Marie contacted me because she wanted to craft a truly unique wedding ceremony as her gift to her future husband.
They were planning an intimate wedding, with about twenty guests, and Marie wanted to honor the heritage and traditions of each important guest there. So she brought many different rituals and traditions to the table, looking to me to incorporate them into the ceremony.
I do like to get both the bride and groom’s input and feedback on a ceremony, so, though German didn’t see the bulk of the ceremony before hand, I did have him fill out a questionnaire so I could get some personal details from him to enhance their Love Story. Each of the elements that honored a tradition or background were presented by a loved one, so they were very involved with the ceremony:
To honor the groom’s heritage, after he walked to the front with his mother, she placed a Basque beret on his head, to represent his grandfather.
The bride was walked down the aisle by both of her sons, to represent her father, who is now longer with us, in the Puerto Rican tradition.
The groom’s best man and his wife were invited up to present a flower garland to the couple, which they then placed around them, to signify their mutual acceptance of each other. This was to honor the best man’s Persian heritage.
In the Cuban tradition, the bride and groom were presented with thirteen coins, the arras, which represents thirteen ideals they would like to keep in their marriage.
And their ring bearer was dressed in the traditional Indian wedding garb.
And there were some joyous rituals, to close the ceremony:
Bells were rung (Irish).
Glass was broken (Jewish).
And a broom was jumped (Southern United States).
It all came together to create a truly unique wedding, that is unlike any I have ever put together!
All the props, laid out: the box held the coins, the broom for jumping, and the silk bag, for the glass breaking.
