I’m asked time and time again, if I am available to do non-denominational wedding ceremonies. The request isn’t new, but what my potential couples are really asking is… Translated; “are you willing and able to perform a non-traditional wedding ceremony that isn’t my parents ceremony?” …and the answer is of course yes!
Ceremonies nowadays are so much different than in the past. Nothing has changed about ceremonies and yet everything has. In the past there was a very strict, traditional approach to the ceremony itself and pretty much the only deviation was using traditional vows or self-written ones.
Nowadays there is a definite “trend” if you will, towards creating a ceremony that is personal, individual, and shaped to meet the needs of a more modern attitude towards marriage and the ceremony itself.
More and more as I am performing these types of ceremonies I am intrigued, and excited about how couples are now beginning to look at the ceremony to be as creative and unique as the reception is (and has been). With each of these “newer” style of ceremonies that I’m involved in, I’m more inclined to suggest or offer this as an alternative for couples.
Each ceremony is reflective of who they are, what they are about, and also a way to have their guests be fully engaged during the ceremony…not just an “observer” who disconnects as the ceremony goes along (been there – done that). Guests of these weddings are really having fun with how their friends bring their own individual personalities into the ceremony itself.
As I sit with each couple and create their ceremony with them, including a new approach to writing their vows, you can see how they are invested and take ownership of the ceremony and all of its highlights.
The future of ceremonies is a wide open frontier that more and more couples are willing to look at and begin to create a ceremony that is theirs and theirs alone. It doesn’t get much better than being the Officiant/minister that gets to perform a ceremony that will be remembered for a long time by their friends and family along with a great reception.
