Need help with a ceremony

klkindy

Help!  My fiance and I are not really religious and don't really ascribe to any particular religion.  It seems like a lot of civil weddings do "unity candles" or that sand thing - and I just don't like either idea.  Has anyone done anything different that they really liked?  Or maybe some book/poem that you quoted in the opening/closing remarks?

Peavy

I recently attended a non-religious wedding where they just stuck to the basics.  There were no readings, no sand ceremony, nothing but pretty much "Do you?  I do."  The officiant may have said a few words, but I don't remember.  What I do remember is that it was a lovely ceremony, it got the job done, and they had a great party right afterwards.

Avion22

Really?  I've never seen the unity candle OR the sand done at a secular wedding ceremony.  Either way, these ceremonies are completely uneccessary, and if you ask me, redundant.   

Look on your local board for recommendations of officiants.  You can also try google, or your local courthouse might have a list of people.

[Deleted User]

We're siging the marriage cetificate because I'm legal-minded like that   None of those ceremoniesreally struck me as something I'd want to do either.

libby2483

We are doing a wine box ceremony rather than a unity candle or sand ceremony.  We got the wine box from Etsy, and we are filling it with a bottle of wine, two glasses, and sealed letters we are writing to each other.  Here is what our officiant is saying at the wedding to describe it to our guests.

Libby and Ryan have chosen as a couple to perform a Love Letter & Wine Box ceremony.  This box contains a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a love letter from each to the other. The letters describe the good qualities they find in one another, the reasons they fell in love, and their reasons for choosing to marry. The letters are sealed in individual envelopes and they have not seen what the other has written.

 Libby and Ryan, if you ever find your marriage enduring insurmountable hardships, you are to as a couple, open this box, sit and drink the wine together, then separate and read the letters you wrote to one another when you were united as a couple in marriage. By reading these love letters you will reflect upon the reasons you fell in love and chose to marry each other here today.  The hope is, however, that you will never have a reason to open this box. And if this is the case, you are to open this box to share and enjoy on your fifth wedding anniversary!

loca4pook

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_need-help-with-a-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:76065fda-2f92-4136-963f-cc764bb15912Post:44305af3-1a1b-492d-9a60-e490cd17dab4">Need help with a ceremony</a>:
[QUOTE]Help!  My fiance and I are not really religious and don't really ascribe to any particular religion.  It seems like a lot of civil weddings do "unity candles" or that sand thing - and I just don't like either idea.  Has anyone done anything different that they really liked?  Or maybe some book/poem that you quoted in the opening/closing remarks?
Posted by klkindy[/QUOTE]

I had a friend who they took two wines and made it "one" then they drank from it...not sure if you like that idea or not

hoffse

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_need-help-with-a-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:76065fda-2f92-4136-963f-cc764bb15912Post:d4bac759-2115-481d-b1b1-35df09a39757">Re: Need help with a ceremony</a>:
[QUOTE]About unity candles at "secular" ceremonies - my church doesn't allow them because they aren't part of the liturgy.  In fact, the only place I ever saw one was at a Presbyterian church.
Posted by RetreadBride[/QUOTE]

<div>This.  My church doesn't allow them either because they are outside the liturgy and are redundant.</div>

PrincessJas

I've attended a non-religious ceremony - the officiant had met with the couple multiple times and did a beautiful job of emphasizing what they meant to each other and how they were there to stand by each other and support each other through life, without bringin in any sort of "higher being".  So the order of the ceremony was just the same (traditional ceremony), but there was just no religion in it, and it worked really well.  

bgrjourney

we aren't religious but we are doing readings. Both our families are really big readers (as in books and what not) so we are asking for instance his mother our grandmothers etc to pick a passage from any book theyve ever read that they feel would be perfect for us at our weddings. Literature is beautiful and has very special meaning to the person who wrote it and those who read it. I just feel that this makes our wedding a bit more traditional and emphasises a part of who we are and what brings not only us but our familys together.