‘I love love’: Retiring marriage commissioner reflects on 8 years of marrying B.C. couples

Eight years ago, Natasha Lyndon was thumbing done the section paper erstwhile she came crossed an advertisement seeking a campaigner to go a matrimony commissioner successful Kamloops, B.C.

“I thought, ‘That is going to beryllium the astir unthinkable occupation ever,' truthful I applied,” she told CBC’s Daybreak Kamloops. 

She got the gig, and since she started successful 2017, Lyndon has joined 564 couples. 

“I emotion love,” she said.  

She’s been portion of proceedings for each kinds of couples — those who person been unneurotic for 30 years, others who person lone known each different six months; she’s officiated weddings for aggregate sets of brothers, couples who met online and radical she’s known for decades. 

“My second-to-last wedding was a pistillate successful her 30s who, erstwhile I archetypal moved to Kamloops 22 years ago, lived crossed the thoroughfare from maine and was similar 10 years old,” Lyndon said. 

Lyndon, who lives successful Kamloops, B.C., said she's spent galore a play driving betwixt weddings successful the area. (Five June Photography/Submitted by Natasha Lyndon)

She describes each wedding arsenic a “dopamine hit,” getting a peculiar joyousness from watching arsenic couples go affectional arsenic they locomotion down the aisle. 

But now, she’s hanging up her chapeau officiating weddings astatine the property of 65. 

A erstwhile creation teacher, child-care idiosyncratic and room assistant, Lyndon was successful a car mishap past October portion driving from wedding to wedding. 

“That benignant of got maine winding down,” she said.

“How galore much dopamine hits did I need?” 

Lyndon spoke with Daybreak Kamloops big Shelley Joyce astir her status and what she learned during her tenure arsenic a matrimony commissioner successful B.C.

LISTEN | Natasha Lyndon reflects connected her clip arsenic a B.C. matrimony commissioner:

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity. 

Did you ever get sick of performing wedding ceremonies? 

No, no, no, never. 

There's a batch of driving. Some weekends successful the summertime erstwhile I'd have, for the full weekend, I mightiness person six weddings, 2 rehearsals and, like, going up to a Harper Mountain and past retired to Monte Creek and past someone's backyard successful Brocklehurst.

That, I didn't love. 

What made you determine to retire? 

It mightiness person been each the driving. I deliberation I was conscionable wanting to upwind down from that. I felt similar it was time.

And besides idiosyncratic other gets to person the job. We're lone allowed to person it for 10 years with the government. I did eight. After 10, you person to retire, truthful that idiosyncratic other tin use and person this fantastic accidental to beryllium portion of people's emotion stories. 

Can I inquire however overmuch a matrimony commissioner makes? 

We complaint the mates $75 positive GST to officiate paperwork. But for each wedding we person to springiness $25 backmost to the government, remit to the government. So we get $50. We complaint question clip and mileage still, that's precise small really, erstwhile you deliberation astir it. 

So did you emotion the job? 

I loved the job. 

Sometimes I’d wed a mates successful their surviving country and they're wearing their chamber slippers due to the fact that they conscionable privation to get married. Maybe adjacent summertime they're going to person a large barbecue oregon a large party, but for immoderate crushed they privation to get joined then. I ne'er ask, "Oh, wherefore are we getting joined successful the surviving country successful our chamber slippers?" I'm like, crippled on.

Lyndon has performed each kinds of wedding ceremonies implicit the years, saying each 1 was peculiar and memorable successful their ain ways. (Richelle Marie Photography/Submitted by Natasha Lyndon)

Do you ever inquire radical wherefore they wanted to get married? 

No. 

Do you cognize if those weddings that you officiated person been successful? Do you person immoderate idea? 

No. 

Can you archer successful advance? 

Oh, radical often inquire maine that. I ever accidental no, I ne'er ever deliberation that, I ne'er thought that. How would I adjacent know?

And also, however could I bash my occupation good if I had immoderate thought similar that successful my mind? The mates wants to get married, they emotion each other, and present we go. So no, I ne'er thought that. 

So which wedding stands retired for you the most? Are determination immoderate couples oregon weddings that you'll ne'er forget? 

There's truthful many, due to the fact that they're memorable for antithetic reasons.

Sometimes it's due to the fact that thing has happened successful the beingness of the mates oregon the beingness of their household that is truthful poignant. Sometimes there's been a death, sometimes Dad has been truly sick and helium is good capable to basal and locomotion his girl down the aisle.

Or the ones wherever couples person been unneurotic for 30, 35 years, and they got married. Or sometimes the mates is truthful successful emotion that the infinitesimal we start, everybody conscionable starts weeping due to the fact that there's truthful overmuch joy.

Lyndon holds up a matrimony licence, celebrating with the couple, astatine 1 of the galore weddings she's officiated. (Submitted by Natasha Lyndon)

Here's 1 we had. It was conscionable them, their 2 kids, 2 witnesses. They chose [to person the wedding] connected the one-year day of erstwhile the antheral was successful the ICU with COVID, and the caregiver had phoned and said, "He's not going to marque it, travel up here." He did marque it, and a twelvemonth later, they got married. You stake that was a weeper. 

Sometimes we're retired successful the wood somewhere. We've driven up successful a four-by-four and we're looking retired astatine this gorgeous view. There's a cervid walking by. Something similar that, wherever quality is conscionable coming unneurotic to marque it incredible. 

Lyndon says each wedding is similar a "dopamine hit." (Five June Photography/Submitted by Natasha Lyndon)

Do you deliberation that you personally learned thing astir emotion due to the fact that of this career?

I learned astir hope. People tin beryllium precise antagonistic astir matrimony and astir relationships oregon doubtful. The divorcement complaint is truthful high, we cognize this.

But conscionable the hopefulness that couples had erstwhile they came unneurotic of, "This is going to beryllium it, we are going to marque this matrimony enactment and we're going to marque this matrimony enactment for our family."

I recovered that truthful poignant and I recovered it truthful uplifting and truthful positive. 

Did you ever person immoderate unsatisfied customers? 

No. I did person a mates oregon a gal telephone maine the week aft and accidental it didn't enactment out.

What are you going to bash next? 

That's a precise bully question.

Sometimes I wonder, should I officiate funerals? Because it's similar. You person to bring the aforesaid attraction and attentiveness and empathy and graciousness and bring radical unneurotic for immoderate lawsuit that is incredibly important to them.

There's antithetic emotions due to the fact that there's a batch of grief and sadness, but it's the aforesaid wanting to make oregon facilitate an incredibly meaningful lawsuit for a family.