Wedding Help

With all the hubbub around your wedding planning, sometimes we just don’t think about some of the traditions or meanings behind the certain things were doing. It’s not really our fault, there really is a ton of stuff to work on when doing your wedding planning. But sometimes it’s important to know the traditions and why you do certain things the way you do in order to help make them more memorable for you. Take wedding rings for instance. Why do we give wedding rings in the first place, and why are they always worn on the left hand? Is there any kind of meaning behind them or is it just something to mark us as taken to the world around us? Here are some little known facts about wedding ring traditions to help you get a better idea  of the meaning and uses behind that wedding ring.

Are Wedding Rings Always Worn on the Left Hand?

No they’re not. And this was even a surprise to me when I was working on this article.

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Tags: engagement ring, wedding ring traditions, wedding rings

Depending on your culture or religion, you may have several different options when it comes to what kinds of wedding prayers will be offered during your wedding ceremony. Sometimes, the officiant offers some personal and improvised wedding prayers or a specially written wedding prayer calling for the long life and never ending love for the bride and groom.  Other wedding customs have the officiant or other person with a role in the wedding ceremony, such as a family member of the bride and groom reading wedding prayers from a special book. A couple may be able to look through the different wedding prayers available to them, such as in one of these special prayer books and choose a prayer for their marriage, or they may write their own wedding prayers and give them to the officiant to read during their wedding ceremony. Still other cultures and religions have the couple offering their own wedding prayers to the Lord for His  blessings and favor upon their new marriage. This is what my husband and I did in our wedding ceremony, and I would advise it to anyone.

Setting the Scene

My husband and I are Independent Baptists, and so doing something like this was never really dictated by our culture or religion.

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Tags: wedding prayer, wedding prayers

One tradition that is another major part of many different kinds of wedding ceremonies is the use of unity candles.  However, don’t let anyone fool you, the tradition of using unity candles does not date back hundreds of years, neither is it bad luck if you choose not to use a unity candle in your wedding ceremony. Typically found in Christian weddings, unity candles have only been showing up during the past few decades, not nearly as long as some of the other wedding traditions out there, such as a white wedding dress or using wedding rings. Unity candles can be distinguished by a large candle in the middle, and two thinner candles (called tapers) on either end. If you like the idea of using a unity candle, and are looking for ways to incorporate them into your wedding ceremony, then here are some of the main ways that couples use them.

Parents Lighting the Tapers

One way that many couples choose to do their unity candle is to have their parents light the tapers during the processional. Once they are escorted down the aisle, the mothers of the bride and groom  walk up to the altar and light a taper candle in honor of their son or daughter before taking their seat. The tapers stay lit throughout the ceremony, until the bride and groom light their unity candle. The bride and groom light their unity candle, each taking the taper that their mother lit, and together they light the larger candle in the middle.

Having the Tapers Already Lit

This is the way that my husband and I choose to do our unity candle. Instead of having our mothers come up and light the candles,  we had them lit before the service started. They stayed lit throughout the whole service, and when we lit the candle, it was a symbolism of two individuals becoming one in Christ. The only problem with this is that the tapers ended up staying lit for a long time, and some of the ribbons and decorations on the tapers actually ended up getting a little bit burnt.

Other Family Members Lighting the Tapers

Since there is no set way to do unity candles, you can really get creative with it. If you’ve been married before, you can have your children light the tapers on your unity candle, or perhaps have your grandparents light the unity candle along with your mother. Or perhaps you have a particular uncle or aunt you are particularly close to, any one of these people can light the tapers.

Unity Candle Alternatives

If unity candles aren’t really your cup of tea, then there are some great alternatives to unity candles that you can do.  A sand ceremony is getting pretty popular, with couples using different colors of sand and pouring them into a vase that they can keep as a decoration later.  There are also rose ceremonies, water ceremonies, and much more.

Unity candles are a great visual example of the idea of marriage. Two individuals becoming one through marriage, with different personalities, strengths and weaknesses. If you have any comments on unity candles, be sure to write in and let me know.

Tags: sand ceremony, unity candle, unity candles, Wedding Ceremony, Wedding Traditions

One wedding tradition that seems to be an underlying theme in all weddings, no matter the religion or country, is to have some kind of a wedding prayer, or many different wedding prayers at different times during your wedding ceremony. A wedding prayer can be performed by your minister, or person performing the wedding ceremony, by a family member, or other spiritual adviser with whom you are close. There is no set number of different kinds of wedding prayer that you will be held to, I believe our wedding had three or four different prayers, including a time when my husband and I knelt at a prayer bench to pray. The different kinds of wedding prayer are meant to ask God’s blessing and His presence during the service.  Typically, there are two different times during your wedding ceremony when a prayer will be offered. To help you have some idea of the typical kinds of wedding prayer found in a wedding ceremony, here is a little guide to help you out.

The Invocation Wedding Prayer 

The invocation is the first kind of wedding prayer that will be offered. It is typically done by the minister, and is meant to “invoke” or ask God’s presence in the service. Also, it is asking the Lord to bless the service that is about to begin. Your minister should have a prayer that he typically uses for weddings, so you shouldn’t need to worry about it.  If you like, you can ask your minister what he usually says. When we sat down with our pastor to go over the order of the ceremony, he explained what he would be asking for in each prayer so that we understood how the service would flow together. It was really helpful.

The Second Wedding Prayer

So I didn’t know what to call the second wedding prayer, so I’ve aptly named it the second one. The second wedding prayer is typically done after the wedding vows and the rings have been exchanged. It is asking God’s blessing and care on the couple as they start their new lives together - and strength to make it through the hard times. This prayer can be done by the minister, or by a family member or person close to the bride and groom.

Other Wedding Prayers

There are several places you can insert other wedding prayers into your wedding ceremony. As I mentioned before, my husband and I had a prayer bench where we knelt to pray after the unity candle.  Also, we had a close family member come and read scripture during our wedding ceremony, and say a short sermon about marriage. Then, after he was finished speaking, he said another wedding prayer asking the Lord to bless our marriage.

A wedding prayer is an important aspect of your wedding ceremony. Not only is it a wedding tradition that has been around for generations, but a time of asking God’s blessings on your lives together in your marriage.  Hope this little guide to the different wedding prayers has helped.

Tags: invocation, Wedding Ceremony, wedding prayer, wedding prayers

Weddings traditionally take place in churches,with the bride in a big white dress and the groom in a black or white tuxedo. Brides have worn white for as far back as I can find, and a white wedding dress symbolizes more than just a bride on her wedding day, as I’ll explain in more detail below. Nevertheless, a lot of brides of prefers today daring more colors, and are starting to get away from the tradition that has carried us so far, see my article on nontraditional wedding dresses for more information. I had someone comment on one of my articles, asking about all the traditions in Christian weddings, and why they are what they are. So, to continue my series on wedding traditions explained, the following is why brides have always worn white dresses in Christian weddings.

The Color White

The color white has long been a symbol of happiness, purity, and yes, even virginity. White is a symbol of being untainted by the world, and Christian brides wanting to wear white should have kept themselves from all impurities as described in the Bible for being pure. You are presenting yourself to your husband as pure and undefiled from the world, and wearing white is a symbol of the purity of which you have kept yourself throughout your life.

The Bride of Christ

A bride wearing white is also a symbol of Christ’s relationship with His church. Many times in the Bible, Jesus refers to the church as the bride of Christ, and himself as the bridegroom. The church is a group of saved believers. Being saved, we as Christians are washed white as snow through the blood of Jesus Christ, being made pure (white) in the sight of God. The church presents themselves clean and pure from their sins in a lifetime partnership with God, much like the relationship of a man and wife. The bride of Christ has a personal relationship with God and a deep spiritual intimacy with Him, also symbolizing the relationship between a man and wife. We as Christians submit ourselves unto the Lord, and He cares for us.

The other article in this series is Why do we use Wedding Vows, and it is another interesting article for you to check out if you have questions. Wearing white is not simply a meaningless tradition that people follow. Wearing white should be an important part of your wedding. In my opinion, for Christians there should be no other color of wedding dress.

Tags: bride in white, wedding dress, white wedding dress