Weddingbee Blog

In our initial meeting with our officiant, she asked us a series of questions so she could learn a little bit about us to help her customize our ceremony. There weren’t very many questions in that she learned how much Mr. Lox and I love wine. In fact, I would wager that it is our most prominent shared hobby. We frequent wine tastings and wine dinners. The owner of the best local wine shop knows us by name. We just really enjoy learning more about wine, and well, drinking it!

After figuring this out, she suggested we add a wine toast to our ceremony. A what now? I mean, that’s what we thought, at least. Please bear in mind, this is before wedding blog land entered my life. Right, so back to how this works. On a table near us during the ceremony, there will be a glass of red wine. At some point, the officiant will say something like this:

Mr. & Miss Lox, because you have pledged your love to one another through the exchange of vows and rings, it is appropriate on this joyous occasion that you make a toast—to life and love!

This wine represents the sweetness and bitterness of life. Throughout your lives, may you find life’s joys heightened, it’s bitterness sweetened and all things hallowed by true companionship and love. As you share the wine together from this cup, so too may you share joy and fulfillment from the cup of life. Drink now, and may the cup of your lives be sweet and full to overflowing!

So yeah. Is it a new idea? No. But it’s new to us and we’re happy to incorporate it into our ceremony. But that’s not where the ideas stopped, oh no. Then I entered wedding blog land and I learned all about the Love Letter and Wine Box ceremony. I know it’s been done by bees before. In my recent memory, by Mrs. Husky and Mrs. Hot Wings. However, I sent the officiant this link and asked if it could be worked in somehow. She gladly obliged.

I think I’m a bit lethal with a hammer on the best of days, so I think while wearing a wedding dress and being stared at by our nearest and dearest is not the best time to start wielding one. As a compromise, I ordered a custom wine box from Etsy seller arrowsarah. I customized a listing just like this one to include our initials and wedding date as well as placing two locks on the box. I think it turned out quite well.

Wine Box from Etsy seller arrowsarah

Obviously there’s no room in the box for glasses but we always have nice wine glasses available. We’ll fit the letters in by tucking them under the bottle itself. And I’m considering including our mothers one more time by having them hold onto our letters and give them to us at the appropriate time in the ceremony. (The alternative is having them waiting on the table with the box and the wine.) I can’t decide if that’s a good idea or not though, so any opinions are welcome!

Sadly, this will be my last post on personalizing our ceremony for a while. Next time we’re back to crafty details and other wedding frivolity. But I appreciate you all letting me get sappy for a little while with you.

Have you incorporated your interests or personality into your wedding ceremony?