Maybe not what you’re looking for, but I greatly enjoyed having a Quaker unprogrammed wedding. The format is that everyone sits in the same room for roughly an hour, and when someone (including any of the guests) feels moved to speak about the couple or marriage in general, they stand up and speak. It’s very warm and meaningful, and conveniently doesn’t require you to provide any content except for your vows at the end :-)
Typically these weddings would not have an officiant, but if you need one for legal reasons or because you’ve already asked somebody, you can have them step in when you do the vows.
We’ve already set things up to have a ceremony and all that content, but this would have appealed to me immensely had I known about it earlier, and the fact that its an established tradition would have definitely helped me convince my bride to do this!
Cool :-) In case it’s useful, let me share with you the vows we used:
“In the presence of these our family and friends, I take you to be my beloved, promising to be a loving and faithful partner. I vow to cherish your spirit and individuality, to face life’s challenges with patience and humor, to respect our differences, and to nurture our growth. I will share the world with you and delight in seeing it through your eyes. Together, we will build greater things than either of us could alone.”
The first two sentences were taken from various Quaker wedding certificates I found online, and the second two we wrote ourselves. We wanted them to be true to ourselves and our relationship, but also feel timeless, not tied to specific things about ourselves or our hobbies like some vows you hear these days.
Maybe not what you’re looking for, but I greatly enjoyed having a Quaker unprogrammed wedding. The format is that everyone sits in the same room for roughly an hour, and when someone (including any of the guests) feels moved to speak about the couple or marriage in general, they stand up and speak. It’s very warm and meaningful, and conveniently doesn’t require you to provide any content except for your vows at the end :-)
Typically these weddings would not have an officiant, but if you need one for legal reasons or because you’ve already asked somebody, you can have them step in when you do the vows.
We’ve already set things up to have a ceremony and all that content, but this would have appealed to me immensely had I known about it earlier, and the fact that its an established tradition would have definitely helped me convince my bride to do this!
Cool :-) In case it’s useful, let me share with you the vows we used:
“In the presence of these our family and friends, I take you to be my beloved, promising to be a loving and faithful partner. I vow to cherish your spirit and individuality, to face life’s challenges with patience and humor, to respect our differences, and to nurture our growth. I will share the world with you and delight in seeing it through your eyes. Together, we will build greater things than either of us could alone.”
The first two sentences were taken from various Quaker wedding certificates I found online, and the second two we wrote ourselves. We wanted them to be true to ourselves and our relationship, but also feel timeless, not tied to specific things about ourselves or our hobbies like some vows you hear these days.