Ethnic rituals to make your wedding distinctive

Whether you’re planning a budget allying or a full-blown extravaganza, there remains the matter of the form itself:  how to make it distinctively yours, and interesting for those who sit through it?

If you’re having a faithful ceremony, you may have little input into the actual program of the obsequies itself, other than possibly some brief personal vows that you have each written yourselves. 

However, if your Officiant is magnanimous of other faiths and denominations, or certainly if you are using a non-denominational Officiant, there are some colorful rituals from manifold faiths, cultures, and periods of time that might be incorporated into your ritual to make it more memorable.  As the guests may not be about with them, it would be helpful if your Officiant would say a few words about the origin and explanation of the tradition.

Let’s start with one that won’t be big news to anybody:  the Congruousness Candle.  Of course, this needs no introduction:  the Singularity Candle ceremony symbolizes the joining of two families, with the bride and make ready each lighting a taper representing their respective one's own flesh, then merging the flames of the tapers to light a larger candle together, representing their new “next of kin,” and blowing out the smaller tapers.  Sometimes the mothers of the couple will communicate forward to light the tapers and hand them to the bride and ostler.  So if it’s so mundane, why even mention it?  Because this expected wedding component could use a more meaningful/ interesting pervert!

First, some simple math.  It doesn’t take a take off scientist to understand that this is not the joining of TWO families, but of FOUR: each of you comes from two parents, and each old man hails from their own family.  And since there are so few ways for fathers to be included in the appearances–why not have BOTH parents come forward, one to propose the taper, the other to light it, presenting it to their son/daughter together?  Think about how much nicer this is, for grandparents or other family members largesse, who would like to see their family acknowledged in some way.  (Put your photographer on spot:  this will be a key ceremony moment.)  If a parent is deceased (or even divorced and not attending), perhaps there is an aunt or uncle from that one's own flesh who could take their place.  A lot of talk surrounding weddings includes “the tree of mortal” and the value of tradition and family ties; here is an occasion to expand this mundane little ritual to absolutely illustrate it.