What Type Of Wedding Ceremony Is Right For You?
Congratulations, you are engaged to be married! As you begin the wedding planning process one of your top priorities will be to decide what type of wedding ceremony is best for you. There are many types of ceremonies to choose from. As a Colorado wedding officiant my job is to help you craft a ceremony that is unique to you as a couple – to tell your story and convey your relationship through the style of ceremony that you want to share with your family and friends.
There is lots of room for creativity, unless a couple chooses to be married in a religious ceremony that will follow a time-honored religious protocol. The range of options is very broad.
Finding your personal style is a matter of deciding the type of ceremony best suited to you and getting a sense of which traditions, blessings, prayers, readings, and cultural or religious aspects are personally meaningful.
As a wedding officiant with a nondenominational Christian background, I find it is all about blending. The first task is to assess the general type of ceremony that is right for each couple. The second is to seek ways to blend in the traditions they do like, with creativity, romance and personal touches.
These personal touches can be anything from aspects of their religions or cultures, to honoring and involving family, to including a humorous story about how they met or a poignant poem that captures their feelings. And often it’s a combination of all of these things.
Typical Wedding Ceremony Types
Traditional. These are typically faith-based and culled from the tradition the bride and groom were born into.
Non-denominational. A spiritual ceremony that includes reference to God, but does not adhere to any particular religious protocol.
Non-religious. Usually includes no reference to faith and typically does not mention God. (Some people call it a civil ceremony, but in fact a civil ceremony often mentions God).
Interfaith. This is a blending of two or more faiths, by including aspect of religion or religious rituals or readings that are symbolic of each faith.
Intercultural. This is a blending of cultures — such as a Filipino veil ceremony with a Chinese red string ritual — and yet can certainly also blend religious aspects.
Personal Style. This is usually a ceremony adapted from something that is part of popular culture and close to the hearts of the bride and groom. It may be a full ceremony dress as a knight and lady of the court, to including lines from Star Wars or Disney, to creating a ceremony based on a favorite romance novel or movie.
That said, from my perspective, you can do all of the above in one specially tailored ceremony. The biggest issue is deciding if you want to reference God at all — some couples clearly do, but would rather not have religion, or clearly don’t, and want to have something that is more about their love and relationship. You should rely on your officiant and wedding planner to help guide you to the best type of ceremony for you as a couple.
Tips to Create a Personalized Wedding Ceremony
- Where does religion fit in — or does it? Would you like to include an aspect of the faiths you were born into without the dogma? Do you want to include mention of God — or would you prefer blessing upon your union without mention of Divine presence?
- What kind of ceremony would be most suited to the two of you? Would you like something personal yet that includes aspects of your traditions? Would something romantic and offbeat be more your style?
- What are your special needs?Think about the requirements you each may have. If you are of the same faith, is one of you more religious than the other? Since you hail from different cultures, how much do you want to honor your heritage and the traditions of your parents and family, etc
- What do you two truly want? Most importantly, be completely honest with one another (and then, your officiant).
Big Takeaway From A Colorado Wedding Officiant
Make sure you are creating this ceremony for the two of you — not just to please others.
Whichever path you choose, remember it is your wedding and you get to choose the type of ceremony you want!
You can also contact me right here at holymattrimony.com and I will be happy to provide a free consultation, no strings attached – promise.
I hope this is helpful. If you need any more tips or advice, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Happy wedding planning.
-Matthew B.
Colorado’s Wedding Officiant Specialist
Leading You To “I Do”
303.949.6097
