Unity Ceremonies

 

Looking to include a unity candle ceremony or similar tradition in your wedding? Gaining in popularity, some of these are recent innovations, while others are cultural traditions that go back hundreds of years.

The Unity Candle:

One of the most common ceremonies. The bride and groom each take a lit candle and simultaneously light a third larger "unity candle." They may blow out their individual lights, or leave them lit, symbolizing that they have not lost their individuality in their unity. Stores are now selling elaborate unity candle setups, including a candleabra that holds the central unity candle higher than the others. You may also have your unity candle personalized with your names and the date, allowing it to be a keepsake from your wedding.

Variations:

All guests are given a candle, and the first guest's is lit. Guests pass the flame until all are lit, and then the bride and groom together light their unity candle. This variation typically includes a proclamation that this ceremony represents the unity of friends and family supporting the couple in their marriage.

 

Rose Ceremony:

A simple unity ceremony where the bride

 and groom exchange roses.

Other variations:

The families exchange roses, the bride and groom exchange roses with their families, the bride and groom exchange roses, then present their mothers with the roses.

 

Breaking Bread Ceremony:

 The bride and groom tear off pieces of bread, and then each eat a piece. Sometimes the bread  is also shared with family and friends. It symbolizes their future as a family together.

 Wine Ceremony: The bride and groom each take a carafe of wine and pour it into a single glass, which they both drink from.  

Water Ceremony:

The couple each pour a different

 colored water into a single glass,

 which they both drink from. Similar

 to the water ceremony is the sand

 ceremony. The bride and

groom both pour different colored

 sand into a glass.

There are many other ceremonies including Garland or Lei Ceremony, Circling, Broom Jumping, or  Lasso Ceremony. Your may have a favorite tradition of your own in your family

Wedding Timeline (sixteen to eight months before)

Sixteen to Eight Months Before

• Start a Wedding Folder or Binder: Begin leafing through bridal, lifestyle, fashion, gardening, design, and food magazines for inspiration. 
• Work out Your Budget: Determine how much you have to spend, based on your families' contributions and your own. 
• Pick Your Wedding Party: As soon you're engaged, people will start wondering who's in.
• Start the Guest List: Make a head count database to use throughout your planning process, with columns for contact info, RSVPs, gifts, and any other relevant information. (want to keep cost low? it may be brutal, but the best way to do it is to reduce your guest list.)
• Hire a Planner, If Desired: A planner will have relationships with-and insight-vendors.
• Reserve Your date and venues: Decide whether to have separate locations for the ceremony and the reception, factoring in travel time between the two places.
• Book Your Officiant: 
• Research Photographers, Bands, Florists, and Caterers: Keep their contact information in your binder.
• Throw an Engagement party, If You Want: But remember that your invites should be on your wedding guest list as well.
• Hire the Photographer and the Videographer: No need to talk specifics yet, but be sure that the people you hire are open to doing the shots you want.
• Book the Entertainment: Attend gigs of potential acts to see how they perform in front of audiences, than reserve your favorite. 
• Meet Caterers: If your wedding venue doesn't offer its own catering service, look for one now and hire the service this month of early next month. 
• Purchase a dress: You'll need to schedule time for at least three fittings. Veil shopping can be postponed for another two to three months.
• Reserve a block of Hotel Rooms For Out-Of-Town Guests: Pick three hotels at different price points close to the reception venue. 
• Register: Sign up at a minimum of three retailers
• Launch a wedding website: Create your personal page through a free provider such as weddingchannel.com Note the date of the wedding, travel information, accommodations. Than send the link to invitees. 

Eight Months Before

• Hire the photographer and the videographer.  No need to talk specifics yet, but be sure that the people you hire are open to doing the shots that you want.

• Book the entertainment.  Attend gigs of potential acts to see how they perform in front of audiences, then reserve your favorite.
• Meet caterers.  If your wedding venue doesn't offer its own catering service, look for one now and hire the service this month or early next.
• Purchase a dress.  You'll need to schedule time for at least three fittings. Veil shopping can be postponed for another two to three months.
• Reserve a block of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests.  Pick three hotels at different price points close to the reception venue.
• Register.  Sign up at a minimum of three retailers.
• Launch a  wedding website.  Create your personal page through a free provider such as weddingchannel.com. Note the date of the wedding, travel information, and accommodations. Then send the link to invitees.

Maggie Sottero Trunk Show

July 28, 29, and 30

     Maggie Sottero has an extensive selection of gowns. We attend markets twice a year and are required to purchase 12 gowns each season. I select styles based on what western Colo. brides are wanting and asking for. It takes 5 months before the samples arrive in the store. If someone is interested in a dress I don't have, they have a loaner program and we can see if the particular  dress is in the program.

     Maggie Sottero has a minimum  price they permit a retailer to sell the dresses for. We are not allowed to sell for less unless it is a floor sample we are ready to get rid of, or it has been discontinued.  The only time we are allowed to have a sale is during a Trunk Show.

     A Trunk Show involves bring in a number of loaner dresses that are not usually available in the store. On July 28, 29, and 30, we will have sample dresses Jenna, Rachael, Saratoga, Lizette Royal, Desirae, and Helena. We tried to get Bernadette but it is the most requested loaner gown and has a 21 week waiting list. I have purchased the sample and it will be in the store September 12.

     During a Trunk Show, we are allowed to give 10% off gowns ordered during the show. Even though the Trunk Show is Maggie Sottero, we will honor 10% off all bridal gowns in stock or special order.

This is a rare opportunity





Helena



Saratoga



   

Lizette Royale

                  

                                            If it's white, it's on Sale



Jenna



Desirae



Rachael



The China Effect

        What's happening in China has a trickle down effect. Of major concern to the bridal industry and ultimately the bride is rising prices for gowns and anticipated delivery delays.

         Due to China's one child rule, the seemingly endless supply of workers is decreasing. And the younger people that do exist aren't necessarily gravitating toward factory work. Rather they want to buy into a more luxurious life style they know is possible via global media. Because Farmers are being subsidized to grow specific in demand crops, workers can stay closer to home and earn the same wages without having to face the environmental conditions in many of China's larger cities. In the past year or two, this has lead to an annual phenomenon of workers not returning after the Chinese New Year.

       Media reports estimate that anywhere from 30 to 70 percent of these workers were expected to defect this year, despite incentives or higher pay being offered to returning workers as well as new workers who are being heavily recruited.

       Regarding new materials, clothing manufactures in China have already faced shortages in such fabrics as cotton and silk, for which they've had to pay premiums. And more recently, they've faced similar issues with polyester as polyester is a petroleum-based product whose cost also escalated.

     If productions capacity is reduced because of skilled labor and materials shortages, which companies will get preferential treatment? Some industry members believe that larger companies will be at the head of the line and smaller companies may be forced out of business. Because such a high percentage of bridal merchandise is being manufactured in China today, these conditions could lead to a major purge of bridal suppliers in the near future.
      It is certain that there will be delays and bridal retailers should encourage brides to order there gowns as soon as possible. If the gown is ordered enough in advance and a problem strikes, there will be time to rectify it.
      The bottom line for brides who are getting married in 2012- order your gown at least 8-12 months before your date. It will elevate a lot of stress for everyone involved.

                                    

The Unity Candle Ceremony: Part Two

 Prior to the ceremony, the Unity Candle area is set up. Some people have them already burning before the ceremony starts, to symbolize the bride and groom as individuals. You can opt to have the mother of the bride and groom each light one candle with special music playing while this is going on. The mother of the groom is escorted in by either an usher or a male member of the brides family, where she will then light a taper then is ushered to her seat. The mother of the bride is escorted by the groom himself, an usher or a male member of the groom’s family, where she will light the other taper, then gets escorted to her seat. If the couple is bringing children into the marriage, you can opt to have the children light the tapers.

                                                                                                                                                

Another idea for the Unity Candle Ceremony is while the music is playing, after the Unity candles have been lit, the bride and groom walk over to the bride’s mother and father and give a rose from the bride’s bouquet to the bride’s mother. Then the bride and groom walk over to the grooms mother and father and give the groom’s mother a rose from the bride’s bouquet. This is known as the Rose Ceremony. It is a very intimate and emotional experience for both sets of parents in the bridal party. It signifies the unity of both families coming together as one.

One idea that has not been seen in many weddings is after the lighting of the candles, the best man, the maid of honor, the minister, and the bride and groom gather around the alter to sign the marriage certificate. All the guests are included as witnesses to their union. This is a very effective way to fill the time for the song to finish. 

The Unity Candle Ceremony is non-denominational, which means it has no religious significance. This makes it a popular choice for both religious and non-religious ceremonies alike. One thing to keep in mind; many houses of worship may not allow this ceremony, so if you have your heart set on it, you may need to check with the appropriate people to see if this is allowed.

The Unity Candle Ceremony: Part One

The Unity Candle Ceremony has become a very popular and symbolic aspect of weddings within the past ten years. The lighting of the Unity Candle symbolizes the new union of a husband and wife, two individuals who are becoming one through marriage. A unity candle set consists of two slender candles called tapers and a large center candle. They are usually white candles. The two outer candles represent your individual lives before today. They represent all that you are from your vast experiences, and they represent your individual families. As you each take a single candle and light the center candle, you will extinguish your individual candles. Another way to do  this is to allow the two taper candles to remain lit, it represents that the bride and groom accept the individuality of each other as a means to fulfilling their commitment to one another.
Some couples choose to have a special song played while they are lighting the unity candle.Popular Unity Candle songs include "Here and Now" by Luther Vandross, "Ava Maria "Grow Old With Me" by John Lennon or Mary Chapin Carpenter, and "To Make You Feel My Love" by Garth Brooks.You can also choose to have a special poem read or you can choose to have a moment of silence.
An expample of the Unity Candle Wedding Vow-
"Groom and Bride have chosen to affirm their love by the lighting of a unity candle. They have also asked their families to participate in the lighting ceremony. In so doing, they signal their desire to not only join as one in their union, but to unite two families together as one. I want to take a moement to explain what the light of these candles represents to them: From every human being their rises a light and when two souls that are destined for each other find one another, their streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being. "
The Finish:

"The brightness of the candles that your families have lit- and the brightness of the unity candle that you will together light will shine through your lives, giving you courage and reassurance in the darkness. May the candle's warmth give you shelter from the cold. May its energy fill your spirits with strength and joy.

As you light the Unity Candle, I want to ask you and all your friends and family that are present today to see the brightness of the flame as a symbol of the brightness that your own life brings to this new family. As you lift your candles to light your family unity candle together, so may your love for each other light up your life as a family." A variation of this method is all guests are given a candle, and the first guest's is lit. Guests pass the flame until all are lit, and then the bride and groom together light their unity candle. This variation typically includes a proclamation that this ceremony represents the unity of friends and family supporting the couple in their marriage.

Wedding Cake Etiquette and Tradition



The Wedding cake

            According to “Emily Post’s Etiquette” by Peggy Post “The one essential ingredient of every reception is a wedding cake.” Many years ago it was made of dark fruitcake, but today wedding cakes are frequently a white pound or even chocolate cake. The bride’s cake is or wedding cake is usually in tiers and is covered with white icing. The flowers and curlicues need not to be white, but may be colored to match or blend with the bridesmaid’s dresses. The cake is sometimes topped with the little bride-and-groom dolls, or a little wedding bell.

            The grooms Cake

            A nice custom that has become less  prevalent because of the expense, but still seen at some weddings, is that of having a separate fruitcake called a groom’s cake cut and put into individual white boxes tied with white satin ribbon and ornamented with the combined initials of the bride and groom. Theses boxes are stacked on a table close to the front door, and each departing guest is expected to take one.

            In some parts of the south, the groom’s cake is a chocolate cake that is set up on a table separate from that of the bride’s cake. It is not cut by the couple and served as bride’s cake, but a waiter slices it and guests who prefer chocolate cake are free to help themselves to it at any time. The groom’s cake and the bride’s cake, is provided by the bride’s family.



Setting a Budget

After you decide on the type of wedding, you'll need to figure out exactly how you're going to afford it. The amount you allocate will help you determine the number of guests you can invite, the location of your reception, the food you will choose, the number of photographs you will have taken, the flowers to order, and just about every other element of the celebration.

There are two ways of setting a budget. The first is to determine the amount of money that's available right now. This will include any money that you and your fiance may have saved for the event, as well as any contributions that you're expecting. For instance, you might know exactly how much your parents have saved in your wedding fund. The total amount of these resources is your budget.

If there's no wedding fund, but you're pretty sure your parents will want to chip in and help defray the cost of the whole shindig, try tallying up the cost of your ideal wedding before asking for financial assistance. You may find that you'll get a better response if you have an estimate to present to your parents, rather than just asking for a contribution.

You'll need to do your homework. If you have friends who have been married recently, don't be shy about asking them how much they paid for things. Most newlyweds are happy to pass on the wisdom they gained from going through the wedding-planning experience.

One you've consulted your friends, pick up the phone. Call several reception sites and caterers and ask for their wedding menus to get an estimate of the per-person rates. Be sure to ask about any additional fees they may charge (such as rental fees, setup fees, gratuity , corkage, or cake-cutting fees).Do the same with photographers, limousine services, videographers, and any other service you my want.

Once you have the paperwork, you can insert cost ranges into the budget to give you a "cheapest to costliest" scenario. Then, it's off to the parents to ask the big money  question......



The Brides Timetable

The best organized weddings are the ones where every detail has been thought of in advance. Thinking of those details is only the first step, however. Keeping a master checklist,whether this one or one you write yourself, ensures nothing is left to chance

Your timetable and your master  checklist should be kept in a convenient place where you can consult it regularly, checking off items as they  are attended to and adding even more details that may be special to your plans.

Six to twelve months before the wedding:

• Decide on type of wedding.
• Decide on time of day.
• Choose the location.
• Set a date.
• Set a budget.
• Select bridal party.
• Plan a color scheme.
• Select and order bridal gown.
• Select and order headpiece.
• Select and order shoes.
• Select and order attendants' gowns.
• Start compiling the guest list.
• Select the caterer, DJ, florist, and photographer.
• Reserve hall for reception.
• Select and order wedding rings.

Three to four months before the wedding:

• Select mothers attire.
• Order invitations.
• Finalize reception arrangements. (Rent items now.)
• Confirm dress delivery.
• Confirm time and date with florist, caterer, photographer, DJ, wedding site.
• Discuss transportation to ceremony and reception.
• Order cake.
• Select and order attire for groomsmen.
• Mail invitations.
• Plan rehearsal and dinner.

One month before the wedding:

• Schedule the final fittings.
• Obtain the wedding props, e.g., pillow for the ringbearer, candles, etc.
• Get the marriage license.

Two weeks before the wedding.

• Arrange to change name on license, Social Security card, etc.
• Plan reception seating arrangements.
• Finalize the number of guests with your caterer.

One week before your wedding:

• Pick up rings.
• Have rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (one or two days before wedding).
• Arrange to have the photographer and attendants arrive two hours before the ceremony.
• Arrange for music to start one half hour before ceremony.

On your wedding day:

• Take a long bath, have a manicure, etc.
• Eat at least one small meal.
• Have your hair and make-up done a few hours before the ceremony.
• Start dressing one to two hours before the ceremony.