Traditional Wedding Ceremonies: Familiar and Time-Honored

The traditional wedding ceremony is probably the kind of wedding ceremony that you are most familiar with.  Traditional weddings appear in movies and on TV and you’ve probably attended many of these weddings yourself.

A traditional wedding ceremony includes the following elements:

• A processional
• One or two readings - usually of a religious nature
• Exchanging vows
• Exchanging rings
• A blessing
• A formal declaration of marriage
• A recessional

I use these elements, but with a focus on the couple – their one of a kind love story, their beliefs, and their personalized promises.

I always defer to the wishes of the couple for the creation of their ceremony, nothing goes into your ceremony without your approval. 
 
Time-honored wedding ceremonies can be personalized by the addition of a host of additional options, many of which may be familiar to you:

Including rituals to represent the unity of marriage in your wedding is a beautiful way to symbolically commemorate the act of entering into the ceremony as an individual but departing as part of a couple bonded together in love. These include:

A unity candle or sand ceremony that demonstrates the two becoming one.

The sharing of a cup of wine or water, demonstrating that you now drink from the same vessel as partners for life. 

A hand fasting or a binding together of the hands, symbolized with a ribbon, cord, or cloth (this is how we get the expression "tying the knot.")

It is often your distinctive choice of unity rituals that transform your ceremony – creating something heartfelt and beautiful that will be remembered for years to come.

Aspects of conventional wedding ceremonies include rituals, readings, or symbols drawn from the cultures, traditions or religions that you as a couple identify with. All of these rituals are performed with respect and reverence.

Including cultural or religious rituals from your family heritage into your ceremony will bring your family closer together on your wedding day. These rituals can also reassure your family that you appreciate the cultural and spiritual foundation they gave you.

If you would like a wedding ceremony that recalls elements of all the wonderful varieties of traditional weddings you have seen, I can help you create the ceremony that best represents you.

A remembrance may also be included in your ceremony to honor someone’s absence from your ceremony. Acknowledging an important person’s absence (due to death or distance) can be a healing an meaningful element of your ceremony.