Wedding Ceremony question

[lucyanna girl]

What are some wedding ceremony alternatives for the unity candle and sand pouring? I'm sure that as many different traditions and customs as we hear about for weddings and showers there are certain to be more possibilities. My daughter and son-in-law to be want to do something different in their December wedding but aren't sure what. We attended a wedding last week that had nothing of this sort and oh my gosh it was so short! Sub five minutes is too brief after all that preparation.

Penny

 

[JaneBanks]

Handfasting or Hand tying?

http://www.vowsoftheheart.com/ceramonies/handfasting-wedding-ceremony/

 

[lucyanna girl]

Handfasting or Hand tying?

http://www.vowsoftheheart.com/ceramonies/handfasting-wedding-ceremony/

That looks interesting! Thank you!!

 

[lizabu]

I saw a thing where the bride and groom each pour a colored water into a glass and they mix and make a new color.

 

[Jaya]

How about the "Unity Braid", also known as "God's Knot". There are three cords, white for the bride, purple for the groom and gold for God. The bride and groom braid the cords while Ecclesiastes 4:12 is read: "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" (New International Version)

 

[canadiandisneymommy]

What about a love letter ceremony like this?

http://www.theweddingshoppe.ca/Love_Letter_Ceremony_Box_Set_p/ws9073.htm

 

[scrapquitler]

What are some wedding ceremony alternatives for the unity candle and sand pouring? I'm sure that as many different traditions and customs as we hear about for weddings and showers there are certain to be more possibilities. My daughter and son-in-law to be want to do something different in their December wedding but aren't sure what. We attended a wedding last week that had nothing of this sort and oh my gosh it was so short! Sub five minutes is too brief after all that preparation.

Penny

We had a full communion mass during our ceremony. It sure wasn't 5 minutes long.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

We didn't do either, there was a reading, and the vows. Our ceremony ended up being about 20 minutes, which is about all I wanted to stand up there for! We planned the ceremony, but really spent most of the preparation on the reception.

 

[pat fan]

How about a salt ceremony? My DN and her husband did this at their wedding. The gist of it is each one has salt and you pour them together and there is no way to seperate it, like a marriage should be. Based on old methods of money/trade when salt was used as money. Once you made the deal, the seller mixed the salt you gave with his. No refunds!

Her new DH was pretty funny. He shook the jar vigorously to make sure she's not going anywhere!

 

[NewRVLady]

My son & wife are big foodies and both from very distinct Backgrounds (French & Italian)-they had a Spice ceremony (like the sand, I guess)
each parent had a spice as did the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
The Jr Bridesmida collected them as her Best friend read the symbolism of each-it was nice
(This was a Garden wedding -not a Church wedding)

 

[tinatark]

Our friends did a cross sculpture - it's on Amazon.

 

[kimblebee]

Who cares if it's five minutes? It's the end result that counts, not all the pomp.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Who cares if it's five minutes? It's the end result that counts, not all the pomp.

I agree. Like Scrapquitler, we had a communion mass for our wedding, so our wedding was about an hour--without any type of "Unity candle" (our Parish specifically stated they would not do unity candles)
If there is something that is important to your specific beliefs to include in your wedding ceremony, by all means include it. But I find it odd that one would seek out irrelevant acts/ceremonies just to make a wedding longer.

 

[dbrn]

We considered this hand ceremony when we got married, http://bridalmusings.com/2011/06/ceremony-reading-blessing-of-the-hands/. Instead, we decided to have a communion mass,and our first act as husband and wife was to serve communion to our guests. Very meaningful for us, and I'm glad we chose to do that.

 

[dbrn]

Here's something we did differently. Not a ceremony, just not usually seen. I thought it would be nice for him to escort his mother down the aisle. We ended up having ushers walk the mothers halfway down the aisle, and my husband met them and escorted each of them the rest of the way to their seats. His mother appreciated it, and we received several comments that people had never seen that done before and they thought it was a nice idea.

We were going to greet each pew of guests at their pew so people didn't have to wait in a long receiving line, but we ended up not doing that. I think that's a nice thing to do though, and I've only seen that once or twice.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Thanks for the ideas. I'm passing them along to the bride and groom. As to why five minutes (or even less) seems short - well just that, it was SHORT! We attended a wedding on each of the past two Saturdays and the one where they did nothing but say a prayer and exchange vows was over before you knew it. While they do not want to be up there for half an hour they do want to do something meaningful. Our Church and God are very important in our lives and right now they are leaning toward having a short worship service during the wedding. Thanks again.

Penny

 

[Paradise18]

I was also going to mention the love letter suggestion. My brother and SIL did this. It was explained by the minister that if times get tough they agree to open the box, open the wine and read the letters they wrote to each other to remember how they fell in love with the other. It was sweet.