Conscious Wedding Ceremonies

Here in the colds of winter, the plans for the summer weddings have begun in earnest. Clients have been sharing with me their plans for not only the Ceremony, but also the rest of the day’s celebrations – the photo shoot, the reception, the dance. Not to mention all the details of the wedding ceremony itself – colour schemes, decorations, wedding party plans, flowers, etc.
I often hear a lot of overwhelm – and how could you not feel this way, given the way weddings are often done? I understand how much energy it takes to throw a good party and provide for a group of people over the course of a whole day. However, I am finding that the actual Ceremony itself, as the reason the rest of the plans exist, can get lost in the shuffle.
I see it as the difference between the essence – the Conscious Commitment to Marriage through vows and rituals – and the accoutrements that surround it. The ceremonial participants and space need to look beautiful, no question, and a good wedding party is an great way to honour how important the presence of your guests are to you. However, when the content of the Ceremony itself and your preparations for being fully present at that Ceremony take a backseat, the balance is off.
The wedding industry is largely focused on the products that can be sold en masse to couples getting married. There is no way to mass market a Ceremony, no way to brand it and mass reproduce it for maximum profit. And yet it is that very organic quality, that focus of “in the moment”, that living being-ness of what goes on in Ceremony that is what in fact defines it as Ceremony, as Sacred, and not something to go through on the way to the party.
So, for any couples out there, I encourage you to really examine what it is that you want to create for yourselves on your wedding day. If you are seeking to commit consciously to Marriage, make the Ceremony enacting that your focal point, with the other elements of the day lovingly serving the Beauty of being present to those Sacred Vows to each other.