When Town of Collingwood clerk Sara Almas looks back over the various weddings she’s officiated on behalf of the town over the years, there’s one wedding that sticks out in her mind, with a takeaway piece of advice.
Being pooped on by a bird at your wedding can be a sign of good luck.
Since COVID-19 shutdowns, civil wedding ceremonies through the Town of Collingwood have been put on hold, mostly due to staff transitions. In 2018, the town performed 19 weddings, in 2019 there were 26 and in 2020 prior to the pandemic being declared, the town did 13 weddings that year.
Although ceremonies conducted by the town are done in town hall’s council chambers, that wasn’t always the case with Almas recalling one wedding in a meadow at the bottom of a 30-foot rock ledge.
“At the end of the ceremony they released doves from the top of the cliff area, and the doves as they were released also released what they were holding back and the bridal party, including the bride and a number of guests were targeted in bird poop,” said Almas.
“To lighten the moment, I remarked that if rain on your wedding day was good luck, then bird poop on your wedding must be extremely lucky!”
While offering wedding services is optional for municipalities, when they are taking place, weddings through the Town of Collingwood take place in council chambers, and are conducted on Fridays. Almas said there have been two staff transitions in the legislative services department since COVID, without the capacity to re-instate yet, but once that happens, town hall weddings could be back on.
“Once we have our staff vacancy filled and trained we may consider reinstating civil ceremonies in the future should the capacity and business case exist,” she said.
Marriage licenses issued by the Town of Collingwood have held mostly steady over the past few years, accounting for the pandemic, with 130 issued in 2018, 157 in 2019, none in 2020, 111 in 2021, 175 in 2022 and 141 in 2023. So far for this year, heading into prime wedding season, the town has issued 26 licenses.
Following applying for and obtaining a marriage license, town-hall-wedding applicants set up a meeting with the town officiant and reserve council chambers to make sure the room is appropriately prepared. Ceremonies are personalized to the couple, and a final meeting takes place between the couple and the officiant to iron out final details and provide payment prior to the big day.
There are other weddings that stick out in Almas’ mind, one in particular where the wedding included the stepchildren.
“The bride had arranged a special ring ceremony for her new stepchildren which we had kept a secret from the groom and his children,” recalls Almas. “After the bride and groom exchanged their vows and rings, the bride pulled out two rings and said vows to the children and placed the rings on their fingers.”
“There wasn’t a dry eye in the room, including myself!” she said.
For more information on marriage licenses through the Town of Collingwood, click here.
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