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US couples spend an average of $20,000 on their weddings. Decorations are usually around 8% of the total wedding cost, averaging about $1,600. But wedding beach decorations can be less expensive if you plan well. Continue reading and you’ll learn how.

Finding decorations for your beach ceremony is a no-brainer, right? Maybe if you’re a creative genius. For the rest of us things can be a bit more complicated.

Follow these simple tips for creating chic, hassle-free beach decorations for your wedding.

Flooring

If you are planning a casual, barefoot wedding, forget about flooring. If however, you are planning a more formal ceremony, you’ll want flooring. Why? Without it, shoes will fill with sand, pants and dresses will become soiled, wet or torn and guests will have difficulty walking. Also, if any of your guests are elderly or infirm, you’ll want to provide chairs for them. Without flooring, chairs can easily sink into the sand and tip over.

Rental companies frequently offer flooring. Including set up, the typical cost is $3.50 – $4.00 per square foot.

Arches

Many styles of arches are available, probably as many as there are brides who would love a beach wedding. It’s easy to rent an arch but making your own is often cheaper. Begin with a metal or wood arch from a hobby shop or building supply store, then decorate it to suit your taste.

These two sophisticated types of arches are perfect as wedding beach decorations:

Tropical Arch: Start with your metal or wood arch and wrap palm or banana leaves around it. Add a big dash of color with tropical flowers like antherium, birds-of-paradise or heliconia. Hang a large seashell, starfish or other beach item from the peak and you’re done.

Chuppah arches: Often used in Jewish ceremonies, chuppahs are canopies made with a cloth or sheet supported by four poles. A chuppah provides an intimate ceremony and shade for the wedding couple. For additional appeal, use shorter poles and ask members of your wedding party to assist, with one holding each of the poles during your wedding.

Decorative Accessories

Here are five ideas to help you think outside the box and complete your wedding beach decorations inexpensively:

1. Use local flowers to line the aisle. If there are chairs on both sides, hang flowers from the chair backs or arms. If you don’t have chairs, make an aisle by putting palm fronds or banana leaves on the sand. Then add color by placing orchids or local flowers on top of the leaves.

2. Enhance your decorations with torches. Tiki torches are just what the doctor ordered to balance and harmonize your wedding beach decorations. Two rows of torches placed four feet apart can be used to create a natural aisle. If you already have an aisle, plant the torches randomly and light them to create a textbook tropical atmosphere. If your wedding takes place at dusk, all the better.

3. Ribbons are another spot-on accompaniment for beach weddings. Ribbons, fluttering and waving in the ocean breeze, are just the thing for setting off your celebration. Use pastel colors in pink, blue and coral. Make sure ribbons are well-secured so they don’t blow away.

4. If you scatter local items like starfish, seashells, coconuts and palm leaves throughout the area you’ll harmonize your wedding beach decorations with their setting. Make sure you don’t put any sharp items where guests might accidentally step on them and hurt themselves.

5. Boat oars, anchors and fishing net are also perfect elements for unifying your beach wedding theme. Borrow these from friends or nearby residents along the beach.

More Money Saving Ideas

Instead of buying expensive items like flooring, tables, chairs and other large items, it makes sense to rent them. If you want to buy them anyway, buy what’s on sale at warehouse clubs and hobby shops. Skip items that aren’t on sale.

Instead of buying or renting smaller decorations, borrow from family and friends. Someone you know probably has an arch, extra ribbon or sea shells they would be happy for you to use in your ceremony. Make a list of what you need and ask around.

Make some of your own beach decorations. Bows, signs, ribbons and those types of decorative items are easy to make, and making them yourself will save you money.

Use locally grown flowers whenever possible. They’re usually cheaper than flowers grown elsewhere. Another consideration is the limited shelf life that flowers have. If flowers aren’t sold quickly, within just a few days, they have to be thrown out. Ask local florists for special deals on flowers that need to be sold quickly.

Keep it simple. When you get married on a beach, the surroundings are the decorations. You don’t need much else. Include a few tasteful accessories and you’re home free.

Beach Wedding Magic is devoted to helping couples create their own magical on beach wedding. Visit BeachWeddingMagic.com for expert advice on wedding beach decorations, cakes, flowers, wedding planners and much more.

Now you can relax, because when you decided to have a beach wedding instead of a more traditional setting, you just may have made the best decision of your life. No mundane local event center wedding for you; instead, you’ll have a romantic, picturesque seaside wedding. Beach wedding planning can be more complicated than planning for a traditional ceremony, however, so you’ll want to simplify wherever you can.

How can you simplify planning your wedding on the beach? We’ve developed a practical five-point strategy to help you plan a magical ceremony on your wedding beach.

1. Realism is Important

Whether their location is a beautiful church or on a scenic beach, it takes a lot of time to plan and organize weddings. Beach weddings involve a lot of things, including finding the right beach, booking flights or other travel arrangements, organizing the flowers and food, choosing the perfect wedding dress, organizing the reception and more. You see the problem.

For maximum results with minimal stress, it’s best to begin your wedding planning process at least 12 months in advance. This will give you ample time to book hotels, buy airline tickets, arrange your wardrobe and mail invitations. It will also give your guests enough time to make their own travel plans.

2. Select Your Setting

Selecting a wedding beach for your ceremony should be done as early as possible in the planning process. Why? More popular wedding beach venues are booked well in advance and you don’t want to end up settling for a less than ideal spot. Also, the remainder of your preparation process (selecting caterers, photographers, florists, etc.) will hinge on your chosen location.

Once you make a decision on location, commit to it. It will make the rest of your planning much simpler and easier.

3. Anticipate the Weather

You really don’t need to worry about the weather with indoor weddings. Beach ceremonies, on the other hand, make weather a real factor. Rain on the day of your wedding might be unwanted, but you can deal with it if you are inside a church. A beach may not offer any type of shelter.

This means that you and everyone else at the ceremony may need to quickly decide whether to continue with the wedding or stop it. Because you can’t plan the weather on the beach, you need to anticipate it by arranging a backup location. The best way to do this is to make arrangements for the alternate site as soon as you choose your wedding beach. Your backup will give you a place to hide from the weather if it turns ugly.

4. Secure Your Service Providers Early

Another critical component of beach wedding planning is finding the most competent wedding service providers to work for you. The best service providers are booked well in advance and typically charge more for spur of the moment service requests.

Ask the staff of local hotels in the area for recommendations. Most will happily provide you with a list of reliable florists, photographers and other providers. Sometimes you can negotiate a better deal with wedding service providers by having a local business refer you.

5. Don’t Procrastinate on Paperwork

After you’ve selected the right beach location and you’ve lined up your wedding service providers, you can move on to completing paperwork. What paperwork do you need to worry about? If you are a US citizen and your wedding is in another country, you definitely will need a passport.

You’ll also need a marriage license (which typically requires a blood test), forms for the bride to complete if she wants to change her name, and for most venues, a permit to hold the ceremony on the beach. This paperwork isn’t difficult, but you don’t want to overlook anything.

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, create a wedding planning blueprint using these tips as a guideline. Follow your blueprint and you’ll be on your way to organizing a magical celebrations on your wedding beach.

BeachWeddingMagic is devoted to helping soon-to-be-married couples create their own magical on beach wedding. Visit BeachWeddingMagic.com for tips and advice on choosing the best wedding beach, decorations, flowers, clothing and much more.

A bride’s wedding might be the most romantic, breathtaking occasion she ever has. Few events rival the magic you feel while exchanging your marriage vows on a soft white-sand beach, with your closest friends and relatives surrounding you and a gentle ocean breeze whispering through your hair.

You can create an absolutely enchanting experience with a seaside wedding. Beach gowns come in a range of choices that can boggle the mind of a bride-to-be. Read on if you need a little guidance to narrow down your options.

A casual dress is appropriate for a beach wedding, which is usually more informal than an indoor wedding. Beach gowns can easily be found that are relaxed and understated, yet elegant. Take the season into account when you’re picking a dress for your wedding. Temperatures can vary dramatically from season to season, so it will be important to consider whether you will have a Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter wedding. Beach gowns for warmer climates should be constructed from lighter fabrics, but for cooler climates or an evening wedding, pick a slightly heavier fabric and add an appropriate wrap.

Beyond these basics, here are some additional tips to help you choose a gown or dress that’s chic and captivating:

Design

Your best bet is usually a shorter dress. Longer gowns, especially those with trains, can be damaged or become soiled or wet by sand, water, stones or sea shells on the wedding beach. Ankle length or shorter is best. If you want understated elegance, try a simple tea-length A-line dress. If your ceremony will occur on a boardwalk, concrete or other hard surface you can wear a longer sheath dress, but you’ll still want to avoid a train.

Match your shape

Here are a few ways you can match your dress to the shape of your body. If you wear a plus size, look for dresses that feature a lightly belted style. This will help define your waist and minimize the boxy look. A low-cut neckline will also help.

If you have a petite figure, a sash waist will give you the appearance of added height.

A fuller figure can become more elegant by wearing a tailored design that hugs your curves.

If you have a pear-shaped body, opt for a strapless or halter-style dress. The design will draw peoples’ eyes up and provide a more balanced appearance. Make sure your skirt doesn’t cling if you go in that direction.

A busty figure looks most attractive wearing a dress featuring a high scoop-neck and supportive straps. A one-shoulder design is fine too. Also consider a fabric with a smaller print if you have a bustier figure; these fabrics can make your breasts look smaller.

Fabric

Choose a breathable fabric that will allow you to feel comfortable through both the ceremony and the reception. Otherwise the heat can become stifling. Crepe, charmeuse, duchesse satin, damask, chiffon, batiste and illusion nets all work well. Stay away from brocade, embroidered or heavily sequined fabrics.

Choice of color

White and ivory are perennial favorites for a wedding. Beach dresses however, give you more flexibility with color. Darker colors that attract and hold heat can quickly become unbearable on a hot, muggy summer day. At the same time, darker colors give a more slimming effect to plus size figures. If you want to lean more toward the casual side, go for bright, primary colors. Tropical prints can also perfectly fit the beach theme of your wedding.

You can take a few risks with beach wedding gowns. Unless you’d rather keep your wedding more formal, it’s OK to be a little wild and crazy. Informal wedding dresses with bold, tropical prints fit the beach theme perfectly. Let your personality come through. The dress you wear on your wedding day should perfectly express your unique style.

Beach Wedding Magic is devoted to helping soon-to-be-married couples create their own magical on beach wedding. Visit BeachWeddingMagic.com for suggestions and how tos on wedding beach gowns, flowers, flowers, clothing and much more.

If you are beginning your beach wedding planning process, then you probably already know that finding the right venue for your celebration can make the difference between a dream wedding and one that is not so dreamy.

The venue you decide on will also govern how far you will need to travel and where to look for the florist, caterer, photographer and other people who will provide services at your wedding. Beach venues, especially in international destinations, can also require some additional paperwork for you and your guests.

Here are some tips to help you settle on a wedding beach that’s just right for your celebration:

Enter “beach wedding locations” into your favorite Internet search engine. Look for a hotel or other business in a desirable area that owns a private beach. The reason a private beach is preferable to a public beach is that you will usually need to obtain a permit in order to hold your ceremony on a public beach. Local agencies are happy to issue such permits, but regulations on many public beaches ban you from bringing chairs, erecting temporary structures (such as tents and awnings), consuming alcohol (such as champagne) or having floral arrangements.

No permit is needed to use a private beach as the setting for your ceremony, provided the owner gives permission for your wedding. Beach owners usually have more relaxed rules about what can be done on their property, so you will have more flexibility to set up and decorate your wedding beach however you like. If you need this kind of freedom, book your beach venue through a business that owns an exclusive section of beach. Hotels are likely candidates.

You should also decide how far you want to travel. Do you prefer getting married on the United States mainland, or are you also considering international destinations as well? When you are deciding how flexible you want to be about your travel, also consider any possible travel limitations your guests might have.

If you’re planning a seaside wedding in a foreign country, your guests will have to schedule time away from their jobs as well as set aside money for their travel costs. Depending on which country they live in, some of your guests might need tourist visas to reach your wedding’s location.

There is less chance that American citizens will need a tourist visa, but they still will be required to have a valid passport before being permitted to travel outside the US. The bottom line is that although selecting a wedding beach in a foreign country clearly can be worth the annoyance, you will have some additional hurdles to overcome.

Fortunately, the United States offers an abundance of spectacular locations for your seaside wedding. Beach venues in the US are located along hundreds of miles of coastline on the country’s mainland, or if you prefer, offshore within US territory.

The mainland offers a number of highly desirable wedding beach venues, including the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and San Diego, California. And Hawaii, far away from the US mainland in the Pacific Ocean, is simply one of the most breathtaking and accommodating wedding destinations you could find anywhere. It’s no wonder that hundreds of couples select Hawaii for their wedding celebration every year.

If you have your heart set on an even more far-flung destination, then there are plenty of stunning beaches around the world to choose from. Pristine beaches and plentiful beach wedding resources await you at coastal areas in Mexico, Greece, Barbados, Aruba and the Seychelles Islands. Most countries that are renowned for their beaches offer all the resources you need to turn your seaside wedding fantasy into reality.

These tips, along with the amount of money you can spend, can guide your decision about where you will have your wedding. Beach venues can be found almost everywhere, and finding the right one is a process that will be filled with exhilaration and anticipation.

Beach Wedding Magic is devoted to helping couples create their own magical on beach wedding. Visit BeachWeddingMagic.com for suggestions and advice on wedding beach venues, flowers, decorations, wedding planners and much more.

You want your beach wedding ceremony and reception to be a picture-perfect event where your family and friends come together to share your new-found joy.

It is essential to choose the right centerpieces since these will serve as the focal point of tables at your wedding. Beach centerpieces should be striking and natural-looking. They should blend seamlessly with the beach theme.

The four primary ingredients of wedding beach centerpieces are sand, glass, sea shells and flowers. These ingredients can be easily interchanged allowing for almost infinite centerpiece designs that are dazzling as well as practical.

Here are some tips for creating attention-grabbing centerpieces.

Playful Candles: This is the most basic and easiest design. Start with a small transparent glass vase – the kind sometimes used to shield candles from the wind. Fill the vase about 1/3 full with white sand. Place a lit candle on top of the sand, surround the vase with flower leis and sea shells and voila! You have classic table centerpieces for your wedding. Beach centerpieces like this one are delicate and pretty. They are also inexpensive and fun to make.

Tropical Flowers: To create a centerpiece that blends perfectly with beach surroundings, choose a larger vase heavily textured with a sandy, rocky surface. Balance the muted tone of the vase by filling it with zesty red antherium, hibiscus and birds of paradise flowers. Surround the flowers with palm or banana leaves. Add a few large shells and you have an elegant, “beachy” centerpiece to complement your reception.

Beach Buckets: For a more playful centerpiece, collect several small, brightly colored sand buckets (the kind designed for toddlers). Next, arrange a small pile of sand on the table. Place the bucket in the sand. Fill the bucket about one quarter full of sand. Place a small votive candle in the sand inside the bucket. Surround the bucket with small shells, starfish, seahorses and sand dollars. Light the candle and enjoy a gorgeous beach wedding centerpiece that only took you a few minutes to create! For an extra touch, add a few miniature rakes at each table so your guests can enjoy the serenity of their own tiny Zen garden.

Centerpiece Do’s and Don’ts: You might want some additional tips if your reception will be outdoors, in addition to the wedding. Beach sun can wilt flowers very quickly on a hot summer day, and those gentle beach breezes can sometimes become gusts that can blow out your candles at the wrong moment.

Fortunately, you can avoid this with some planning. If your centerpieces use candles, ensure that they’re well shielded. You can use something as simple as a glass to serve this purpose.

Choose flowers that will stand up to direct sunlight and high temperatures. For example, antherium, calla lilies, ginger and bird of paradise all do this well. An experienced florist can help you achieve the ideal balance between beauty and longevity.

Don’t buy any flowers until you tell your florist you plan to use them on an outdoor wedding beach. Ask your florist to give you one flower so you can test it. Put it in a vase and place it near the planned location of the reception. Keep an eye on it for several hours to see how well it does in the sun and heat.

Beach centerpieces that reflect your personal style can be created inexpensively by using these tips to blend the best flowers with sea shells, sand and glass.

BeachWeddingMagic helps soon-to-be-married couples create their own magical on beach wedding. Visit BeachWeddingMagic.com for suggestions and how tos on wedding beach centerpieces, decorations, flowers, wedding planners and much more.

Your marriage celebration and reception can be fun and exciting. When you include kids in your wedding, some wonderful things can happen. They may be included in all kinds of activities, special service, as Junior attendants, flower girls, ring bearer, or as guests.

Yes, children can be a pain. They can yell and scream and wiggle and fuss and on and on. kids who are expected to behave as adults have a big challenge and often become problems.

Ok, let us presume you are going to include little ones at least as guests to your wedding. What do you do with them?

Choice : Separate and Isolate. It is often quite easy to set up a separate room for infants, toddlers, and small children. You can recruit someone to take charge of the kids and care for them while their parents are participating in the wedding. Still, some parents will insist on keeping their babies with them.

Guide little ones into doing age appropriate things that are fun and engaging. Busy kids are content children. Remember, trouble comes when kids do not know what to do with themselves.

Consider a spectacular children’s event like a magic show, carnival, or guest entertainer. You can turn babysitting into a real event. The kids will always remember it. Of course, kids will get along fine with normal play time activities, but you might just make a big impact with your own spectacular children’s event.

A blended family may find it especially meaningful to include the children in responding to the pledges by adding an appropriate set of questions to the parents and then to the children. The children respond “I do”.

In the same way, couples with kids can use special event vows that include children. It is very easy for the Minister or couple to compose a few added lines of promise and commitment to the special event ceremony in which the little ones can repeat their commitments to the family.

The marriage celebration reception is a great place to involve children. Yes, some precautions may need to be made to protect them from inappropriate adult behaviors, but the reception should be a fun time. You may provide added supports for smaller kids like special coloring books and crayons on the table. You can also include children in the activities even the dancing. Think about a “child only” dance. Let the children take center stage. Everyone will love it. Make it a family event.

The key to including children is to include them. Nobody wants to be lift out, pushed aside, or ignored – not even children. Give them special duties and they will love every minute. Ask yourself, “What could the kids do to help?” The possibilities are huge if you give it some thought: errands, greeting, distribution, decorating

You may be caught completely off guard. You may not be expecting kids at your wedding. Then to your surprise, here comes a guest with two little kids in tow. What do you do? First, do not panic. Do not get upset. Relax. Parents should not bring kids unless they expect to care for the little ones themselves, however, it is a good idea to quietly ask one of your ushers to remain attentive to offer assistance as needed.

Inexpensive wedding resourcesare waiting now including sample wedding vows, idea articles, plus our wedding store with over 2600 wedding favors. For example find themes like Comical Wedding Vows and Wedding Vows That Include Children . Be sure to pick up your free ebook The Ultimate Wedding Resource Guide.

What makes the right wedding minister for your wedding? What qualifications do you want in your wedding minister?

Like any other professional, they are not all equal. There are clunkers, normal, and super star wedding ministers. Wedding ministers have personal characteristics that may be attractive or objectionable. Consider your wedding minister candidates. Look for qualities of professionalism, public speaking skills, sensitivity, listening, flexibility, and their priorities.

What does it matter? Anybody can perform a wedding, right? Maybe not.

Before you agree to employ a wedding minister, be sure they are fully authorized by your state. Some states have very restrictive rules on who may perform wedding, and you want to be sure.

What kind of wedding minister do you want? In most cases, the wedding minister represents a particular set of traditions, values, and teachings. If you are a Roman Catholic, you will probably prefer a Catholic Priest to officiate your wedding. If you are a Christian, a Christian minister may be desired. If you grew up as a Baptist, look for a Baptist minister. Avoid wedding minister who represent traditions and values that are in significant conflict with your own. The messages communicated by your wedding minister will reflect his background and allegiances.

To give order and familiarity, some ministers rigidly hold to pre written ceremonies. While this can leave the impression of a staid ceremony, the capable wedding minister can make the ceremony run smoothly and provide a meaningful service.

Or, you may want a minister who is highly flexible and willing to work with you. You may want a minister who encourages your creativity so your wedding ceremony can be truly personal.

In any case, your wedding minister is vital to a successful wedding ceremony. He can make or break your wedding. Not only does he talk, he is in charge. The wedding minister is responsible for organizing, managing, and facilitating your ceremony.

In a perfect world, the marriage and family values are communicated by your wedding minister in ways that are both meaningful and helpful. He is responsible to society and his religious traditions, but he should also express you’re the values to which you are committing yourselves. Use him as a resource to help you understand your commitments. Look to him for guidance and encouragement.

If you want a beautiful formal wedding, you will want a wedding minister with the professionalism and dignity to make it happen for you. If you want a more relaxed or informal wedding, you will want a wedding minister who helps people relax, perhaps adds a touch of informality or humor, and generally helps people feel good about themselves without rigid formalism.

Ultimately, you are in charge. You choose the wedding minister that will help you achieve your dream wedding. He manages the legalities, the traditions, and the coordination; but he does so in cooperation with the wedding couple. Together you can achieve the kind of wedding you really want with as much personalization as you wish.

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A bride stands beside her groom gazing into each other’s eyes. The minister instructs them one at a time, “Repeat after me.” The groom repeats his Christian Special Event Vows and affirms his Christian pledges. The bride repeats her Special Event Christian Vows and affirms her Christian pledges. They may exchange rings, and the minister pronounces them to be husband and wife. This is the essence of a Christian wedding.

What exactly are Christian Nuptial Vows? These promises exchanged during the Weddingare considered Christian Special Event vows, but why? What makes the peculiarly Christian Nuptial Vows?

These Christian Wedding Commitments express promises from between the bride and groom which form the basis of their marriage relationship. If they are officiated over by an ordained Christian minister, then perhaps that would make them Christian WeddingVows, but there is more than that.

The history behind Christian Nuptial Vows is quite interesting. A quick glance at American History reveals the dominance of the Church of England or Episcopal Church as it came to be known. The structure and format of Christian Wedding Promises can be traced back to these religious traditions regardless of their contemporary variations.

Christian Special Event Promises then are promises made between couples that express the values and traditions of Christian churches of all different denominations including the Roman Catholic Church. Many churches, however, developed their own official versions reflective of their special traditions. For example you will find specific Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, or other denominational versions, but they may all be described as Christian Nuptial Vows.

The meaning of Christian Wedding Commitments focuses on the nature of marriage and the marriage relationship as described and defined in the Bible. These values and views emphasize the differences and similarities in the roles as well as the guiding principles that assure successful relationships.

This principles and values taught in the Bible are fundamental to the nature of marriage and emerge from this focuses Biblical view of marriage. It begins with man. God made him to be like Him. He implanted in man the creativity, the intellect, the will, and the responsibility to rule the world and take responsibility for causing the world to prosper, replenish, and develop. When God performed the first Special Event by joining Adam and Eve, he charges Adam with responsibility to lead, protect, provide for, and nurture his wife.

Protector, provider, and leader are the three most common words used to describe this appropriate role for the husband. He pledges to sacrifice his own interests in order to fulfill his responsibilities and obligations as a husband.

Then God made Eve from the side of Adam. The core teaching here is that woman is intended to be companion to man and a helpmate in the activities of life. She was never intended to be his slave, his toy, or his antagonist. The Biblical role of a wife is that of a helpmate to work alongside her husband. A noble wife is described by Solomon in the Song of Songs as more precious that rubies. She pledges her respect, her devotion, her cooperation, and her companionship. She has the special task of bearing children and nurturing them, but throughout the marriage relationship mutuality of effort, purpose, and mission are shared. Fundamentally, her pledge is to give herself freely willingly sacrificing her own desires for the benefit of her family.

Today there are many variations of Christian WeddingVows, but the elements that make them Christian Nuptial Commitments include officiating by an ordained minister or priest; reflecting the traditions of the church; and affirming the basic Biblical relationships of husband and wife.

Today, you can find great variety in Christian Special Event Vows; and you can embellish or write your own following the basic principles that make your promises Christian Special Event Vows.

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A wedding between two people although it can be religious, is also a legal contract that both partners agree too. Although the service may be quite lengthy and involved, it is not complete until the legal aspect is fulfilled. So although you may think the most important aspects are the religious requirements, or that the wedding ceremony readings are appropriate, the law requires that the couple sign the marriage certificate in front of witnesses before the marriage can be legally accepted. So the wedding ceremony decorations and wedding ceremony music, although important to many of us, are not essential!

Getting Married in a Church

Of course other wedding traditions can be much more complicated as soon as you look into different race, social classes and ethnic groups to name a few. Performed by a Christian priest or vicar, the Church ceremony continues to be top of the list as a venue. The traditional white wedding as we know it is really only a service that is popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and some other Commonwealth countries.

Double Weddings

A different type occasion often difficult to arrange is where two couples are married simultaneously; this often happens where a person has a brother or sister that decides to tie the knot at the same time and it is not unheard of for two brothers to marry two sisters this way.

Foreign Resort Weddings

You will probably already know of a couple that decided on a destination wedding and asked the guests to travel to where they were intending to honeymoon. Destination weddings automatically conjure up exotic countries but it could just as easily be a themed wedding in Las Vegas to qualify for that title. Wedding ceremony decorations are likely to suit the destination, or the theme, and wedding ceremony music can be selected for similar reasons.

Weekend Weddings

Two day or weekend weddings are a great way to extend the ceremony and festivities as an increasing number of people are finding out. Themed occasions can involve golf, hang-gliding, shooting or any type of venue you can imagine. Usually the accommodation for the guests is part of the package and often includes a Sunday lunch or something similar.

Getting Married Online

Still in the early stages of evolution is the internet wedding where the couple is married online; internet companies specializing in this type of ceremony are there to help you with your marriage. Marriages that are broadcast live online are also referred to as online weddings.

Civil Weddings

Civil weddings have to be carried out by a local justice of the peace, judge, even a mayor can carry out the ceremony and most places out side of a church will use one of these people. For people that elect this type of ceremony it is not important to them if God or religion is referred to in such a brief service. Often, this type of service will take place in a judge’s chambers, town or city hall or any other specially designated place.

I hope this has helped with your understanding of what a wedding is even though the information has been mainly based around Christian beliefs.

Set your wedding date? Then you’ll probably be wanting material on wedding ceremony music as well as wedding ceremony decorations and may even want to write your own wedding vows.

The music sounds, and heads turn. Down the aisle come the bridesmaids one by one.

The wedding ceremony contains many traditions and formalities. While there are many variations, the wedding ceremony has many common elements. The essentials include pledges and vows. The pledges are what we call the “I dos”, while the vows are the statements verbalized between the bride and groom.

Each attendant makes their way to the front of the assembly and position themselves ladies to the left and men to the right of the Minister.

The procession sounds for the entry of the Bride. She and her Father proceed down the aisle. The entire audience stands and turns to see the Bride enter. As they reach the front, the Bride’s veil is lifted. Father kisses the Bride, and joins the couple’s hands. The Minister asks and Father responds, “I do.” He withdraws to his seat.

The Minister greets the wedding couple, and begins his wedding sermon. “Friends, family, and guests welcome to this sacred event. We have come to witness the joining of Groom’s Name and Bride’s Name in marriage. He reads from Biblical selections, poetry, or other suitable materials. He talks about the nature of marriage and the fundamental commitments between bride and groom. He stresses values of self sacrifice, giving, loyalty, and faithfulness.

Following his wedding sermon; a soloist steps forward to present a vocal solo. The special music enhances the ceremony with special emphasis on the wedding values and motivations.

The Minister asks the groom to make his commitments to God and society. He asks, “Do you in the presence of Almighty God promise to love, honor, and protect Bride’s Name; to be true to her and forsaking all others to keep yourself only onto her as long as you both shall live?” To which the Groom responds, “I do”.

Questions are then directed to the Bride. “Do you in the presence of Almighty God promise to love, honor, and respect Groom’s Name; to be true to him and forsaking all others to keep yourself only onto him as long as you both shall live?” To which the Bride responds, “I do”.

The Minister continues, “Since you declare this to be your intention, will you now repeat your vows to each other.”

Turning to face each other, the couple prepares to repeat their vow. They hold hands and look lovingly into each other’s eyes.

The Groom repeats his vows, “Bride’s Name, I love you. I give you my name, my treasures, my hopes, my life, all that I own and all that I am. I promise to provide for you and protect you. I promise to listen to you, care for you, encourage you, and keep myself only for you. I pledge my faithfulness and my love for the rest of my life. I love you.”

The Bride declares her vows, “Groom’s Name, I love you. I give you my heart, my hopes and dreams, and my life. I promise to honor and respect you as you lead our home. I accept your love and will keep myself only for you for the rest of my life. I love you.”

The wedding ceremony proceeds with exchange of wedding rings, a unity candle ceremony, and other enhancements as planned. The Minister offers a prayer of blessing over the wedding union and marriage. Finally, the Minister declares the couple married and the couple kiss to complete the wedding ceremony.

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