Spirit has no colour...

April 3, 2017

Todd Mayhew - Terara Celebrant

It made me so happy to receive this photo and message:

"Summed up in one shot! Thanks Todd for telling our story and bringing it all together. You're the best." much love Dwayne and Amelia Bannon-Harrison.

This wedding was such an incredible experience for me. It was truly an honour to be a part of this spiritual ceremony that involved intentional movement, singing, clap sticks, didge, smoke ceremony and so much more. Elder and Dwayne's Grandfather Uncle Max Harrison led us in the ways of a traditional indigenous marriage ceremony and his wife Marelle told the story of the rock and the tree in which the tree and the rock must support each other in order to make it through the challenges of life. The children presented the bride and groom with a stone to represent the rock and a branch to represent the tree. I did my part in the middle to tell of the history of Amelia and Dwayne and make the marriage official under current Australian law. Amelia's family is of Irish catholic decent and goes back 6 generations in Bathurst. Dwayne's roots come from Wallaga Lake (Yuin Country) on his Dad's side, and Ireland and Scotland on his mother's side. The ceremony represented the coming together of families and cultures. After expressing my thanks at being welcomed into such a sacred ceremony to one of Dwayne's groomsman afterwards, he said to me "We're all one people. Spirit has no colour".

These two stand up individuals do amazing work in our community. Amelia works at Waminda Aboriginal Health and Welfare Service doing valuable and important work changing perceptions and energizing people. And

Dwayne is a cultural consultant and runs tours and workshops with Ngaran Ngaran Cultural Awareness (NNCA) to help ensure that traditional koori knowledge and traditions are passed on in South Eastern Australia.

How lucky am I to have met these two awesome people and helped them bring their families and cultures together through marriage. #ILoveBeingaCelebrant