Seeing as we are going
to be spending the entire year bringing you Wedding Rituals/Traditions, I
wanted to tell you a little about why this was so important to us.
Across the world ceremonies or rituals are used
to define the more important stages of our lives and a wedding ceremony is the
perfect example of one of those stages being at the height of tradition and
formality.
From superstition and myth to etiquette, dress
and both ancient and modern rituals, wedding ceremonies are steeped in
tradition and symbolism.
Many cultures still actively practise ancient
traditions or may have adapted some to suit a more modern environment, but
nonetheless they still hold the same meaning and importance to those who
practise them.
While as a modern society we may have somewhat
moved away from some of the more outlandish rituals of stealing a bride away
from her family or slapping each other with fish for good luck, it has become
very ‘trendy’ of late to incorporate more of the common and meaningful
traditions into today’s wedding ceremony.
Adding a ritual to your ceremony can provide the
perfect opportunity to include all of your guests or even a select few whom you
really want to play a part. Including a ritual is also a great way of blending
families in a really unique way and allows wedding guests to actually see
something interesting and heart felt.
If you honestly sat down and thought about all
of the ceremonies that you have attended (and for me as a celebrant that is one
heck of a lot!) they can often all blend into a distant fond memory, but if the
couple did something that was unique, different or that evoked in you an
emotional response, then chances are this will be a ceremony that will stay
with you always.
For me, doing ceremony after ceremony every weekend
is a wonderful experience and opportunity to see people from all different
backgrounds, but officiating so many ceremonies often leaves them as a bit of a
blurr in my distant memory.
There are, however, probably 4 or 5 out of all
that I have done that have stuck with me as clear as if they were yesterday and
that was simply because they used a ritual or tradition that touched or
inspired me and because of that their exchange was etched in my mind forever.
One of these was something I hadn’t seen a
couple do before and it was called the ‘silent rose ceremony’.
As I stood with the groom at the front of the
assembled guests under a gorgeous flower lined gazebo, the music began playing
and the bride appeared at the end of the garden. She walked up slowly on her
brothers arm and when she reached the front of the group the groom walked
forward and joined her, taking her arm.
Together they walked over to his mother first,
and silently handed her a single gorgeous white rose. Nothing was said, they just
each kissed her cheek and embraced her and then walked silently over to the
bride’s mother and did the same to her. As the mothers were each unaware that
this was going to take place they were both sobbing gorgeously and I think
every guest including myself had a tear in their eye. The bride and groom then
walked back to stand before me and the ceremony began. It was truly one of the
most beautiful things I had ever seen done and yet so simple.
I’m not saying that including a ritual or
tradition in your ceremony is right for everyone, but if you can find something
that suits who you are then you should absolutely go for it. Make sure your
ceremony is one that will be etched in your guests memories forever.
For inspiring ideas, don’t forget to look out
for our ’52 Rituals/Traditions in 52 Weeks’
The wedding gurus
