For the month of May, I picked none other than The Occasional Mermaid, Mermaid Celestia! She's the perfect mermaid mother to have inspired my matching mother/daughter crowns! I love her regal, renaissance, fairy tale charm. Her aesthetic varies from rich jewel tones to airy sweet pastels. But whatever she chooses to wear, she brings her magic!
She's been incredibly supportive and actually the first ever mermaid performer to order a crown from me. She's been rooting me on since the beginning and I truly am so grateful.
I definitely find her an inspiration to all! She's a driven woman who has brought so much magic to her community to enjoy and has also helped the other many mermaids on her team rise to the "Occasion" wink wink. I know you'll find this interview insightful as she speaks of her mermaid beginnings, mermaiding with her daughters and more.
Before even beginning I have to share this warm greeting.
Celestia: I wanted to just thank you for having me be your Mermaid of the Month for May. It has been such an honor to see those crowns that were created with my theme and to be focused on in this way. It's wonderful and I appreciate so much and the work you put into those crowns. I have a pretty large collection from you as you know and I plan to be back in the future for more for me and my children. So again thank you so much for this and I hope to keep collaborating with you in the future.
Me: Tell me about the Court of Mermaids. How did it get started?
Celestia: I've been performing in Utah about 11 years now. In 2009 I and a small group of friends opened a performance group called Court of the Eleven Fae. It's no longer running at this point as I closed it down to move onto mermaids. But at that time when Court of the Elven Fae was performing, they were a group of fantasy characters. We had fairies, we had elven folk, we had so many manner of different performers and it was wonderful. We would go to renaissance festivals, various private events, charity events and just perform as those characters and it was a lot of fun.
About 2015, I finally decided to pursue the mermaid side of my dream. That's always where my heart has lied, that was always the end goal, to be a mermaid. I loved performing as a faerie queen and I really put my heart and soul into that for a long time but I wanted to try this side of me and it turned out to be so much more rewarding. So again in 2015, me and a few other local Utah mermaids opened a spin off of Court of the Elven Fae, called Court of Mermaids. And we each had at that time silicon tails. We did some of our first events at renaissance festivals and it's grown from there. We are now the top pod In Utah. We have ten professional mermaids, four or five mertenders who are our supporting staff for our mermaids. They move us around, act as event hosts, and even bouncers for lack of a better word, and we have people who help us in administration areas as well.
The different events that we do together, we are the featured performers at the Utah renaissance festival every year. I think we are going on year 5 or 6 as the mermaids there. And that is always a huge multi-day event every year. It's a huge production but it's so much fun and so worth it. And then we perform at Utah's Zoo, Fall festivals, lantern festivals, we do so many private parties, birthday parties, rec centers, we do parades. There's really nothing that we don't have our fins dipped in in Utah. We are forever coming up with new ways to be involved in the community. It's so much fun and really is a dream.
Me: What’s it like heading a team of mermaids?
Celestia: (Laughs) Well it can get hectic at times. The larger our team has grown the more we've added to our admin staff. There's myself and a couple others who manage the group of 10 to 12 performers. We set up the events. I do most of the administration work, the contracts and the outreach to the various venues but each admin has different jobs that they do running the website and that type of thing. It really is with the help that I have and the wonderful team that I have, it's not too difficult. I imagine that if I didn't have such a great team I imagine that it could get a little bit hectic...and it does when we have big events coming around it does consume most of my time. I wish I could see my family a little bit more around those times but it's worth it in these events that we do bring magic to our community and that's really our end goal.
Me: Congrats on your title of Miss Mermaid Utah! What was involved in that selection process and what are some of your favorite highlights this year as queen?
Celestia: When I heard about this pageant and that they were looking for mermaid queens for every state I definitely applied for Utah and felt that it was a good fit for what they were looking for. There was an application process where you submit your various mermaiding experiences, different photos, your social media accounts and then you write kind of an Essay on what you would do with the title if you were awarded it. And that was all online. It was an easy process and I learned I was selected when the rest of the world did...when they announced my name and it was wonderful. I've done parades, I've different events as Miss Mermaid Utah and it's helped bring attention to different charities, different platforms that I support. The Utah Inland Ocean Coalition was my charity for that particular title.
Me: I know you are also a mermaid mom. How many children do you have? Do they want to be mermaids too?
Celestia: We are a his, hers and ours family. We both had one and then together we've had two more. Both of my daughters, 11 and 2 yrs old, have performed with me. They have tails. Either they use of one of mine or they have had some made of their own and they do enjoy it. My 2-year-old is fascinated with anything glittery, magical. She's my little one that I put in whatever costume. My older one, I let her have a little bit more freedom when she wants to perform with me. She did perform in a parade with me last summer and she had a lot of fun, so if she wants to be a mermaid when she grows up, I will totally support that.
Me: What’s one piece of advice you have for your children?
Celestia: One piece of advice I would give to all my children, is don't be afraid to be yourself. The world needs people that have that passion and are truly, unapologetically themselves. We all grow up with expectations and pressures on us...and I know I am happiest when I'm my true self...and being a mermaid, performing as a mermaid is an aspect of that. The advice I would give to all my children is be yourself and be it proudly. Whoever you are, whoever that ends up being, Be Yourself.
I want to thank The Occasional Mermaid for participating in this interview. I'm so grateful for all her support and kindness. It's been really nice getting to know her a little better. I really love the crowns she inspired and she was the perfect muse!
The Occasional Royal
The Occasionally Gold: SOLD
The Occasionally Pastel Rainbow: SOLD
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