AltarNatives

02/03/2026

The jonquilles are out.

Daffodils, in any language, are such a beautiful sign that spring is arriving. Here in Normandy they appear quietly, almost modestly, and then suddenly the fields are full of yellow.

There’s something about this time of year that feels like a beginning. A shift in the light and the air and the sense that something new is beginning. It feels a bit like when I get to stand in front of a couple and hear them making promises to one another - a new spring for their relationship and the beginning of something remarkable.

It’s one of the reasons I love this place so much. France does spring and weddings so beautifully.

For now, I’m just noticing the jonquilles.

04/11/2025

04/11/2025

Such a beautiful day. You captured it so wonderfully. It was a delight to work with you and all of the brilliant people who helped make everything feel so special.

Most of all, this day belonged to the most cracking couple. Full of joy, kindness, and love. Truly a delight.

03/08/2025

Once a wedding planner, always a wedding planner - always flowers in the ice bucket!

25/07/2025

Cheers to baby Léo - what an honour to celebrate your welcome to the world. En français et Anglais

28/06/2025

Six years since our first funeral in France. It was an extremely warm day and I got up very early to make a flower arrangement that would fit an ornament that was very important to the wonderful woman whose life we were celebrating. 
It was the funeral of one of the people who had been most generous to me when I moved to France and I had taken instructions for her Funeral directly from her. She conducted herself with such incredible grace and I am deeply honoured and humbled that she was the first person that I celebrated the life of in France. 
I have many more funerals and weddings in my portfolio now but I will never forget the woman who inspired me and help me understand that Funerals, as well as weddings, are acts of love. In fact I sometimes feel that a Funeral is a greater act of love, as it is at the end of a lifetime of relationships rather than the beginning.
I have still never done two funerals that are the same or two weddings that are the same. They are all special, unique and individual to the people that they honour. But this one was my first and so will always be with me. 

23/06/2025

What an incredible honour to be part of this special day

19/02/2025

https://laranorris.org/2025/02/07/the-power-of-personal-ceremony-why-a-celebrant-led-wedding-or-funeral-is-different/

Ceremonies mark life’s most important moments—weddings, funerals, naming days, and transitions of all kinds. But too often, traditional ceremonies feel impersonal, bound by rigid structures that do…