Who’s turn is it anyway?!

Here is a cool post that I saw on Martha Stuart Weddings on Wedding Ceremony Basics. Being a wedding coordinator in Santa Barbara California, I’m not sure how much my brides “stick to tradition” in general especially when it comes to the ceremony. However, it’s good to know what the most traditional format is and then work from there to make it special to the bride & groom.

The arrangement that I found to be the most interesting was the formation for the Jewish ceremony. I find Jewish ceremonies and formations (of processional, ceremony & recessional) to be the most intimate, inclusive and family-centered. NOTE: in a Jewish ceremony, the parents of the Bride sit on the side “opposite” the bride (so they can see her face, not her back) and the Groom’s parents sit on the side “opposite” the Groom (same reason). Smart, right?

When planning your ceremony, consider who you want to be close to you (literally!) – do you want your parents standing up with you? Do you want your sibling(s) to be a part of it? And feel free to integrate cultural moments even if you’re not “of that group”. For instance, my husband and I broke the glass at the end of our ceremony (I’m only 1/8th Jewish on my dad’s side) because we liked the symbolism that it holds. The romantic in me likes to think that putting a broken glass back together is as difficult as breaking the husband & wife apart. NOTE: If you want to integrate the breaking of the glass into your ceremony, here are a few options for wording.

And, as I ALWAYS say, it’s YOUR wedding! Do what YOU want! The choices that you make for your wedding day that are special and unique to you two as a couple is what people remember and have lovely memories of… they never remember the “supposed-to’s”… unless it’s your crabby Aunt Myrtle? Maybe she would remember…