Mixed
Religion and
Non-Denominational Weddings
- by KissMeGoodnight.com
Couples of mixed religions or who come from
families that do not have a strong religious background may
choose to have either a non-denominational wedding or a wedding
that blends two separate religions. This can be tricky
however because many religions may not honor or recognize a
wedding
unless it is performed according to their own unique guidelines. For this reason it is very important to check with potential
officiants and church leaders to ensure that your wedding plans
will result in a union that is recognized by both churches.
This is significant because you would not want to invest time
and money on a marriage that will wind up not being recognized
by the church and possibly not even recognized by the government.
Whether
a couple decides to have a non-denominational wedding, incorporate
aspects of both religion into a ceremony that will
not be recognized by either faith or participate in two separate
religious ceremonies, it is important to remember that their
love for each other and their love of their faith are equally
important. If
both the bride and the groom have very strong faith backgrounds
and wish to have their wedding recognized by their respective
churches, they may have to take a few extra steps to ensure
that their union is recognized by their churches. Sometimes
the only way to do this is to have a wedding ceremony in both
churches. This may seem like an unnecessary step but one of
the defining criteria of having your marriage recognized by
your faith, for many religions, is to have your wedding ceremony
in the church. It is simply not possible to do this unless
the couple takes the extra steps of having two wedding ceremonies
to ensure that they will be both be accepted as a married couple
into their faiths.
Another alternative to participating in two separate ceremonies
in order to have the union recognized by both churches is to
have a non-denominational wedding that is only recognized
by the government. Couples may choose this option if they do not
have the time or money that would be required to have two separate
wedding ceremonies. A couple may choose a compromise that results
in neither church recognizing the union. The theory behind
this type of choice is that the couple decides that their love
for each other is strong enough to survive and that they do
not need to have the approval of their churches in order to
have a successful and lasting marriage.
Still another alternative is to have
a non-denominational wedding ceremony at a location in
a natural setting. At this
type of ceremony the couple has no restrictions and can choose
to incorporate either religion into the ceremony in any way
that they see fit. They may do this by using traditional prayers
and religious songs during the ceremony. While this type of
ceremony will not be recognized by the church is does offer
the couple the opportunity to incorporate some of the religious
traditions of both of their faiths into a beautiful ceremony
that successfully blends two religions.
A final alternative is to incorporate
one faith fully into the wedding ceremony and incorporate
the other faith fully
into the wedding reception. This option results in the marriage
being recognized by one of the religions but does not allow
the other family to feel neglected because their faith is well
represented in the traditional activities of the wedding reception.
This option is only feasible if the member of the couple who
will not have their church recognize the union, is completely
accepting and understand of this fact. This is important because
the resentment and jealousy that could result from this could
be very detrimental to the couple.
Inter-faith
couples are on the rise. Years ago it was unheard
of to marry someone outside of your faith but this is no longer
true and many couples today are inter-faith couples. It is
difficult but not impossible to integrate the two faiths in
a way that is satisfactory to all of those involved. While
the faiths can be blended to create a beautiful wedding, the
problem is that many churches will not accept this blended
wedding as a union. Sometimes the couple decides that their
happiness together is more important than having the church
recognize the union so they opt for a non-denominational wedding
that is completely devoid of any religious traditions.
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by KissMeGoodnight.com : 2005
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