Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How long should a wedding ceremony be?




REMEMBRANCE WEDDINGS


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How long should a wedding ceremony be?


This has been a tough one to write, much tougher than I expected. So I guess I should say that this is all personal opinion.  Everyone has a different perspective as to the significance of marriage, the ceremony et al.

Most states have few requirements as to what a ceremony is or should be. So it really is up to you. If you want the ceremony to be:
 "Sally you want to marry Bill?"
 "Yes"
"  Bill do you want to marry Sally?"
 " Yes."
 " Ok you're married, let's party."

Most states, if not all, would recognize that as a valid marriage ceremony, if the officiate signs off on it.

But is that REALLY what you want to remember about your wedding?

To me, marriage is a significant and important event in your life. Personally,  the above "Bill and Sally" ceremony doesn't reflect how important a step you are taking, by getting married.

 I'm going to give you some of my thoughts on the subject.

How long should a wedding ceremony be? Like most wedding questions, the answer is, whatever you want it to be.

The shorter wedding is for small weddings of just a few people in a park or a residence.

It's for people who have been married before. Now I'll admit we do the shorter weddings for first time married....especially for those in the military. And a lot of others. And we'll gladly do this type of ceremony for you if you are sure that is what you want.

But it is my personal opinion for most of you,  you are short changing yourself.

A marriage is a significant in your life. I know I keep repeating myself but it is a point that needs to be repeated.  And that's just as true if you been married a time or two before.

Even if you plan to get married again later.... within your church, on a future trip etc., this wedding will always be the one when you were first married. It's the one that really counts. The one later is just performance art.

We offer two types of ceremonies. One short....seven to ten minutes. We call it the WedXpress "Mini" ceremony.

We also offer a longer ceremony, generally between 20-30 minutes.  Both types are written to be pretty and meaningful ceremonies....but they are different lengths and purposes. Both types can be religious or non religious.

The WedXpress "Mini" is a pretty ceremony of 7-10 minutes, offering limited choices but a pretty ceremony.

The longer "Gold Standard" wedding offers the couple complete choice of every component of the wedding ceremony which include our planning services. It won't generally be shorter than 20 minutes and can go as long as it needs to based on what you want to do. Generally they run 25-30 minutes.

Just because you've done it before it is still a big deal, something to be celebrated, and to be entered into earnestly and sincerely . If you've got the right person to perform your ceremony the third time you won't get the same ceremony that the first time married gets.  And the longer ceremony with choices provides you the opportunity to acknowledge or incorporate, family,  children and a lot more.

When in doubt I tend to opt for the longer ceremony with lots of choices. I know more needs to be said here, but I'm tired of writing. Maybe in later edits.

If you'd like to talk about "your" wedding, whether short or long, don't hesitate to call us at 314-965-5648,

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