Emily + Yunus | October 2024
“Everyone has said how amazing the ceremony was”
I experienced two ‘firsts’ as a celebrant, marrying Emily and Yunus. To start with, this bride and groom didn’t begin their ceremony-planning journey with me, but another celebrant. Emily and Yunus met my celebrant friend Natalie at a wedding fair, and I feel so much for Natalie because she wasn’t well enough to be their celebrant in the end, but I’m so grateful she introduced me to them because what. a. pair. As you will see from the photos, Emily and Yunus are party people and they didn’t stop beaming all day…and usually with a drink in hand.
They first met in a Newcastle pub, their wedding was in a brewery (the bar open before we settled down to start, with guests keeping hold of their drinks for the ceremony), and then the olive in the martini was I made a cocktail in the proceedings. A blend of Turkish and British ingredients to match their partnership. It was a wedding that suited them down to the ground.
Photos by lovebirds themselves, Alisha Joe Photography
The second ‘first’ wasn’t a positive one - a guest with a heart condition had a bad turn and an ambulance had to be called DURING the ceremony - but everything worked out in the end. I had that split second where you have to decide what your gut is telling you to do, and I think (hope!) I made the right decision. I clocked there was a kerfuffle in the congregation and an uncle had taken himself off to the side and a few close relatives were attending to him, but I also clocked (at the top of the aisle with them) that the bride and groom hadn’t noticed anything. So I decided to crack on. The show must go on and I didn’t want the poor uncle to have all eyes in him. I could see an ambulance was being called but it arrived just after we’d finished.
I guess anything can happen in this job!
As I mentioned, Yunus is Turkish and Emily British so that was a thread that ran through the ceremony: celebrating their cultures. I’ll be honest though, the cocktail I made at the front - explaining the different ingredients - ended up being absolutely gross even though I followed a recipe! The guests were laughing at the faces Emily and Yunus were pulling - and he gave up after a sip but determined Emily cracked on.
I had practised a couple of Turkish words for the ceremony; mega simple ones like “hoş geldin” (meaning welcome), as I wanted Yunus’ family to feel exactly that: welcome. My husband ended up dropping me off at this wedding and he must have thought I was mad (spoiler: he always does), just muttering “hoş geldin” to myself all the way down cos I wanted to get the pronunciation right.
I also talked about how the Turkish have a word "vefa" which doesn’t directly translate into a single English word, but describes a profound loyalty and faithfulness. I told the story of how when Yunus’ hometown in Turkey was struck by an earthquake, Emily was there for him in every possible, profound way.
There were moments of real moving, meaning in a mega relaxed, mega fun wedding absolutely brimming with love. And you’ve spotted the bridesmaid doggy, right?! Stella is their pride and joy and she was front and centre the entire wedding after a diva entrance down the aisle.
“We’ve had a lot of comments how amazing it was and how you handled when John became unwell”