Transcripts:
(00:00) My name is Gabriella Ferrari and I’m Sicilian. I have a degree in humanities and for years I taught in high schools in my city, Catania. And then one day I became a celebrant. Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to this enchanting corner of the sea that will be the backdrop to our ceremony. I’m honored to have been called by the spouses to celebrate the crowning of their love on this splendid October afternoon. This ceremony will be like this.
(00:41) So I decided to take courses in Rome and joined Federcelebranti. I believe that celebration is a powerful tool for embracing different moments in life. I believe it’s something that unites people deeply. If I think about what inspired me to become a celebrant, I could say something that might seem obvious at first glance, but it isn’t.
(01:14) Essentially, it’s the thrill this profession inspires. It’s a constant feeding of emotions and feelings. The emotion I experience when I encounter the love of two people who decide to bind their lives together forever is something extraordinary. I have the privilege of listening, and therefore of living a little with those who tell them to me, stories that I then recount, unique stories, because every couple is unique, different, with their own values, traditions, and ways of feeling. I try to capture the beauty of their story and their love, and then I write.
(02:07) I write something absolutely personal, tailor-made for them. I try to highlight their uniqueness as a couple, their uniqueness, because we must not forget that the protagonists of an engagement ceremony are, in reality, the spouses. A ceremony is something more than a beautiful speech.
(02:34) It’s a complete text that includes everything done, from the celebrant to the witnesses and the readers. It’s a step-by-step curation of gestures, words, music, and style. And it’s something that stimulates my creativity. And that’s why I think this is one of the most beautiful professions. God forbid that it should impede the union of faithful souls.
(3:10) Love is not love that changes when it discovers a change, or tends to fade when the other departs. Oh no, love is a beacon, ever fixed, that rises above the storm and never falters. It is the guiding star of every lost bark, whose worth is unknown, though the distance is known. Love is not subject to time; perhaps roses, lips, and cheeks must fall beneath its curved blade.
(3:51) Love does not change in a few hours or weeks, but fearlessly endures the final day of judgment. And if this be error, it shall be proved to me. I have never written, and no one has ever loved.
‘I Will Be Here’ by Steven Curtis Chapman
Tomorrow mornin, if you wake up And the sun does not appear I, I will be here If in the dark, we lose sight of love Hold my hand, and have no fearCause I, I will be here I will be here When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind I will listen And I will be here When the laughter turns to cryin Through the winnin, losin, and tryin’WeLl be together Cause I will be here
Tomorrow mornin, if you wake up And the future is unclear I, I will be here As sure as seasons are made for change Our lifetimes are made for years So I, I will be here I will be here And you can cry on my shoulder When the mirror tells us were older I will hold you And I will be here To watch you grow in beauty And tell you all the things you are to me I will be here,
I will be true to the promise I have made To you and to the One Who gave you to me I, I will be here And just as sure as seasons are made for change Our lifetimes are made for years So I I will be here Well be together I will be here.
Air Vif by Paul Eluard
I looked ahead In the crowd I saw you Among the wheat I have seen Under a tree I saw At the end of all my journeys At the bottom of all my torments At the turn of all laughter Coming out of water and fire The summer of winter I saw In my house I saw you In my arms I saw you In my dreams I saw you I will never leave you again.