Category: Wedding Traditions

Why Go to a Wedding Expo?

8/6/2014

Twice a year here in Santa Rosa, CA there is a Wedding Expo. The next one is coming up on Sunday, September 21st.

The Expo is an opportunity for brides, their mothers and their bridesmaids to come to a single location to get ideas about almost everything one could want for a wedding. (Grooms are welcome to come, too!)

At the Expo you can taste cakes, wines and hors d'oeuvres, see the displays of various local wedding venues, look at gowns, talk to officiants and wedding coordinators, see samples of invitations, photography and wedding favors, and mingle with lots of other brides doing the same thing.

There are special drawings for prizes throughout the event, with a scavenger hunt identified with balloons throughout the venue, and a special "cake pull" that guarantees prizes to the first 500 brides. You can win all sorts of things. And it's fun!

One wild afternoon can stimulate lots of ideas and help you find out what you really want and don't want for your wedding and reception. In my book anything that makes your wedding planning more fun is wonderful!

I will be at the Expo, so come and see what I can offer you and your sweetheart. Look for my Weddings With Rev. Mary booth. We can check my calendar on the spot to see if I have your wedding date available.

I have free tickets to give away for this Wedding Expo! (normally $12 per person in advance and $15 at the door)
Contact me if you'd like to free entry tickets for your group.

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Should I Include Kids in My Wedding? (Part 1)

6/28/2014

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FLOWER GIRLS AND RING BEARERS
I was five years old when my oldest brother got married. I was the flower girl in the wedding.

What I remember about it now was the rehearsal, when the priest led me through my part, not the wedding itself.

If you’re including children as part of the wedding party, be sure they’re also included in the wedding rehearsal.

Children can be nervous about their roles, but, like the adults involved, it will soothe their worries to walk through their part the day before and to know where they will be, who will be helping them, and what they are expected to do.

Although couples usually choose children between ages 4 and 10 for these roles, I have seen younger kids do just fine, particularly if one of them is older and escorts the younger one down the aisle.

In nearly 30 years of performing weddings, I have only seen one meltdown. The ring bearer, who was about 3, had attended the rehearsal and done well, but the best man had not been at the rehearsal. The ring bearer was to walk down the aisle and stand just in front of the best man, but he took an instant dislike to him on the wedding day and refused to walk down the aisle.

His mom came to the rescue, scooping him up and bringing him and the pillow down the aisle. She handed the pillow to the best man, took her little guy and sat down. It was a memorable moment, but not one that actually disrupted the wedding. It was certainly something all the attendees will remember when they think of that day!

It’s fine to have the kids sit down with relatives in the front row once they have entered with the procession. The flower girl’s job is really completed after that, and the ring bearer can come forward when the ring exchange is about to take place, then return to his seat when it’s completed.

Couples in about half the weddings I do include a flower girl and a ring bearer. If your circle of family and friends is family-oriented, kids will be welcome in the ceremony and among the guests.

Other couples prefer an all-adult wedding, and so choose to have the best man and maid or matron of honor carry the rings to be exchanged. Both ways work well. The most important thing is that the choice you make fits you so that you will be able to remember your wedding day with warmth and fondness.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Should We Have Family Vows in the Wedding for Our Blended Family?

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Let Your Style Match You

4/11/2014

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Whether your natural inclination is to go formal with your wedding or very informal, the most important thing is that it feel like you to you. If it does, your friends and family will feel right at home. Your unique style helps put people at ease. They know that yours won't be a one-size-fits-all ceremony.

There are so many meaningful wedding traditions to choose from to incorporate into your ceremony. Some are ethnic or cultural, and others are universally appealing. You may think of something no one has done that you'd like to include in your ceremony.

The Celtic tradition might be appealing. If that's so for you, consider including a handfasting ceremony in your wedding. One couple with Scottish roots had a bagpiper at their ceremony.

African American tradition sometimes includes jumping the broom, while traditional ceremonies for those with roots in India includes the bride's hands being decorated with temporary henna tattoos before the wedding in a Mehndi ceremony.

One of my favorites to include is my own rose ceremony. And the Unity candle or the pouring of Unity sand to blend a family are both special ways of including the larger circle of family in your ceremony.

I just discovered the Salt Covenant, an old tradition that is being reestablished. And most of us are also familiar with the tradition of the groom breaking the glass by stamping on it to cries of, "Mazel tov!" in Jewish weddings.

The point is that there are many things you can include or create to personalize your own ceremony and make it a reflection of the two of you. I encourage you to consider these when thinking about what tradition or ritual will make your wedding special and meaningful for you.

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Why Go to a Wedding Expo?

Should I Include Kids in My Wedding? (Part 1)

Let Your Style Match You

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