. There are wedding tents up throughout summer at the busy end of Zephyr Cove for large weddings. There is an expanse with enough room for 150-200 chairs for the outdoor ceremony, then guests can repair to the tents for appetizers and sit-down meals.

The photograph above is a secret part of Zephyr Cove Beach that is perfect for the more private, intimate weddings. There is a beautiful point jutting out into the lake with many fantastic boulders, creating a dramatic outdoor wedding site. The photographs are always spectacular at sunset because the light hits the point just right. I married a couple here who had been together for twenty-nine years; they had simply been too busy to hold a wedding ceremony, all those years!  The light was spectacular, with silver swords of light stabbing down through wind-scattered clouds.

This area is special to me because when my children were tiny, I took them to their first “protest.” They were four and six, and we stormed the beach in protest that this public National Forest Beach was kept from the public by a wealthy family who had simply decided to take the beach that rightfully belonged to us. This heinous injustice was righted, and the public has their public beach again.  It is beautiful, and belongs to everyone.

One February bride wore a beautiful black dress, and held blood-red roses. Her groom wore a bright red rose boutonniere; the two of them were spectacular against the washed light grey of the rocks and the deep blue lake in bright sunlight. My bride had been adopted, and her new husband told me she had created a huge family of her own, by reaching out and making friends. She was always surrounded by her many friends; she cherished relationships and kept her loved ones close. I have performed hundreds of beautiful ceremonies for people who were adopted, and these wonderful people have taught me a great deal about life, family, and unconditional love.

Happiness to all!

Pamela Camille, Reverend

www.laketahoeminister.com

 

 

Cave Rock Beach, Lake Tahoe: A Gorgeous, Easy Impromptu Wedding

Just past–or before–Cave Rock, depending which direction you are driving, is the lovely little Cave Rock Beach. This is the ultimate wedding site for spontaneous elopers. I planned a wedding for a spontaneous couple who called on the Saturday evening just before Mother’s Day. The couple had two kids and one on the way, and when her fiance asked her what she wanted for Mother’s Day, my bride said, “All I want is you.” We arranged for a wedding the following night–Mother’s Day–after my son and I enjoyed our Mother’s Day dinner. He is my wedding photographer, so it worked out perfectly.

As it seems to be with many modern couples, this couple would not hear of jotting down my simple directions: “Go 26 miles and turn left on Lyons Avenue.” They had to use their GPS. They got horribly lost, so by the time they arrived, my son was crabby. He thought all the great light of the early evening was gone. Fortunately, it was one of those apricot-fuschia sunsets that go on forever. The light could not have been more wonderful. He took about 200 photographs, mostly because he loved the light so much.  Even the twilight was spectacular. It was a dreamy, impromptu wedding.

Cave Rock Beach has a long, cement parking lot, and if you show up just before sunset, it costs only $2.00 to drive down right next to the beach. Some couples like their ceremony to be right on the point; that is basically ten feet from where you park your car, but it is a perfect place for a small wedding. The beach down below the point–shown in the photograph–is more beautiful, and a very short walk. This is a beach that will only do for a sunset wedding. It would be too dark for a sunrise wedding, and way too crowded for a day wedding. The beach is empty at 7:30 pm, and the light starts glowing with absolute perfection about then. Call me, at 775-720-1599.

Happiness to all!

Reverend Pamela Camille

www.laketahoeminister.com

 

Bridal Fashion, Summer 2012

Each bride is a magnificently unique woman, so it excites me that in 2012, bridal gown styles are as varied as the women who wear them. I believe last year’s royal wedding between Kate Middleton and Prince William changed style ideas enormously. One could argue that Pippa Middleton’s simple column dress stole the show, or, as I can attest, influenced one current trend of simple column style bridal gowns.

Poofy Princess or Sleek-Chic Maven, you should be true to yourself. Celebrate who you really are on your day! Vera Wang’s recent bridal fashion show even included red and black bridal gowns, and why not? If yellow or peach make your pretty face glow best, as those colors often do, make yours a yellow or a peach gown. Adorn your head with a long veil, a great hat, a wreath of flowers, or maybe one hibiscus or gardenia tucked behind your ear.

As one who has performed wedding ceremonies for almost nine years, I have seen all varieties of gowns and fashion. I love this aspect of my job. I was dazzled by one bride whose entire theme was “roaring twenties.” She walked down the aisle in what must have been an antique gown in nineteen twenties flapper style. It shimmered with thousands and thousands of inlaid rhinestones, and she wore pearls to her waist. Her wedding colors were purple orchid, silver, and black. Fresh purple orchids were everywhere.  It was breathtaking!

Ruching on the bodice or at the waist makes every figure look beautiful, and inlaid pearls or rhinestones are lovely, as is a straight, simple satin sheath. It is all about what you and your beloved love about who you are as a woman, and who you are as a couple.

For Lake Tahoe beach weddings, barefoot brides in sweet summer slip dresses are gorgeous, as are my biker brides in short leather halter dresses. Lake Tahoe forest weddings often feature deep and soft green accents in the brides’ flowers, bridesmaids’ dresses, and bridal sashes. Beach weddings  set against Lake Tahoe’s deep blue sapphire waters often feature blue hydrangeas and irises.

My you take joy in all the possibilities. Happiness to all!

Reverend Pamela Camille

www.laketahoeminister.com

Lakeside Beach Weddings at Lake Tahoe

Lakeside Beach is a stunning location for a wedding; it’s just down the street from Harvey’s and Harrah’s casino. Brides love arriving at Lakeside Beach with all their attendants in a horse-drawn carriage. There is a secluded grassy area for weddings, and ceremonies take place right on the water beneath a bridal arch made of pine. Couples make their promises overlooking the entire lake and the mountains. The grassy area is large enough for a sizable audience.

I performed one Lakeside Beach wedding in deep snow; it was eighteen degrees outside. I was joining two snowboarders, so I assumed my bride would be wearing snowboard boots, but no, she braved the weather in strappy high heels. Our mouths were too frozen to form words, but everyone was happy! Lakeside Beach is a magical place, in every season. Summer is probably most comfortable, however!

Summer weddings at Lakeside Beach can be followed by lunch or dinner at Lakeside Grill, on the water right next to Lakeside Beach. The food is wonderfully prepared, and a total takeover of the restaurant for the reception can be arranged. The views would be Tahoe’s very best, and the patio is festive with umbrellas for shelter on the brightest summer days. I know the owner of the restaurant, as I’ve been a fan since he opened; I can work well with my couples for pricing and food. He’s the guy to contact for the wedding site as well, so he loves working out a package for weddings and receptions. He knows some amazing Spanish guitarists; it could all be quite dreamy and perfect.

Happiness to all!

Reverend Pamela Camille

www.laketahoeminister.com