Your Wedding Ceremony: What You Offer Your Community At Your Wedding Ceremony

Wedding ceremonies are designed to unite a couple in marriage. The goal of a good wedding ceremony is to lay the foundation for a lifelong marriage. But wedding ceremonies can do much more than that. If done effectively, they can also perform other tasks, tasks that are increasingly important in our world of scattered communities:

• They bring us together as a community. This is key for communities whose members live scattered across the country and the world. Communities need to make history with each other if they want to be communities. Social media is a major source of communication these days, but even there, our kids can’t go on a picnic together. Mainly, you need to come together to make memories.
• They remind us of the importance of family and community connections.. There are people from my past, who were at my wedding, who knew me “in the past.” When people meet me now, they don’t automatically think, wow, small town girl. They may not know how I care about family connections. They would probably never guess that I like to swim in rivers and lakes. They don’t know how much I look like my father and act like my mother. Our individual stories and our community stories overlap. The more we know about our friends and family, the better we can support them.
• They deepen those connections.. Weddings are opportunities for everyone, not just the bride and groom, to make memories and connections. Don’t you remember an older cousin who taught you how to be cool at a family gathering? Or an aunt or uncle who spent time asking you questions about yourself? Still can’t meet a best friend’s childhood best friend at a wedding and meet a new friend? Creating stories and memories helps us come together when there are challenges to overcome. It helps us to be clear about where we can turn for support and comfort.
• And more important, remind us of the importance of Love and Commitment in our lives. This is the key. Here is a profound truth. No one, anywhere, gets bigger, stronger, or bigger out of fear. Love gives us courage and dares to do things we can never imagine when we are afraid. Holding your hand and knowing that you are there to catch me when I fall or laugh at the adventure makes me so much braver than I would be on my own. Every time we hear a couple’s wedding vows, we hear the echo of the promises we’ve made to ourselves, our partners, our families, our talents, and we can recommit to a richer, better, and more life. candy.

So, brides and grooms, as you plan your wedding ceremony, your wedding day, and your wedding weekend, remember the gift you can give your community with your wedding. And then give lavishly and reap the rewards!