Neat ideas for the Ceremony

Gtodd

Hey sisters! :]

First of all, I love this board! I'm so excited that TK finally has a Christian board!

Secondly, and mainly, what kinds of neat ideas do you guys have for your wedding ceremony? I have heard of the following so far:
-Cord-braiding ceremony = Couple braids a 3-stranded cord to represent the importance of having Christ in the center of their marriage (just heard of this one on this board, and I really like it!)
-Unity Candle/ Unity Sand
-Footwashing Ceremony
-Communion/ Lord's Supper
-Worship service/message shared during wedding (not familiar with this one, but like the idea)
-Hollow, glass Cross = Each guest receives a rock to pray a blessing over the couple's marriage, place rocks in a wooden-framed, hollow glass cross and fill it up for the couple to keep in their home

What other ideas? 

fpaemp2011

We are having the Unity Candle and a message during our ceremony. We don't know how it will be worded, but we know we want the gospel shared because we both have unsaved family members and friends who will be there. FI's dad is officiating, so I totally trust him with the wording, since he is the pastor. We're also having a "Covenant Wedding Ceremony." (You can find out more about this at www.covenantmarriage.com) It really focuses on the fact that marriage is a covenant, not a contract. We knew we didn't want to just do vows, rings, kiss, leave. The ceremony is structured the same as most Christian weddings, but at the end, we, our pastors, and our entire bridal party will sign a Covenant Certificate. We will also have pages available for our guests to sign after the ceremony (while they're waiting in the receiving line) to acknowledge that they will support our marriage with prayer. We're having "When I Say I Do" by Matthew West performed while we're signing the certificate. Sorry that was so long.

Edit: If you go to the website, you'll notice that the certificates are designed for only the couple, MOH, BM, and officiant to sign.  We did change this because we are blessed to have an entire bridal party that has supported us with prayer and practical support during our dating relationship and engagement, and wanted to include them, since many times it feels like the BMs & GMs are just "extras" up front.

mrb5000

We're doing a "Unity Cross" - see my post from a few days ago for details :-)

iamjoesgurl

After my Dad gave me away, the officiant asked the congregation:

Will you, the family and friends of Joe and Lisa, do all in your power to uphold their marriage in the years ahead, and will you promise to pray for them and encourage them so that they may fulfill the vows they are making today? 

The response of the congregation was: “We will”

aneresRN

I love the idea of the unity cross, and am probably going to incorporate it into our ceremony.

eagles347

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_christian-weddings_neat-ideas-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:464687ae-7bc1-4360-9aea-999e11f1e1adDiscussion:25d45916-38ba-49cb-9380-6f80215ee6ebPost:313b4ef3-dd9e-4ce3-bdc3-9c46ce3b200c">Re: Neat ideas for the Ceremony</a>:
[QUOTE]After my Dad gave me away, the officiant asked the congregation: Will you, the family and friends of Joe and Lisa, do all in your power to uphold their marriage in the years ahead, and will you promise to pray for them and encourage them so that they may fulfill the vows they are making today?   The response of the congregation was: “We will”
Posted by iamjoesgurl[/QUOTE]

I really like this idea. I will mention it to our officiant.

We also will do the Unity Cross.

ashley.lybrink

I'm planning on using sand for the unity portion of our ceremony. I've been researching this and just recently came across a neat twist on how I had seen it done before. Instead of just two smaller vases there are three (one with white sand and the other two in whatever other two colors you want to use). Then you have the larger vase that the sand is poured into. First, the officiant pours a solid layer of white sand (but doesn't use all of it) this is to represent Christ as the foundation of the marriage, and to show that we pledge to God, and ourselves that we will live in such a way that he continues to be the foundation of our lives. Maybe you could use the idea to ask the guests to pray for you at this part. Then the groom pours a layer of his sand then the bride a layer of hers (or you could alternate back and forth for a different effect) to represent themselves as individuals. Then they pour all three colors at the same time to represent them coming together as one (refer to Genesis where it talks about "one flesh").
I just thought this was such a neat way to give it a more personal and Christ centered focus than just simply pouring two different colors of sand.

missbrittany88

My sister/MOH found this great idea online for me. I wanted a creative alternative for a ringbearer's pillow. What we are doing is having the ring bearer carry a Bible. The rings (not our actual rings) will be attached to the ribbon bookmark. This will be the Bible which will be used for the ceremony readings, and it will also be the Bible we will use in our home.

Happy planning!

DramaGeek

We also did the covenant, but we did it in lieu of our guest book.  It's really beautiful, we framed it and it hangs in our home.  At the top are our vows, and we had a sign on the table that said something like "Please sign to show your support for our marriage."  It comes from a Quaker tradition.  This way, too, everyone signs, rather than one person for the whole family.  i love that we have my cousin's signature as a 9 year old!

We also did a unity candle, took communion together and signed our marriage certificate during the ceremony.