My wife made an online booking with Julie, a Celebrant, from outside the USA My wife had not spoken with Julie directly over the phone, so she had no sense of the personality of the celebrant.
My wife had arranged to call Julie the day prior to the renewal of our vows to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Upon reaching her at 8.30am, my wife was abruptly reprimanded for waking Julie. We tried overlooking this misstep, but it proved to be the tip of the iceberg.
We met with the Julie later in the day at our Unit. From the outset, the celebrant was combative and unwilling to listen to any of our requests. Rather, we were being told how the vow renewal would proceed, and the preparations we would make in advance of the celebration. Frankly, the whole experience was negative.
We have had homes on Kauai, and we have been visiting for over 30 years, spending a substantial amount of time on the Island. But since the celebrant had been living here for 10 years, she had no hesitation in spending time educating us as to how the Island worked, and what could and could not be done, Specifically, she spoke to lighting candles on a beach, advising that she could lose her license and be fined $5,000 for such an infraction, but that if anyone challenged us, we should plead innocence.
Since we know allot of inhabitants on the Island, some living here for over 50 years, we spoke to our friends to clarify, , since we had attended gatherings of 20 or 30 friends at Hanalei Bay Beach who meet regularly Sunday evening, and where candles are routinely lit. It was confirmed that from a practical standpoint, lighting candles on a public beach is a non-issue., and even tiki lamps used sparingly are accepted.
Since we were both affected by our meeting with Julie, we spent the night sleeping on it, and as soon as we awoke next morning, we agreed that we did not want Julie participating in our celebration. Even though this was the day of our anniversary and our vow renewal, we felt so strongly that we had no other option but to call her to cancel her services. Even though we lost a substantial deposit, it was it was far more important to cancel with this celebrant.
With the assistance of our photographer, Jonathan, we were able to find a new Celebrant at the eleventh hour to attend our vow renewal. Our decision was perfect, since the celebration of our 10th wedding anniversary, and our vow renewal, was perfect in every way, with a very positive and contributory Celebrant. read more