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Ceremonies within a Ceremony
 Ceremonies within a Ceremony
When your wedding ceremony puts you on a high, your special day will become for you, the most heavenly day on earth.
I believe that an elegant personalized well worded ceremony that reflects your values, your beliefs and your love for one another is classic, beautiful and timeless.
But in saying that, there are a number of ideas or ‘ceremonies within a ceremony’ that are becoming popular and work exceptionally well; some of these ideas I have listed below and following is an overview of each one:
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Writing Your Love Story
This is a lovely way in which to personalize your ceremony. We incorporate/weave your ‘love story’ into the introduction and as you know; all the world ‘loves a love story’. Your story can be the way you met, your first date; a good example of this is James & Talia’s wedding in the ‘Showcase’ section. [TOP]
Rose Ceremony – Mum’s
This is a personal moment between the Bride and her two Mum’s, however, both the Bride and Groom can give a rose to their Mum’s as it doesn’t have to be a gender girlie thing; nor is it just for Mum’s as
Stepmothers/Grandmothers/Godmothers can be involved as well.
Only you know whether the personalities and the relationships will support this public show of gratitude and affection. If the rose ceremony appeals to you, you can talk to me about my wording or you may wish to create your own ‘flower’ ceremony. [TOP]
 Rose Ceremony – Bride & Groom
Two long stemmed Roses required and the Celebrants words are:
Your gift to each other for your wedding today has been your wedding rings, which shall always be an outward demonstration of your vows of love and respect, and a public showing of your commitment to each other.
You now have the most honourable title which may exist between a man and a woman, the title of husband and wife. For your first gift, as husband and wife, that gift will be a single rose.
In the past, the rose was considered a symbol of love and a single rose always meant one thing and that is “I Love You". So it is appropriate that for your first gift as husband and wife, that gift should be a single rose.
Please exchange your first gift as husband and wife.
In one way it seems you have not done anything at all. Just a moment ago you were holding a single rose, and now you are still holding a single rose. In some ways a marriage ceremony is exactly like that. Tomorrow is going to seem no different than yesterday, but in fact today, you both have given and received one of the most valuable and precious gifts of life, one I hope you always remember, the gift of true and abiding love within the devotion of marriage.
(Bride) and (Groom), I would ask that on each anniversary of this truly wonderful occasion; you both give the gift of a single rose to each other as reminder of the significance of this day and a recommitment to your marriage and each other. [TOP]
Candle Ceremony
Both the bride and groom light a single marriage candle that burns throughout the ceremony. The candle is usually blown out after the marriage certificate has been signed. Which is much to photographers delight as this can make a great shot.
The words accompanying the lighting are; each year on your wedding anniversary, by re-lighting the candle you will be able to relive and remember the vows you have made here today.
A lovely touch to this part of the ceremony is to have two candles lit by two special people eg; Grandparents, Children of either partner, and handed to the Bride & Groom to light the marriage candle.
Candle/s of remembrance can be lit to acknowledge the memory of a loved face now missing from the family.
My thoughts from experience on candle lighting are: When the ceremony takes place inside or for cocktail hour ceremonies; candle/s can add a magic to the ambiance. However, candles lit outside during the day rarely remain burning even when placed inside hurricane lamps and this is sometimes seen by some (not by myself), as being unlucky. Apart from that, the flame can not be seen and the ‘feel good’ prettiness of the candle is lost. [TOP]
Balloon Release
Although releasing helium balloons sounds more akin to a child’s birthday party than a wedding ceremony, coloured balloons released on mass at the conclusion of a ceremony can create a stunning effect.
When considering balloons, I think a nice touch is having 2 larger balloons tied together by the bride and groom and released moments before the guests release theirs, or having balloons for the bride and groom only.
I have a lovely verse that goes along with the release of the balloons by the Bride and Groom. [TOP]
Wedding Music
If your walk-in music has been selected by you because it is ‘your song’ or it is particularly special to you, then we can down load the words and weave them through your ceremony. To give you the vision an example is: one bride wore a stunning red gown and walked into Chris De Burgh’s song ‘Lady in Red’.
We opened the ceremony with the first verse, the groom used part of a verse for his vows and I adapted and turned the last verse into a toast for them.
Often the words of a song, with a little tweaking, make for a great original reading. [TOP]
Handfasting
Following is an overview of how the ‘handfasting’ ceremony is introduced into a ceremony. The wording for the ‘handfasting’ ceremony, like any of the ideas, can be changed to suit individual personalities and or wishes.
This ceremony has been selected by ……… and ……… because they wanted their ceremony to be a personal reflection of who they are and what they believe in. This is a ceremony written from the heart, some parts will be familiar, and another section maybe not so familiar and that section is ‘Hand-fasting’.
The tradition of ‘hand-fasting’ dates back to the 18 century. It was a custom that when originally practiced it was simply for marriage practiced in part due to the absence of any clergy, something between betrothal and common-law marriage. It allowed the couple to be married for a period of 1 year and 1 day – 13 moon cycles. If the marriage was successful they could then find a priest to marry them, or renew the ceremony for a further year and one day. However, in some countries the ‘hand-fasting’ ceremony became legitimate, legal and binding. In-fact ‘hand-fasting’ remained legal in Scotland until 1939.
The fasting cord was tied at the beginning of the ceremony, when cut, the knots were left in place and this was kept as a keep-sake and evidence of their marriage.
In some cultures the cord is not cut until the marriage has been physically consummated, but I can assure you that will not be the case, today.
Our cord consists of 4 colours; (example only as any colour or colour combinations can be used)
White - for purity of love, peace, sincerity and devotion
Gold - for unity, prosperity, and longevity
Lilac - for understanding, patience and the aliening of their souls
Ebony - for courage, strength and depth of conviction to each other
…………. and ………….., like the cord that will now bind you, let the strength of your wills bind you together, and let the power of your love and desire make you happy and the strength of your dedication make you inseparable.
I ask that ……’s Mum …. tie the cord and let the silken ribbon close entwine, two hearts in love together. [TOP]
Hands Ceremony
Celebrants words are: ………….. please face …………….. and hold his hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you.
♥ These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love. These hands are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to love you all the days of his life.
♥ These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams.
There are a number of affirmations available to be added to the examples given above and below…….
……………. please hold ……………’s hands, palms up, where you may see the gift that they are to you.
♥ These are the hands of your best friend, smooth young and carefree.
♥ These hands are holding yours on your wedding day, as she pledges her love and commitment to you all the days of her life.
…………… and ………….. together as a team, everything you wish for can be realised.
God bless these hands you see before you this day.
May they always be held by one another.
Give them the strength to hold on during the storms of stress.
Keep them tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love.
Amen. [TOP]
Sixpence in the Shoe
The Tradition of the Sixpence
When a brief overview of a tradition precedes a particular ceremony, as in ‘Handfasting’, I have found guests comment to me on how they enjoyed the ceremony as they understood the sentiments behind the words. The following words are those I have used when incorporating the sixpence ceremony however these words, like any of the options can be changed or tweaked to suit.
“According to tradition, during the early 1600's the Lord of the Manor presented a sixpence to the bride as a wedding gift and placed it in her left shoe. Toward the end of the 1700th century, it became the custom for the bride's parents to place the sixpence in their daughters left shoe as a dowry gift to the groom.
As we don’t have a Lord of the Manor at hand, we will ask the Best-man to perform this duty for us and I ask the Brides Father to give the equivalent of a sixpence, to the Best-man.
I ask now that our Best-man please place the coin in the Bride’s left shoe and today the coin will represent our best wishes for health, wealth and happiness.”
However, just one word of advice, if you are contemplating this ceremony, the bride has to be wearing suitable footwear as the tradition loses something as well as the coin, if she’s wearing sandal type footwear. [TOP]
Butterfly’s
Apparently American Indians believed that butterflies were magical creatures that could carry wishes to heaven on their wings. As butterflies are silent, your secrets and your wishes could not be shared with, or told to anyone.
So the idea is that your vows and secret wishes are taken to heaven to be granted on the wings of the butterflies released at the conclusion of your ceremony.
How it works
It's very simple. Your live butterflies are sent to you to arrive the day before the wedding. The butterflies are delivered in specially tailored wedding packages, small envelopes. You are advised to keep them in the fridge as the natural dark and cool condition keeps the butterflies in a comfortable resting state until the day of release. The butterflies come to you fed and content, so they require no special attention. Once the packages are opened at the wedding the natural heat and light will awaken these sleeping beauties and inspire them to take flight.
Celebrant’s words: As a gift to his human children the Great Spirit created butterflies. Once he gathered the most beautiful colours and he made them into butterflies. If you want a special wish to come true. Capture a butterfly and whisper your hearts desire to it. As butterflies make no sound, they cannot tell the wish to anyone but Him.
Being so colourful, the butterflies will easily be seen and the heart's prayers answered quickly.
Today ........... and ........... have chosen to keep this tradition by performing this unique form of Celebration. By making a wish and releasing the butterfly, it will be taken on the wings of love to the heavens and granted.
.......... and .........., softly whisper your wish eternal love and bliss, then carefully open the box and free the beautiful creature resting, inside. [TOP]
Wishes
‘Wishes’ This a nice way in which to involve your guests by having them write a ‘wish/thought/blessing’ (you select the wording) on a purpose designed card either given to the guests on their arrival or placed beside each table setting.
The idea behind ‘wishes’ is that your guests words can be put into your album along side their photo thus leaving their loving words and thoughts with you.
The card can be colour coordinated to your colour theme and gold, silver or coloured pens can add a deisgner look. You will need to have a receptacle in a prominent place in which the guests can each place their ‘wishes card’.
Or - if you own your own home you may like to use a tree, not a rose (for obvious reasons), maybe a fruit bearing or an Olive tree. Olives are symbolic of longevity as they are among the oldest known cultivated trees in the world and were growing before written language was invented. The olive trees on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem are reputed to be over 2000 years old and are still standing. With this history an Olive Tree is aptly suited to be used for this purpose.
If a tree is used, you will need to have attached a piece of ribbon to each of the cards so your guests can tie their wish to your tree. This tree then becomes your wedding wishes tree. Some couples actually bury the wishes when they plant the tree but most prefer to keep them with their wedding memorabilia. [TOP]
Wine Ceremony
I call the four parents forward and say; we are going to have a special ceremony here today, called the ‘Wine Ceremony’. This Ceremony is used to define the Circle of Life, Love and Marriage. It has a beginning, a middle and an end, and today we are going to follow the phases through.
This ceremony is symbolic of the merging and joining of both family’s and there is nice wording that goes along with this ceremony. [TOP]
Sand Ceremony
The idea of the ‘sand ceremony’ is that you have a neutral coloured sand and 2 different coloured sands that represent the bride and groom as individual people. During the ceremony the sands are layered into a glass receptacle and then the sands are merged together thus representing the merging of the bride & grooms lives together.
I have several different versions of the sand ceremony.
However one line from one of the of the sand ceremony versions that I particularly like is: ‘just as the grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be.’
This ceremony fits appropriately for a beach wedding. [TOP]
Shell Ceremony
This is a really cool ceremony that can obviously only be incorporated into a wedding ceremony if the wedding is taking place on a beach.
As your guests arrive they are given or chose a shell on which one word has been written, at the conclusion of the ceremony, the bride and groom and their guests make their way to the waters edge and with a wish/blessing/prayer; toss their shell into the water.
Note: you can buy small gold or silver shells and with a black marker you write words of love such as: passion, happiness, forgiveness, peace, fun, forever…………………….
On 2 shells the bride & grooms names are written; so the one with the brides name is given to the groom and likewise the grooms shell is given to the bride.
I have really lovely words that go along with the shells being tossed into the sea.... and photographers love it! [TOP]
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