Humanist ceremony ideas

wheres me jumpa

All,

We will be having a humanist ceremony and the celebrant asked us to propose some ideas for the ceremony itself. She had some good suggestions which we would be happy to go with.

Just wondering if anyone else has good ideas for what to do during the ceremony.

E.g. I like the idea of 'warming the wedding rings'.

Jumpa

aquinn101

Our celebrant also suggested the warming of wedding rings - we loved that idea. Not sure how all my (traditional) family are going to respond to our ceremony but at the end of the day - they probably have never been to an all female wedding either!!

We also were suggested hand binding, sand/dirt/water ceremony, wine box ceremony.

like wise we would love other ideas as we haven't anything finalised and would love our own wee twist on it.

wheres me jumpa

aquinn101 wrote: »

Our celebrant also suggested the warming of wedding rings - we loved that idea. Not sure how all my (traditional) family are going to respond to our ceremony but at the end of the day - they probably have never been to an all female wedding either!!

We also were suggested hand binding, sand/dirt/water ceremony, wine box ceremony.

like wise we would love other ideas as we haven't anything finalised and would love our own wee twist on it.

Very similar suggestions to ours.

I found some of them a tad cheesy and would certainly gain a giggle from our crowd as opposed to an appreciation!

stargazer 68

We are having the warming of the rings too - thought it was lovely - havent told anyone about it so it will be a surprise.

We want the sand ceremony - but want to get one of those box frames for the sand to stay in and then need 7 colours and containers as we want our 5 children (my 2 and his 3) to mix the sand too! On the search for the stuff .....

aquinn101

wheres me jumpa wrote: »

Very similar suggestions to ours.

I found some of them a tad cheesy and would certainly gain a giggle from our crowd as opposed to an appreciation!

Me too - and as much enthusiasm as our celebrant had I couldn't help but think that it was a bit out of the box for us.

tread_softly

aquinn101 wrote: »

Me too - and as much enthusiasm as our celebrant had I couldn't help but think that it was a bit out of the box for us.

We felt the same with the different options suggested to us.

We ended up going with a candle lighting, one candle lit by my mam and one by his and then we lit a central candle together.

Bit more traditional than other suggestions but I can guarantee we would have both burst out laughing trying to do the sand ceremony

To each their own though, you'll find something to suit you guys

wheres me jumpa

tread_softly wrote: »

burst out laughing trying to do the sand ceremony

This!

lazygal

We had a humanist ceremony. We kept it fairly traditional and used the 'for better for worse' vows as we found writing our own a bit cringey. We're also not into candle lighting or sand ceremonies so we stuck to having some readings and having the celebrant speak about weddings and marriage and families. We spent a lot of time choosing our readings as we wanted something that said something about us. I can PM our readings to anyone who's interested - a few couples have borrowed one of them since.

One thing I really wanted was music playing as we said our vows, partly for a bit of interest and partly to take the edge off saying those words in front of so many people.

wheres me jumpa

Ill take that PM please.

What type of music did you go for? I am also looking for music (posted in the sticky thread).

pwurple

wheres me jumpa wrote: »

E.g. I like the idea of 'warming the wedding rings'.

Jumpa

Never heard of this one. What's involved in "warming the wedding rings"? Do you pop them down your Jumpa?

wheres me jumpa

pwurple wrote: »

Never heard of this one. What's involved in "warming the wedding rings"? Do you pop them down your Jumpa?

Boom!

If i remember correctly the rings are passed around the guests who in theory warm them as they are passed.

lazygal

pwurple wrote: »

Never heard of this one. What's involved in "warming the wedding rings"? Do you pop them down your Jumpa?

Its quite common, I've been to weddings with it. Basically the rings are passed around the guests to 'warm' them. Not my bag but no stranger than a lot of other wedding ceremony stuff.

lazygal

wheres me jumpa wrote: »

Ill take that PM please.

What type of music did you go for? I am also looking for music (posted in the sticky thread).

I sent you a pm.

dersawazzie

We attended a Humanist ceremony in June. It was beautiful, we were sat on hay bales on the brow of a hill in a field. The hand binding with a scarf, when it became a knot was lovely. Best of luck with your ceremony.

stargazer 68

lazygal wrote: »

Its quite common, I've been to weddings with it. Basically the rings are passed around the guests to 'warm' them. Not my bag but no stranger than a lot of other wedding ceremony stuff.

Yep. This is the piece from our ceremony:

I ask that each guest hold them for a short moment, warm them with your love and make a silent wish for this couple, and their future together. When these rings come back they will contain, in their precious metal, that which is more precious, that which is priceless – your love and hope and pledge of support for their union.”

aquinn101

wheres me jumpa wrote: »

Ill take that PM please.

What type of music did you go for? I am also looking for music (posted in the sticky thread).

Can I also have the details please

alwaysadub

aquinn101 wrote: »

Our celebrant also suggested the warming of wedding rings - we loved that idea. Not sure how all my (traditional) family are going to respond to our ceremony but at the end of the day - they probably have never been to an all female wedding either!!

We also were suggested hand binding, sand/dirt/water ceremony, wine box ceremony.

like wise we would love other ideas as we haven't anything finalised and would love our own wee twist on it.

What's a wine box ceremony??

Am thinking of just going for the candle lighting ceremony. I'd be afraid one of the rings would go missing half way around the room :pac:

lazygal

aquinn101 wrote: »

Can I also have the details please

PM sent

flikflak

We had a hand fasting as part of our ceremony. The whole thing was about 40 mins long. We also did ring exchange and incorporated vows into each colour ribbon of the hand fasting. The vow was said then the ribbon was tied which sealed the vow.

NeutralHandle

Wine box ceremony: Put messages, gifts and/or meaningful objects in a wine box. Nail it closed during ceremony. Open it on 20th anniversary.

We're going to do it. Must practice hammering nails so I won't whack my fingers on the day.

alwaysadub

Aw I like the idea of the wine box ceremony. Must suggest that to himself.

pooch90

We did the ring warming, the sand ceremony and a little hand blessing thing in ours. Surprisingly none of it was super cringy!

We had it all very chilled out and got a laugh out of it, we have a lovely photo of the two of us laughing when doing the sand, looking at each other going "I haven't a clue what we're meant to be doing".

The ring warming was nice because it included the guests in the ceremony and was just passed around as we continued on with the ceremony (tie those buggers tight, my one fell when junior groomsman handed us the pillow but that was another part of the humour)
Celebrant spoke these words before we put the rings on:

With a ring warming in your ceremony the rings will not only be a gift from one to another but will be given with the love, support & wisdom of all present. Each of you have made them even more special by adding your love and well-wishes to the two rings in the ring warming ceremony, and they are now ready to give and accept that symbolism of love

I dunno, we liked it, even though it reads a bit pukey!

An Bhanríon

Another variation on the wine box ceremony: write a letter to say why you fell in love with your husband / wife and why you are so happy to marry them; during ceremony both letters and a bottle of wine are put into box and box nailed closed; to be opened on 10th anniversary - but if serious difficulties arise in the relationship in the meantime box can be opened earlier in the hope that this may help you work through those difficulties. I love the wine box ceremony idea!

I was at one wedding with the warming of the rings. I think it depends on your family, but the people at that wedding mostly found it a bit uncomfortable / strange. Not desperately so, but I figure it's not everyone's cup of tea. Of course, this should not stop anyone having this at their wedding because there is always going to be stuff people don't like. Myself and my husband made our guests sit through a whole Catholic mass after all - I'm sure that wasn't everyone's cup of tea!!!

pwurple

wheres me jumpa wrote: »

Boom!

If i remember correctly the rings are passed around the guests who in theory warm them as they are passed.

Ahh, that's much nicer than what I was picturing.

Although, now my brain is shouting PATHOGENS at me for some reason.

dori_dormer

We thought about the ring warming thing too and I was worried the rings would get lost in the crowd/ not make it back to the top in time etc. the celebrant suggested only handing it through he first 2 rows so wedding party and immediate family only. We went with the candles in the end but thought it was a better compromise

jaja321

lazygal wrote: »

PM sent

Could you please PM me too? Also how many songs did you have? Currently trying to see how many to include. Thanks

pooch90

We had a song for walking up aisle,one for signing register and end one.

willow tree

jaja321 wrote: »

Could you please PM me too? Also how many songs did you have? Currently trying to see how many to include. Thanks

& me if you can, Thanks

sm213

We're doing ring warming and hand fasting.
Ring warming is so everyone can make a wish for couple etc. I know my nanny will be saying a prayer but if it makes her happy why not? She blesses all the kids with holy water if they are not christened to save their souls hehe she's quite religious and what's the harm to make an elderly woman happy.
Hand fasting is an ancient "Celtic" tradition. I hate the term but it is where the phrase tie the knot comes from.
We're into history so suits us as a couple.
Needless to say the 50 shades jokes from his sister will be rampant but all in good fun .
Our solemniser have us a lot of reading suggestions and we've picked two. One makes me well up every time I read it so emotional.