this is the code for the render ad
Wedding Customs & Traditions Forum

How hung up are most people on wedding traditions?

My fiance and I have some very good friends who have offered to officiate our ceremony.  We are honored that they would like to do it, and since we aren't members of a church it seems more fitting to us anyway to have friends officiate rather than a clergy member we don't really know, and more personal than having a JOP.  They are ordained already through the Universal Life Church, so the legality thing is taken care of.
My hangup is this.  They are a priest and priestess of Celtic Traditional Wicca, and they ceremony they are proposing for us is a traditional Wiccan handfasting.  Admittedly, it is a beautiful ceremony and I don't specifically disagree with anything they want to say or disapprove of their religion. I'm just not a Wiccan myself (nor is FI -- we're both somewhere in between agnostic, humanist and disinterested), and almost no one among our family or friends is familiar with paganism or the beliefs that go along with it.  In fact, our guests cover the spectrum from Catholic to Mormon, to Jewish, and pretty much everything in between.  I am worried that they might be upset attending this kind of wedding ceremony, considering it "evil" or at the very least weird.  What do you guys think?  How would you feel about attending a Wiccan handfasting?
So far, being a Gray is pretty awesome. image

Re: How hung up are most people on wedding traditions?

  • Handfasting was part of the Royal Wedding: http://wedeclectic.com/2012/05/29/handfasting-ceremonies/ Maybe include a description of what a handfasting is in the program?
  • You and FI should be the ones proposing ceremony types to your officiant, not the other way around (unless you ask for it). You can accept of reject that idea based on what you and FI believe. If that's the only type of ceremony they want to do and youre not on board, I would hire an officiant and ask them to attend as guests.
    *********************************************************************************

    image
  • Personally, I don't believe you should partake of a religious wedding ritual when you do not practice that faith. ETA: now as a guest, I have no problem attending ceremonies of other faiths and have actually been an attendant in a full Wiccan wedding ceremony complete with Circle and calling the Quarters.

    I completely agree with Stage here. It's inappropriate to perform a custom or ritual that is sacred to some, but not to you. I've attended ceremonies from all walks of life - it's always interesting and never upsetting. 
    image
  • Personally, I don't believe you should partake of a religious wedding ritual when you do not practice that faith. ETA: now as a guest, I have no problem attending ceremonies of other faiths and have actually been an attendant in a full Wiccan wedding ceremony complete with Circle and calling the Quarters.
    This. It is always inappropriate to have a wedding ceremony from a faith in which you do not believe, whether that is Roman Catholic or Wicca.
    image
  • I think you should find another ceremony other than handfasting. I say just have an open discussion with your officiant and see what other ideas you can come up with. 
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Did anyone notice this is a post from November 2011?
  • Did anyone notice this is a post from November 2011?

    Fuck. No, obviously I didn't. I hate this influx of zombie threads lately.

    I didn't think so. Lol this first comment poster had to have been digging deep to find a post from 2011!
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards