A Spontaneous co-created wedding! Adventures in the gift economy.. Part 2 of many.

 

This will be my favorite story submission of all time. I know this to be true because...  It's about that week in Australia in 2014 when I got married to my beloved Andrea.

In my series detailing the journey into Gift Consciousness and Gift Economy, there will be many stories of spontaneity, emergence, adventure, fun, love and healing, but this one will always be the most memorable.

In 2014, Andrea, Chris and myself were gifted an all expense paid trip from the UK to Byron Bay Australia to attend the UPLIFT Festival. We were invited to share our sociotechnology project and explore potential partnerships and investment. Obviously, this was an awesome invitation to be grateful for, and we were thrilled to say yes.  

Before I share about this moment of marriage and celebration, let me first say that we were treated amazingly by the UPLIFT family and company owners. First class from beginning to end, they were super-generous hosts. Here’s a link to their current website.  Back to the proposal and wedding…  

I went to the UK in Summer of 2014 with an engagement ring, and Andrea was aware of that. So, there wasn’t going to be an easy way to make a surprise or unexpected proposal. I held onto that ring day after day, week after week, and before I knew it several months had passed.  Then we headed to Australia.

While there I started thinking again, about some type of memorable or fantastic scenario I could arrange for a memorable proposal for Andrea. I began asking people there from UPLIFT if they could help me arrange some kind of surprise and I began to have big ideas. And then…  

One afternoon during the pre-festival celebrations and gathering, Andrea was bitten on a the toe by a green fire ant of some kind. It was Summer there, and extremely hot, she recalls being dehydrated but the next thing we knew she passed out! I remember seeing her face when she realized we were in the ‘exotic’ land of Australia with ‘strange poisonous creatures’ and that she’d just been bitten by one.. It didn’t seem that serious but I could see as soon as she had that thought, it was lights out with anxiety!!! Maybe it was dehydration, but I don’t think so :)

She came around and everything was okay.  Later that evening when we arrived back at our bedroom, I turned to her and said something like: I don’t want to wait any more! I have this ring, and I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment but after seeing you pass out today, I don’t want to wait. AND, I don’t want to wait for a minister or legal function.. So I asked, can we declare ourselves married, here and now! We don’t need anyone’s approval or consecration. It’s you, me and the universe as our witness. She said yes and put the ring on and we have been married since.  From there it took a wonderful turn!  

The next day we shared our joy with our friend Eve at the gathering.

It sounded like a nice little idea, after all we hadn’t had a wedding celebration and the group at the gathering were all really lovely people from all walks of life.  The next thing we knew, Eve was making an announcement and a wedding was spontaneously co-created! There was a minister in the crowd (although it wasn’t ‘official’ she joined us) and we began sharing some spontaneous vows.

Then the live music started, the video camera and cameras and a meal!

Because it was already a gathering we had musicians ready to play, people documenting it and the day’s banquet nearly ready to be served..

Next thing I knew we were up in chairs like a traditional Jewish wedding.

Then Andrea and I went around the circle hugging each person!  

Then several couples there began sharing stories about their marriages, giving us advice and gifts of wisdom.  

We were blessed by some of the Indigenous 13 Grandmother’s that were there.

Wow.. Wow .. Wow

We had a brilliant 1-2 hour full wedding! No plans, no money, just the gifts that were available and generously shared by all.  

It truly was a spontaneous, co-created afternoon that everyone felt great about. The theme of the festival and gathering was co-creation so everyone was really thrilled to be part of it. Many people spoke about how lovely it was as an overall experience in community.

One man there, emailed me several days later with the best wedding present, he was inspired to create a quick little website about the day (where the photos have come from).. And there you have it..

A Full wedding in 2 hours in the beautiful land of Australia, and all of it gifted by various people.

Life is grand in the Gift Economy.