Hi I love to travel, I love to socialise and celebrate life. At an early age, I had a taste for travel and adventure. In my 20's I was fortunate enough to get a job travelling the world on cruise ships, whilst working for "The Shops on Board". My sailing years took me to America, The Caribbean, across the world to Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. I even had the memorable chance to sail along the Amazon River through the jungle. Later on in life, with our three children, Ray and I would take our family to different places, and go exploring to find new areas we would never have seen before.
The spirit of adventure never leaves us, we still keep finding new places, here in the UK and abroad.
Now we are proud grandparents to the adorable Harley & Jessica.
Because of my love for travel & adventure, I have chosen a way of working to complement my love for people and socialising. I am a celebrant who loves to celebrate life whilst creating life time memories. I am using this blog site to talk about my passions. Travel, celebrant work, my love of photography and my beautiful family, which is so important to me. Life is for living, so let's embrace what we do as best as we can 💟💛
Are your weddings legal ❓️ How do I do the legal bit ❓️
Yes, you do end up legally married, however, you would register your legal bit as a ” basic ceremony” for a cost of approx £57 at the registry office in your area. You can do this at any time of your choosing. You only need to do the ” I do ” bit and sign a register with two witnesses… then have the ceremony of your dreams with a celebrant in your desired location.❤️❤️
What is the fee and what does it include ❓️
My 2023/ 2024 fee is £650 all in, to include meeting up to get to know each other so I can write your personalised ceremony. Writing your wording for your ceremony, viewing the venue together, and, a big plus, you would have my full and divided attention on the big day. I arrive an hour before hand, I don’t rush off to any other weddings in your day.
Can I get married anywhere I choose ❓️
Yes, a celebrant led wedding isn’t tied to licensed venues. You can have your wedding & ceremony in any hotel, castle, restaurant, pub, club, forrest, park, beach, back garden, marquee you wish to have it in. You can also choose your own ceremony time and not be governed by a registrar dictating this to you.
Can I get married on a bank holiday or main holiday day ❓️
Yes, we will do ceremonies on bank holidays, over the Christmas period and even new year’s day. A registrar won’t work on certain restrictive days
Off to Canada we go, well, Nova Scotia. To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, we decided to be adventurous and sail from Liverpool to Canada.
Sailing over the North Atlantic sounded interesting. However, following the journey of the Titanic, was somewhat eerie.
Having begun our journey in Liverpool, which was the original ” White Star ” offices for the ill fated ship.
Following her route, as passengers were to begin a new life in America, yet sadly, most ended up in a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, one of our destinations.
I couldn’t help but think about those passengers, how they never made it to begin a new life in New York.
To join Bolaris, part of the Fred Olson fleet, is certainly a tick off the bucket list. Who would ever have thought we could experince Canada without boarding a plane
Born from covid lockdown, business women were having to change direction in life to adapt to new and unprecedented lifestyle situations. With immense positivity and the determination to not let obstacles get in their way (like a global pandemic), business women from various areas in Lancashire were attending trainings and enjoying the facility of the online networking phenomena. It was during lockdown that the networking group ‘Mothers in Business’ or ‘MIB’ grew to bring together business women from across the Lancashire region, spanning across every industry.
It was during a network event that Katie Parrott, the owner of ‘Dove Barn Weddings’, was invited along to a networking session. To the delight of Joanne Lazarus, The Mothers in Business network leader at the time, was quick to let Katie know her thoughts on a collaboration to form a ‘time for print” or ‘TFP’ wedding shoot. This is a way for businesses to publicise their products & services by creating bespoke content for their own social media pages.
Being a newly trained wedding celebrant at the time, Joanne Lazarus decided to produce a unique wedding style photoshoot to display the plethora of unique businesses within the organisation in the wedding & events industry. Bringing together a team of wedding suppliers to showcase their talents and creativity, from florists and stylists to photographers and celebrants. We are part of the wedding industry and have collaborated together on this very exciting project.
The team. What a fascinating group of suppliers, pulled together to create the magic. Photographer, Karen Nash
How fascinating and exciting to be the instigator of such production.
Quick to ask fellow industry and network comrades; MUA Kelly Waters, Alternative Florist Joanne Walls and Flower Buddy Michelle to help co produce, the Dove Barn wedding shoot soon came to life.
“Before I trained as a wedding celebrant, I wouldn’t have had this idea in my head!”
The Alternative Florist, Joanne Walls
The business women managed to organise and plan the whole shoot in a week, including arranging logistics and the itinerary for the day. The shoot consisted of two bridal shops, two florists, a photographer, a wedding celebrant, a make-up artist, a hairdresser and a lovely soon-to-be-wed couple Hayley & Denise, who were delighted to model out their big day for the shoot. We would like to thank Hayley & Denise for being wonderful brides for the day and modelling the dresses so beautifully.
How on earth could I get so excited seeing a fishing trawler bringing in it’s weekly catch? But I did 🐟😝
The residence of Maryport, quite calmly queue up along the dockside, as the local fishing trawler makes it’s way along side the jetty, to unload it’s wares.
Lining up in an orderly fashion, the locals wait to see what fresh fish the trawler has brought for them. An array of prawns, plaice, crabs, lobsters & monkfish were lifted off in large trays covered in ice cube trays.
I have been to fish markets before, whilst abroad, and been told the fish came in that day, but I had never seen this awsome sight before.
It certainly makes a change from buying fresh fish from the supermarket 🤣
Sadly, I wasnt in the market to buy that day, but hopefully, another visit to Maryport, I will take the camping stove / bbq and get the fresh fish.
Shopping queue for the fish, can’t get fresher than this 🐟
It was a stunning July weekend. We hadn’t many sunny days in July 2022. A rare weather report of sunshine in Cumbria, set us off on the journey to Maryport to visit a friend’s boat which was docked there.
The stunning marina at Maryport.
This stunning area of the UK, a very nautical part of the word, is the gateway to Scotland on the Solway Firth.
The weekend was enhanced by Maryport holding it’s annual community fête and lifeboat displays.
The coastguards, who are all volunteers, climed into their uniforms and onto the life rafts. We were in awe of the displays and speed the boats & life rafts were displaying for the audiences dotted along the promenade front.
Captivating displays by the Maryport Coastguards
Out to sea, The Solway Firth
The afternoon held more excitement, as weather conditions were A1 and we were able to take the boat out before the gate closed the marina at 5pm.
Keith, the Captain, and owner of the boat with his Co Captain Tracey, worked out tide & water levels, whilst Ray & I enjoyed the honour of sitting back and being well behaved passengers.
On board our sailing vessel, ” Pleasance”.
It was coming up to lunch time, and being a sea loving girl who adores being at sea, where best to have a spot of lunch but on deck. As ” Pleasance ” was docked out at sea, I set to the task of preparing is a scrumptious lunch fit for the Mediterranean, only we wernt on the Med, but we pretended we were.
With Keith & Trace having got us there safely, it was time for them to sit back & relax, lunch was soon ready.
Picnic at sea… a floating restaurant with the best view
What an action packed weekend. The night before our sailing day out, we saw the International Space Station, the full moon rise and a million stars in the dark skies. My photographs don’t really do what we saw justice, one of the times I wishI had brought my DSLR along, but the memories of that clear sky night will be etched in the memory bank forever.
Star Gazing
Night skies, the little dot is the International Space Station. It travels round earth and is the size of a football pitch.
Those of you who know me well, know I adore a sunset. I think I have photographed so many, they all deserve their own blog page. But for now, here is the Maryport sunset. A stunning array of sunshine melting into the backdrop of the Scottish surrounding highlands.
Hello all, please forgive me for being a little proud of this photoshoot.💟
When an idea you have in your head becomes a reality, the stress and nerves kick in when you see it happening for real.
This all began because of one passing comment by fellow crew member who said, “wouldn’t it be fabulous, now Joanne is a Celebrant, to have a wedding on the boat “.
I volunteer on this lovely community boat, and thought how fabulous it would be to combine my love for sailing on the water, and being able to give couples a stunning alternative to where they have a unique wedding ceremony or if they would just like a photograph opportunity.
What happened next?
I had a vision of gathering industry friends together to discuss an idea to have wedding ceremonies whilst sailing along on the water. After asking fellow wedding suppliers & friends, Joanne & Kelly, if they would join me.
To move the idea forward, we suggested we needed to arrange a styled photoshoot.📸
A coffee meeting was arranged and we plotted and planned for the photo shoot…. after alot of conversations, getting the dress, sorting the bunting, arranging the date and a crew,
the big day arrived 😀
We invited a wonderful photographer Kelly and I had met during a past styled shoot someone else had organised.
However, this time it was our baby and an industry styled shoot happened last Monday.😁
THE DAY 💟
We all met at 10am. The crew members who were sailing with us, kindly agreed to take the boat to a nearby bridge so we could also arrange a canal side picnic for our model bride & groom. Big thanks to crew members, Terry & Rebecca for agreeing to be our lovely couple.
Would you love to have your wedding photographs on here ?
A special bouquet had been made by our in house florist Joanne Walls, who specialises in wedding bouquets arranged from felt.
A bouquet to keep forever. Styled and made with love by the very talented Joanne Walls, The alternative florist.
The make up artist, Kelly Waters, arrived with an array makeup in her mobile studio, and began to convert the inside of the boat into a wedding supplier hive of activity.
Wedding Make Up, what bride doesnt love to be pampered on her wedding day ? Make up Artist Kelly Waters.
Studio lights, cameras and talks of which shot would look best where, with our talented photographers & Videographer, Alin & Liam, both having an eye for the best shots, began discussing with the skipper where to sail to, and when we could stop for photographers.
Alin capturing the ceremony from great heights. Liam & Alin capturing the moment on film & photographs.
We had converted a usual Monday afternoon into wedding wonderland.
Passers by stood in awe of a bride and groom sailing along by a stunning green backdrop the canals foliage. The idea is to sell the concept of wedding ceremonies on the water has begun. 💦 I wanted to share some with you, as I am feeling just a touch proud 😀
Saltburn-by-the-Sea, commonly referred to as Saltburn, is a seaside town in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England, around 26 miles south-east of Hartlepool and southeast of Redcar. It lies within the historic boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Beautiful rugged coastline
It is a lovely little seaside town, not too touristy, some nice cafes and pubs. The beach is stunning, really lovely, we had fish and chips on the beach watching the world go by, this place is a must visit.
A seaside visit before visiting a seafarers village & naval ship docked in the nearby marina.
A stunning jewel in the crown, we here in Manchester don’t know much about.
We discovered Flamborough Head when a friend of ours offered us her caravan. It was after lockdown. Covid had kept us in and we weren’t able to travel abroad.
When the restrictions were lifted, we decided to staycation and take holidays in the UK.
Flamborough, you did not disappoint. With stunning cliff views, wildlife birds and a beautiful stunning sea view, we had found our pearl in the orient, without having to get on a plane.
Flamborough Head, chalk promontory, East Riding of Yorkshire geographic county, historic county of Yorkshire, England, where the Yorkshire Wolds project 4 miles (6 km) into the North Sea.
We loved being so near the sea, which is a 15 min walk from the caravan site. Greeted by the sight of a working lighthouse… My love for the sea and anything nautical, was making this trip a true adventure.
As we looked over the top of the bay at Flamborough Head, we could see crowds on the beach. What could be so interesting ?. Our climb down the 120 steps to the beach ( yes, I have counted them), meant we too were greated by playful seals that decided swimming to the edge of the beach would be fun.
The wildlife , views and stunning scenery is something to shout about. This is a coast we needed to explore further.
Not alot of British holiday makers know about this enchanting paradise only two hours flight away from the UK. Generally, a place for spanish residents and home to a large Norwegian and Dutch community. Albir is the beach area of Alfas del Pi. Alfas being slightly inland, a thriving spanish town on the base of the mountain. Our home was a 3 minute drive to Alfas as it neighbours La Nucia.
Albir, a beautiful neighbour, nestled inbetween the Spanish tranquility of Spanish Altea, and the hussle & holiday atmosphere of Benidorm’s Levante beach.
From 2007 to 2012, the lazarus family decided to pack up and move away to spain. We sold our home in England and bought a sunshine villa with a pool. We based ourselves in la Nucia in the region of Alicante. Not too far from the beautiful jewels of the sea, Albir, Altea and Alicante itself. However, we also had the pleasure of holiday resort nearby Benidorm. Frowned upon by some, but enjoyed by most for holidays, cheap drink and sunshine. However, living nearby to this well known famous holiday resort, it became a special place within our hearts. When the crowds of tourists have gone, Benidorm has a magical outlook and secret alleyways not many tourists would care to know about. It became our local ” go to ” place, for local tapas, evening walks through the old town and gazing out to sea.
The sky scrapers of Benidorm. Pic taken by myself from the top of the Gran Bali, Cala de Finestrat.Beautiful view points and angles of Benidorm. What lies within the large concrete areas ? Sun, Sea & Sangria. What is behind all that? The mountains, serenity, magical views, and home to the Spanish and mixed expat communities.Night Time in Benidorm. The captivating mountains of Sierra Helada.
Lazarus Travels & Adventure 