How can understanding your values help you plan a meaningful ceremony?

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How can understanding your values help you plan a meaningful ceremony?

Suzie Bichovsky • Aug 22, 2021

Meaningful Ceremonies

Whether planning a wedding, vow renewal, end of life ceremony, or a naming- you walk a line between what you want and what others want. You may find yourself questioning, “Is this the right decision?” when making choices.

For a wedding, you may or may not have the time to weigh your decisions depending upon how long your planning process is. For an end of life ceremony, the time table may be even shorter.

Here are some questions that can guide you in curating a mindset for planning a meaningful ceremony:

1. What are your core values? Values are deeply held, long term beliefs. They may stem from your youth, family, culture, and more. Values can also be born from needs or deprivation. Working with values is most effective when you can state your top seven and do so by name rather than sentence, examples, or stories. Check out this values inventory for additional support.

2. Is there alignment between you (or the person you’re celebrating) and the ceremony that you are creating? It is important to understand what values are being honored with each decision. It is equally important to note which ones are not. Take the time to reflect on whether the decisions being made lean toward your values or the expressed wishes of another.

3. Throughout the creation process, does the ceremony feel as if it is yours (or the person you are honoring), or does it feel cookie cutter/cut & paste? It’s possible that you will want something simplistic. But even something simplistic can be crafted in such a way that it feels like the person guiding you and yours knows you well.

4. If others will be attending the ceremony, how do you want them to feel when they walk away? Consider three words that you’d like to hear. Serene, heartfelt, meaningful. Joyous, respectful, humble. Let those words guide you.

5. How do you handle conflict whether it be internal or external? When in doubt, return to the core values. Allow them to be your guide. Remember that there is a difference between making compromises and being compromised.

Understanding your core values can help you plan a meaningful ceremony for yourself or on behalf of another. It can also reduce your stress and make the decision making process more easeful.

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Sabrina’s Moment

By Suzie Bichovsky • 22 Jul, 2022

Did you ever meet someone, connect, instantly claim them as one of your favorite people, and become irrationally irritated that you didn’t get to meet them earlier in life? That’s how I felt when I met Sabrina Kreps. An experienced celebrant dedicated toward improving her craft, Sabrina enrolled in professional development training with the Celebrant Academy . At the time, I was new to the officiant world. Sabrina was among a cohort of truly gifted professionals who were uniquely talented and generous with sharing their craft. Sabrina started officiating weddings in 2014. She was officially ordained in 2017. One of her earliest weddings was that of friends who were a same-sex couple. Sabrina was and continues to be honored to be of service to her own community. How would one describe Sabrina’s ceremonies? I would describe them as I would describe her: inclusive, welcoming, and honoring of all love. Sabrina loves to create ceremonies for couples that reflect back their love for one another to them. Advice to couples: “Be focused and grounded in the moment.” A ceremony that stands out to Sabrina is a Friday the 13th Halloween wedding that was inclusive of Ghostbusters! The rings were presented by the best man on a sawed off arm. As someone who had her own Halloween themed wedding, I appreciate that Sabrina is creative and completely open to incorporating personal touches that make a ceremony unique and meaningful. As to the ever evolving wedding world, 2021-2022 brought the trend of “complete weddings” or sequel weddings. Couples who were married privately or in a smaller setting 2020-2021 are now embracing the full wedding experience. As Sabrina has said to her couples, “The real joy is sharing this with all your family and friends.” If you are reading this and shifted your original wedding plans due to the pandemic, it is never too late- or too early- to have a sequel wedding! We continued to stay in touch after our professional development was complete #ProfessionalMasterCelebrants thanks to our mutual love of cats and Star Trek. I was fortunate enough to finally meet Sabrina in person this summer when she hosted a Pride themed photoshoot benefitting the LGBTQ Center of Central PA . My husband and I were grateful to explore Celebration Ridge where Sabrina has created many beautiful spaces for elopement ceremonies. Even more important, spending time with Sabrina in person solidified for me that she is an amazing, welcoming, and loving individual I am fortunate to call colleague and friend. I invite you to connect with Sabrina for your own inspirational moments. Connect with Reverend Sabrina Kreps: Website: revsabrinakreps.com Instagram @sacredceremonywithsabrina Sabrina is a licensed church ordained Minister through Metaphysical Universal Ministries and St. John's Church of Faith in Allentown, PA. She has had the additional honor to be of service as a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Master. In additional to officiating ceremonies at a location of your choice, she also has several options at Celebration Ridge in Duncannon, PA. Please visit her website for more information.