Weddings
“For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband[a] brings holiness to his marriage.” ( 1 Corinthians 7:14)
This past weekend I attended another wedding in Tennessee for a close friend’s daughter. His daughter was a student at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee and she met her husband as a fellow member of the school’s cross-country running team. Union University is a ministry of the Southern Baptist tradition. These kids are very spirited faithful young people who love the Lord, and it showed within their service.
All weddings are different these days. There are so many traditions and cultural aspects of the wedding ceremony. Location has a lot to do with what roles people play and what traditions are performed. I have found it also depends on the budget as to what type of service one might have. This wedding was rather conservative with money so it had very little “flash” in the service. Faith also plays a significant role in the type of service one has too. That’s not always the case.
At this particular wedding, there really wasn’t much outside of the traditional liturgical service of exchanging the vows. Instead of the traditional lighting of a Unity Candle, a tradition that is quickly dying, they chose to share their faith by braiding three material strands on a large cross to show their unity in Christ. A gold strand represents God’s majesty. A purple strand represents the groom and his life. The white strand represents the life of the bride. By weaving these three strands together their life together presents a life centered in God.
This couple had a very evangelical conservative Christian service where the texts were oriented on the couple’s commitment to one another with the man or the husband being the head of the relationship. Well, that might be true in a biblical sense, but knowing this couple I know that the bride is very much “in-charge” of that relationship. In fact, the best part of this wedding ceremony was when the pastor invited the groom to “kiss his bride,” she was the one who swooped right in and took control and kissed her husband before he even heard the pastor’s command. Perfect! You go girl!
I love weddings! The wedding I presided at a few weeks ago here in Tucson was also a beautiful traditional wedding with some new traditions that I also haven’t seen before. They had a table where ahead of the wedding, they invented guests of the wedding to submit a picture of their own weddings to be on display next to the table of the newly married couple’s display table of their lives together. It was neat to see the variety of marriage pictures!
So, next time you go to a wedding pay attention to the details. Don’t just go to celebrate! Listen see how faith plays a role in the service… or how it doesn’t. Listen to the scriptures and words being said. What does the pastor or officiant say to the couple? It says a lot about the lives of the couple and their lives together. Watch the traditions of the service and you will see what is important to the couple and their families. Let me know if you see something unique! I always like sharing ideas with couples who are planning their special day together. Thanks for allowing me the time off to go celebrate this special day with my close friends!
Peace,
PT