Montana Elopements: Open Season
I moved my family to Montana after almost thirty years living out East, knowing that most everything would feel new and that fresh opportunities would unfold before us. Working with a flower farmer last summer, I took the season to watch the local wedding industry respond to the influx of pandemic visitors.
Audrey and a pandemic bouquet
From the sidelines I could see that Montana elopements were virtually declared as Open Season for photographers as the parks were inundated with people wanting to wed outside in the beauty of nature and without the restrictions of a larger gathering.
This region has become the Wild West of Weddings!
Montana is now a known destination wedding hotspot (I live in northwest Montana, near both Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park) and the industry is growing, creating space for new models and awesome networking opportunities. Eager to bring my own support to the folks who love to think outside the box, I’m jumping in to that space!
My Wild West jumping in trick!
(and blonde hair I sported for a short year)
But who are you?
I'm Audrey Hyvonen, a non-denominational minister, secular, inclusive wedding officiant and celebrant. Whew! What a mouthful!
What does that mean?
I connect with folks, learn their stories, and celebrate their journeys together through ceremony with their chosen community.
In my new business, Bespoke Ceremonies Montana, I create custom tailored ceremonies such as weddings, elopements, & vow renewals, rituals to honor adoptions, bless the babies, pets and more. I am based in Kalispell, MT and excited to travel.
This is new work for me but not foreign territory. I have spent a lifetime creating connections and celebrating with community - especially in ways that push up against the edges where things feel hard but important: getting a couple ready to have a baby, teaching 6th graders how to juggle a ball alongside their judgmental peers, or simply blessing a new home with cookies and a smudge stick. I love helping folks discover and express their own creativity and step into their fullest versions of themselves. Becoming a celebrant felt like a perfect way to enhance that role.
I considered training as a celebrant off and on for more than fifteen years. My father is an ordained minister and I grew up attending many of his ceremonies, gleaning confidence in relating to people, speaking before crowds, making stories relatable and accessible. I recently completed the full program training as a certified wedding celebrant with the Academy of Modern Celebrancy and am excited to now be in the stage of website design, instagram growth, connecting with clients and community. My personal goal is to initially offer simple ceremonies to couples seeking creative alternatives to the pressured lavish culture of the fuller wedding industry, and to grow in collaboration with the local network of vendors doing the same over time.
How will I do that, you ask?
The main three elements to a wedding celebrant’s role are to:
Find,
Hold and,
Share.
Finding involves successful marketing to reach a couple with plans to be married who are a good match with the celebrant, learning of their journey through conversations and questionnaires, discerning the highlights of their relationship story thus far and, through developed rapport with the couple, looking forward together towards what kind of life they want to celebrate and continue to build.
Holding describes the step in which the celebrant then takes the gathered stories, ideas and plans and crafts a tailored ceremonial wedding service for the couple, lifting up the elements most precious to the couple and their desires to celebrate their union.
“The celebrant is creating a script for a verbal and time boundaried container in which the stories are held, recorded, promised and witnessed. ”
Sharing is the final element of the celebrant’s role in which the performance aspect of finding and holding are realized as an officiated ceremony performance, with the couple and their desired audience. It can vary from an intimate elopement to a grand luxury display, but each will be unique to the couple and customized to their own personalities, vision and temperaments. These main three elements of a celebrant’s role require confidence, organization and approachability. With these skills, a celebrant will be able to easily approach the role in which they will need to Find, Hold and Share.
Photo: Ethan Wiese
Even if you’ve never been to Montana, I can promise you that it’s a wonderful place. If you’re looking for a special spot, such as a lakeside pebbly beach, a mountaintop with a view for miles, or a groomed garden by the gentle river - you can find it all here. And if you’re looking for a partner in crafting a ceremony - you’ve found me! Let me hold the space for you, and we can work together to share your promises and dreams forward.
