E. Some Wedding Planning Ideas

1. Traditional elements in a wedding service:

Pre-service music (seating of guests, family members)

Processional music ( as minister and attendants, and then the bride, enter)

Welcome/giving of bride ritual

Music and Meditation

Vows, exchange of rings, and/or lighting of unity candle rituals

Pronouncing couple officially married, followed by kiss

Presentation of couple as husband and wife

Recessional

2. Two Sample Wedding Vows

a.  Jane, will you take John to be your husband to live together in the covenant of marriage? And will you love him, nurture him, be loyal to him in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?  I Will.

    John, will you take Jane to be your wife to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, nurture her, be loyal to her in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?  I Will.

   Will all of you celebrating with Jane and John the joy of their marriage, and witnessing their promises, do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their covenant? If so, then answer: We Will.  WeWill.

b. John, do you, with God as your witness, offer the gift of your life and your love, in sacred trust, to Jane to be her faithful husband?   I Do.

   Jane, do you, with God as your witness, offer the gift of your life and your love, in sacred trust, to John to be his faithful wife?   I Do.

     And now, to you both, Do you covenant together under God, to continue to love, honor and cherish each other, in joy and in sorrow, in poverty and in prosperity, in sickness and in health? And do you promise to be faithful to each other alone, as long as you both shall live?  We do/ We do.

     Because of the covenant you have made before God and these witnesses, and by the authority of Christ and His church, we pronounce you husband and wife, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. What God has joined together, let no one separate.

3. Some Innovative Wedding Ideas

 • Have the wedding held as a part of a congregation’s weekly worship service, with every member participating and adding their blessings.

 • The groom and bride each enter with their respective parents, then symbolically “leave father and mother” and join each other at the front of the church.

• Each guest or guest family has a picture taken as they arrive, then fill out a 3x5 card with their name and with words of blessing--all of which goes into a memory book for the couple.

 • Instead of only the bride being “given away,” the minister asks, “Who gives this man and this woman in marriage?” Each set of parents respond with “We do.”

 • Bride and groom wash each others feet in the service as a sign of their commitment to serve each other.

 • Blessings for the couple are read by parents, grandparents and/or other friends and family members.

 • Guests provide food for the reception in the form of a potluck meal, or the congregation provides the reception dinner as a way of showing their support for a member of the congregation being married.

• If wedding is held outdoors or in a setting in which chairs are used for seating, have guests seated in the round or in a semicircle surrounding the couple.

• For a summer wedding, have guests bring flower arrangements for the wedding and/or reception.

• Have a power point slide show of the bride and groom’s growing up years shown before the service, accompanied by the couple's favorite music.

 • The bride and groom present a single rose to each set of parents before the ceremony.

 • After the ceremony the bride and groom serve as “ushers,” stand at the end of each pew (or row of chairs) to greet and thank guests as they leave for the reception.

• For an evening wedding give each guest a single candle (protected by a drip catcher!), and at the end of the ceremony, have the lights turned off except for a single candle at the front which the bride and groom use to light their candle. The couple then take this candle to the end of each aisle and have each guest light the person’s candle next to them. This can be done in complete silence or with appropriate music in the background.