The Ceremony
The ceremony is what will take you from being an engaged couple to being a married couple. Therefore, the place you choose for your ceremony can be as unique as the two of you.
It could be a church, cathedral, chapel or temple. Other choices include a hall, country club, hotel, restaurant, garden, your home, or judge's chambers. Some have their ceremony and reception at the same location. The ceremony site should have some special significance for you both. Whichever site you choose, it should be able to comfortably accommodate the number of guests you plan to invite.
When choosing a date, consider weather conditions, family commitments and local events and celebrations.
If you will be married by a member of the clergy, be sure to contact him or her early to discuss how your own special wishes can be combined with ceremonial rites to make your ceremony personal and meaningful to you and your fiancé. Some like the traditional Unity Candle Ceremony, some may prefer a Sand Ceremony, or some may even do a Dirt Ceremony. Others may even like to write their own vows. If you are considering writing your own vows, you should CLICK HERE to see what help is available for that.
Be sure to ask about the facility's wedding policies. Many churches and other sites where weddings regularly occur may provide you with a wedding policy booklet. If there are any restrictions in regards to decorations, music, photography, or videography, be sure to let your wedding vendors know.
HOW TO RUN A CEREMONY
The proper order for special guests to be seated is as follows:
General special guests
Grandmothers of the bride and groom
Groom's mother
Bride’s mother
Ushers typically seat these guests, there are a few different ways people do this. Depending on how large your “guests to be seated” to your wedding party (groomsmen), they may seat your special guests, grandmothers and parents. The women are the ones typically escorted. How this would work is if they have a spouse or companion then the woman would be escorted by the usher while the spouse or companion is following behind them. The Groom usually seats his mother with his father following behind them. After doing so they may stay up at the front in their positions for the ceremony or go back and walk the bridesmaids down the aisle.
Some may use others to be ushers than their groomsmen (or may not have groomsmen at all), close family like brothers or cousins or good friends. While Others may have no one escort them down, the special guests walk with their spouses or companions, grandparents together (if widowed then alone), and parents with spouses or companions.
Seating for a ceremony traditionally is the Bride’s guests on the left and the Groom’s on the right (It would be the right and left of the guests). This could depend on guests invited, if the Bride invited more or the Groom invited more. Some may reserve the first few pews for close family and friends, so the right and left apply to them and the rest is open to anyone. Some brides also decide to have their family on the right and the groom's family on the left so that her family and friends can see her face because when the bride and groom are facing each other (which is through most of the ceremony) her back would be to her family and friends if seating is done traditionally.
After the special guests have been seated then it is time for the wedding party to enter. Decide weather you want your groomsmen and bridesmaids to walk together or if you want the groomsmen at the front in position with the groom.
If the Groomsmen and Bridesmaids walk together they will walk in the order as they stand next to the bride and groom. So first would be Maid of Honor and Best man, they will walk to the front then split and take their places. Next will be the next set of Bridesmaid and Groomsmen and so on and so forth. If the Bridesmaids will be walking alone then they will still enter in the same order just alone (on the way out they will be walking with the groomsmen).
Next will be our ring bearer(s) and flower girl(s). You can have your ring bearer(s) walk in then the flower girl to follow or have them walk together (if they are young it may be more comfortable for them to walk together).
Last is our Bride! Traditionally, the Bride is escorted by her father but some may walk alone due to many circumstances. If her parents are divorced and she has a stepfather who she is close with and doesn’t want to choose or if he father has passed away or any other reason. Others may walk with their fathers because it’s her father and some may walk with both. It would depend on the Bride and what she feels most comfortable with since it is her day.
After the ceremony and the Bride and Groom are now husband and wife they are the first to walk out. The wedding party would leave in the order in which they walked in, so Maid of Honor with Best Man, next set of Bridesmaid and Groomsmen and so on and so forth all the way to ring bearer(s) and flower girl(s).
DEFINITIONS
The Unity Candle Ceremony symbolizes the pledge of unity between the bride and groom and the merging of two families. It usually occurs after the exchanging of rings and before the couple is pronounced husband and wife (sometimes it is done after this however).
Traditionally, there are three candles. The unity candle ceremony uses two taper candles and a large pillar candle (the unity candle). At the beginning of the wedding ceremony, the mothers of the bride and groom light the two taper candles. Later in the ceremony, the bride and groom will take the two candles and light the large pillar candle together. They may blow out their individual candles or leave them lit beside the central candle to symbolize that their individuality is not extinguished, even though they are united in marriage.
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The Unity Sand Ceremony is a novel alternative for the popular "Unity Candle Ceremony" incorporated into many of today's weddings. The essence is to symbolize the union of "two into one” much like the Unity Candle.
The Groom will commence by pouring a portion of sand into the central glass vase. The Bride will follow by pouring a portion of sand also into the central vase creating a layered effect. To complete the ceremony, the Groom and Bride simultaneously pour the balance of their sand into the central container (to make this process a little easier, create a funnel using decorative paper. Personalize the funnel by including names, date or even poetry that holds a special meaning for the Bride and Groom. (The central vase can be engraved with the Bride and Groom's monogram)). The co-mingling of the colored sand represents the joining of the Bride and Groom. Some may have children that they would like to invite to take part. The mixing of the various sand colors is a fitting way to symbolize the new Blended Family that will result from this union. Although there are no set guidelines for this ceremony, generally the sand is poured into the central vase in the following order:
Father, Mother, Children, Father and Mother together
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The Dirt Ceremony is another alternative to the popular “Unity Candle Ceremony” incorporated into many of today’s weddings. It is much like the sand ceremony but with dirt from both either birth places or places where the Bride and Groom grew up and feel their roots are. The essence is to symbolize the union of "two into one” much like the Unity Candle and Sand Ceremony but with a more personal touch.
The Groom will commence by pouring a portion of his dirt into the central glass vase. The Bride will follow by pouring a portion of her dirt also into the central vase creating a layered effect. To complete the ceremony, the Groom and Bride simultaneously pour the balance of their dirt into the central container (to make this process a little easier, create a funnel using decorative paper. Personalize the funnel by including names, date or even poetry that holds a special meaning for the Bride and Groom. (The central vase can be engraved with the Bride and Groom's monogram)). The co-mingling of the dirt represents the joining of the Bride and Groom with a more personal touch than sand that they had purchased.