Hello Bride & Groom’s To Be!
I’m Ruby the Rochester Bride! As a newlywed of the Rochester area, I love sharing my knowledge of the wedding experience with newly engaged couples. This week, I'm going to share with you some different unique wedding ceremony traditions.
{1} Ring Warming: This ceremony is a way to get your family and friends involved in your special moment. At the beginning of the ceremony, the wedding rings are passed around and each guest says a prayer over them for the new couple. If you are having a large wedding and feel that this may take too much time, you can have your immediate family and wedding party be the ones to perform the ring warming ceremony for you.
{2} Handfasting: This is a Celtic wedding tradition, and it is still used among many brides or grooms of Irish descent as an ode to their culture. The officiant will take ribbons or ropes, and ties the couples hands together as a way to symbolize them being joined together.
{3} Unity Candle: The unity candle tradition has made its way into many modern day ceremonies. The bride and groom each hold a family candle, and then together light the unity candle, symbolizing two families coming together as well as the bride and groom beginning their own.
{4} Love Letter Time Capsule: Couples have some fun with the love letter time capsule tradition during the vow portion of their ceremony. Both the bride and groom will come to the ceremony prepared with a letter they have written, about their feelings of marrying each other and excitement about the future. The couple will seal the letters and a bottle of wine into a box, to be opened on an anniversary of their choosing.
{5} Feet Washing Ceremony: This ceremony is traditional in Christian weddings, and is a symbol of being humble and willing to serve the one you love. The bride and groom remove their shoes and take turns washing each others feet with a bowl and pitcher of water.
