Unique Ceremonies

[proti007]

Thanks for posting! My FI and have been looking for something unique to add to our Symbolic Ceremony in Cabo!

[MRR16]

Love the hand ceremony. Thanks for the ideas.

[AfricanVenus]

For our ceremony, it is important to us to keep it straight spiritual and symbolic. We saw a beautiful ceremonial rite one that we wanted to add. It was a handwashing ceremony. The couple basically washed their hands in a bowl to symbolize the washing away of the past (whatever it may be: sins, mistakes, past relationships, hangups, etc) so that they can start their marriage a-fresh and spotless. We're going to do this in addition to taking Communion, which most know what that symbolizes. Getting excited just thinking about it!  I'm hoping the program will go something like this:

 

Opening Prayer

Giving Away of Bride

Pastor Blurb

Groom Song

Written Vows

Handwashing

Communion

Traditional Vows (?)

Pronouncement

Jump the Broom (?)

[cgeris]

I actually have been wondering what the hand ceremony was! Very cool!

Really excited to do the sand ceremony...thanks for the script!
 

Originally Posted by DreaW 

Thanks Christine for this thread....I love the hand ceremony

[cgeris]

I've never even heard of any of these! Thank you for posting!
 

Originally Posted by MikkiStreak 

Some of these might be listed elsewhere, but, oh well...


Salt Ceremony: Indian weddings often include a salt ceremony, where the bride passes a handful of salt to her groom without spilling any. He then passes it back to her and the exchange is repeated three times. She then performs the salt exchange with all the members of the groom's family, symbolizing her blending in with her new family.

Breaking Bread Ceremony: The bride and groom tear off pieces of bread, and then each eat a piece. Sometimes the bread is also shared with family and friends. It symbolizes their future as a family together.

Garland Ceremony or Lei Ceremony: The bride and groom exchange garlands of flowers. This is a common part of Indian weddings, where the ceremony is called varmala or jaimala, and represents a proposal by the bride and acceptance by the groom. It also represents their new unity, blessed by nature. In Hawaian weddings, the bride and groom typically exchange leis. The families may also exchange leis with the couple. Leis represent the love and respect you have for the person you are giving it to, and the unity of the new family.

Circling: In Eastern European ceremonies, the bride and groom circle the altar three times, which are their first steps together as husband and wife. In Hindu ceremonies, couples circle the fire seven times, sealing their bond. The unbroken circle represents the unbroken committment to each other.

Broom Jumping: An African-American tradition that has its roots in slavery times when slaves couldn't marry. Typically the family places the broom on the ground, and the bride and groom jump over it together. The broom can then decorate a place of honor in their home.

Lasso Ceremony: Lasso or rope is placed around the bride and groom's shoulders, usually by the officiant. Sometimes rosary beads, or orange flowers are used instead of rope. It can also be placed around the couple's necks, or wrists.

Celtic Oathing Stone: The couple holds or puts their hands on a stone during their vows to "set them in stone" (I also believe this is where this phrase comes from, or so the rumor goes)."

Truce Bell: A bell is rung on the wedding day, the happiest day of the couple's lives and then is placed in a central location in the home. If the couple starts to argue, one of them can ring the truce bell, reminding them both of that happiness and hopefully ending the disagreement quickly.

[cgeris]

No! My fiance's cousin did this at their wedding...it was cold outside and indoor wedding they did it with their wedding colors and it was actually pretty cool

Originally Posted by mnh1983 

Would it be weird to have a sand ceremony if I'm not getting married at the beach?

[AfricanVenus]

Here's another cool idea I found on this photog's website: unity painting!

[cougs]

takes a brave (or insane) woman to let paint get anywhere near her wedding dress! maybe i'm just saying that bc i am the world's messiest painter, but i thought having to ink my thumb to thumbprint my legal documents during the ceremony was bad enough!

 

and seriously, what if the painting came out like sh*t? (i mean, how good is it going to turn out unless you spend half your ceremony painting it? haha and then you would feel like you had to display it no matter what it looked like, because you painted it at your wedding. no thanks ... not for me, and i'm an artist! definitely different, tho!

[Little Princess]

I'd never heard of the sand ceremony until I was looking around this site. I didn't pay much attention to it for various reasons, but I was intruiged by this thread and took the time to read about it and I'm totally sold! Especially when it mentioned that it's possibly Native American, as my FI and his mom are in the process of joining the Cherokee tribe. I'm always looking for new and interesting things to do, I don't want the kind of wedding that "everyone" has and I've never ever seen that at a ceremony. It sounds so sweet Definitely going to convince the FI to have that at our symbolic ceremony

[AfricanVenus]

@cougs: I'm with you on that one. I thought it was cool though. Points for originality, but definitely concerned about that paint on the dress issue!