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Naila Francis

Naila Francis: Eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware. Naila (pronounced Ny lah) is an unabashed romantic, which makes it no surprise that she tends to fall a little in love with every couple she marries, elevated as much by the depth and beauty of their connection as she is by the tremendous gratitude and sense of honor she feels to be present at such an occasion. She does admit, however, that one of her wedding highlights remains reciting the opening words of the Impressive Clergyman from the film “The Princess Bride” during one of her ceremonies at the request of the bride and groom, who shared as much of an affinity for the comic fantasy adventure as she did. And so she finds that a sense of humor can be as essential to a ceremony as is the awareness of what a profound gift it is to preside over such an occasion.

Raised on the Caribbean islands of St. Lucia, Barbados and Antigua, Naila is an island girl at heart, which comes across in her warm, open and joyful personality (she has in fact been dubbed with the nickname of Juicy Fruit by one of her best friends, given her exuberant, perennially optimistic approach to life).

She is a journalist, poet and ordained interfaith minister. As a features writer with The Intelligencer and Bucks County Courier Times, daily newspapers in Bucks County, she is able to share her passion for the arts and creativity through profiles of prominent and emerging musicians (k.d. lang, Ray LaMontagne, Amos Lee, Angelique Kidjo, Brandi Carlile, Femi Kuti and Rachael Yamagata, to name a few), and even got to interview her personal heroine, India.Arie, whom she is certain would be her BFF if only they could sit down for tea one day. She recently interviewed author Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love whose latest book, Committed, celebrates her own decision to marry.

Naila also writes about local theater and dance and routinely interviews a host of other creative individuals, from fashion designers to novelists and comic book illustrators. She has also written about women in music for venuszine.com, reviewed “New Age” music for Mystic Pop magazine and blogged about creativity for TheSpiritedWoman.com. Her belief in the arts as a transformational agent has inspired a desire to bring poetry and music to underprivileged children in a co-creative experience of hope and healing, and she is working to develop such a program with other artists from the Philadelphia area. Drawn to the works of Rumi, Hafiz, David Whyte, Jane Hirschfield, Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda and Rainer Maria Rilke, among others, she is working on her own collection of poetry and is also the author of “The Night She Met God,” a poetry gift book illustrated by British artist Lynda Mangoro.

After years of living in suburban Delaware County, Naila recently became somewhat city-fied by moving to Roxborough, where she has enjoyed decorating her very own condo in bright, bold hues and artsy, whimsical touches.

She loves living right across from the trails of Fairmount Park yet close enough to the city’s many social and cultural offerings… and even closer still to her beau, a poet, percussionist and carpenter whose love has transformed her life in ways that, for her, transcend every imagined fairy tale. The two have in fact come up with their own “goober” lingo to reflect the molten mass of deliriously happy feelings they inspire in each other and are considering a card line, a series of t-shirts and a book devoted to all things goober.

Naila also enjoys time spent with family and friends, a good meal (preferably concluded with chocolate) and an equally good laugh, dancing, art-house films and the beach. She fancies herself a world traveler, though her globe-hopping to date has been limited to her excursions through Peru accompanied by a shaman and writing with poet Ellen Bass in Mallorca. But one can always dream… and dream big!

While her writing talents make her a natural at crafting a couple’s love story to share with guests during the ceremony, her favorite part of the wedding day is knowing that the couple before her is not only pledging their love and commitment before a community of family and friends but also inviting that community more deeply into their hearts and their lives, acknowledging that their support, nurturing and wisdom will be vital to the strength and happiness of their marriage. Though she belongs to an interfaith community comprised of people of diverse spiritual backgrounds and traditions, Naila believes the highest spiritual practice is to honor all people by consciously practicing compassion, tolerance, integrity, gratitude and love in her daily life — all, of course, with a hefty helping of joy.

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