- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
“Near and far, near and far
I am happy where you are”
– From the Tin Wedding Whistle by Ogden Nash
Our ceremony is something that I put a lot of time and thought into. I began very early searching websites for readings and knew I didn’t want a cookie cutter ceremony. I also didn’t want it steeped in religion as neither of us are particularly religious. Our minister gave us a typical ceremony that she uses and said we could modify it however we liked — add our own readings, include music, write our own vows — as long as it was “us” she was happy. Because she gave us so much freedom I think our 30 minute ceremony was really personal and touching. Everyone who greeted me afterwards commented on how lovely, how personal, how enjoyable the ceremony was.
And now — on with the pictures!
Last minute adjustment from a bridesmaid
My dad walking me down the isle — Photo: Daria Bishop
A dear friend singing “There Is No Greater Love” with our guitarist Brendan Burns.
One of my beautiful bridesmaids walking down the isle — great shot of the earrings and flowers
Exchanging rings
Reading my vows — getting a little emotional
You may now kiss the bride!
Yea, so happy!
Outside the church after the ceremony — getting ready for a group picture will all 45 of our guests!
For those of you who are working on your ceremony and program order, here is what appeared in our program (it was all lower case as was all our stationary — invitations, place cards, menus etc. Very e.e. cummings):
prelude
selected solo guitar music
processional
sleeper’s awake (wachet auf), bach
bride’s entrance
barcarolle from the tales of hoffmann, offenbach
introduction
minister
reading
marriage advice from 1886 by jane wells
read by mother of the groom
reading
tin wedding whistle by ogden nash
read by mother of the bride
homily
musical response
there is no greater love
by isham jones and marty symes
friend of the bride, vocal
brendan burns, guitar
declaration of intention
minister
pledge of support by family and friends
minister and the congregation
answer together “we do with joy!”
prayer
wedding vows
exchange of rings
musical interlude
“better together” by jack Johnson
blessing of the hands
announcement of marriage
apache blessing
recessional
“wouldn’t it be nice” by the beach boys
How did you plan your ceremony? Was it traditional an standard? Did you use non-religious readings? What poems did you choose? Did you write your own vows? The ceremony is possibly the most important part of your wedding — I’m sure other readers would be eager to hear your experiences.
Thank you for posting this - I definitely need some inspiration for my own ceremony. By the way, you look gorgeous - I especially love your dress and your makeup!
Thanks for sharing all this. Your ceremony looked beautiful. We are writing our own ceremony and the thought behind every part has been taking FOREVER. It has been both academic and spiritual.
So far we almost have the welcome/intent/pledge of support part figured out. This will be printed on our programs almost like a contract between us and our guests.
We are still deciding on readings but want a modern poem, Buddhist reading and Christian reading.
We may do a version of the Hands Blessing for our vows. We still are not sure if we’ll do a handfast with this.
We have the wording figured out for jumping the broom.
Then the pronouncement and KISSY TIME 
Thanks for posting this, Mrs. Onion. We’re working on our ceremony now and I’d love to hear what everyone else did and where they found examples, etc. I can’t believe we left the MOST important part of the wedding for 2 months before.
Beautiful!!!
I love-love-love that you walked out to “Wouldn’t it be nice”!
There were a lot of things we personalized over the course of the weekend, but the ceremony was straight-up Book of Common Prayer. Our readings were decidedly atypical, but other than that, right out of the book. That ended up being a huge comfort: we could take that half hour and not worry about it at all, because it was a time-tested, tried and true marriage ceremony.
We pored over my bonus mom’s books for suggestions and ended up taking bits and peices from different ceremonies and then added our own. The breakdown went…
Opening words of the Officiant (reason for gathering in case anyone was unclear :P)
Definition of Marriage (pieces from the “a good marriage is” poem)
Opening prayer
Vows
Exchange of Rings (and the ‘repeat after me’s)
Declaration of Marriage (on top of kissing, we added a handshake…something we do whenever we make a big decision)
Introduction of Newlyweds (Mr. and Mrs. _____ and ______ Last Name)
My favorite line from the whole ceremony is:
“I give you this ring from my heart to your hand.”
Get’s me every time. All in all it took 6 minutes.
I adore your dress! You look so great. I haven’t seen many brides pull off the short dress but yours is fab!
hey there fellow Burlingtonite!
I too live in Burlington and am getting married in 9 days!
Love your dress and you looked so refreshed and happy!
Congrats…I’m sure I see you downtown and don’t even know it
Hi - your hair & makeup looked wonderful!! I wanted to tell you this b/c I know you were having a difficult time with finding the right people! Congrats!
Congrats! I would love to share our ceremony, which was October 8, 2006.
We had a traditional Christian ceremony, but made it very personal. The bridesmaids’ song: “Theme from ‘Dreamer’”. My song: “Threads of Love” by Lorie Line - a beautiful piano song.
The elements of our ceremony:
-Welcome prayer
-Worship - 3 songs with a worship band made up of interns and students from the youth ministry I work with
-Message
-Vows - we wrote our own. We wrote them the same day we picked up our marriage license, sitting on a bench under a weeping willow tree. We wanted them to reflect the traditional vows yet be our own words, and also talk about raising children should God bless us with a family. The words meant a lot to us, and still do.
-Rings
-Sand ceremony (during which my matron of honor sand “I Don’t Want to Go”, originally performed by Avalon). We hadn’t seen this done before. It was symbolic - the sand in the base of the jar is from Half Moon Bay, where we first saw the ocean together, and symbolized Christ as our foundation. Then we took turns pouring brown and blue sand (our colors) individually to show how we are entering marriage as two separate people. Then we poured the remainder at the same time to symbolize coming together as one, and that we cannot be separated.
-We then left a chance for our friends and family to pray for us.
-There was a benediction and announcement of our marriae, then the traditional kiss
-Recessional: Casting Crown’s “Lifesong”
It was awesome, personal, and memorable. We also included the vows, description of the sand ceremony, our story, the description of the song we chose for our first dance (Steven Curtis Chapman’s “We Will Dance”), and all the worship songs in the program. It then became a nice keepsake for everyone.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Miss Onion, NYC/Burlington, VT Age and Occupation: 27, PR & Marketing and Jazz Singer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Data Analyst Engagement Date: April 2, 2006 Wedding Date: September 2007 Blogging Since: July 11, 2007 Venue: Restaurant in Burlington About Me: I didn't think I'd be "that girl," but I am having so much fun planning our wedding (mostly by myself). I'm a PR and Marketing Director for a major jazz festival and camp by day, and by night, a romantic jazz singer and bride-to-be! I hope all my research can help other brides in their planning.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Latest Gallery Pics