Civil or Religious Ceremony?

[WebLady]

Well, most of us know that the type and theme of your wedding will be a big factor in determining how much planning will be required. But where should you have your wedding?

We all know that it is traditional to get married in a church. Brides have been getting married in churches for generations. But these days many brides are steering away from the traditional "Religious" ceremony and opting for a "Civil" ceremony. Don't worry though, you can still have your faith represented in your "Civil" ceremony!

The main difference here is just the location itself, where you actually hold the ceremony. With a "Civil" ceremony, you can hold the wedding ceremony anywhere you choose. Maybe a local park, a country club, or even your own back yard. It all depends on your taste and of course your budget.

It does help with guest confusion and sometimes saves money too, if you find a place where you can host the ceremony and reception both in one location. Either way you go, be sure to check out several locations before making your final decision.

Best wishes and Happy Planning!!

[WebLady]

Bump ... what did you or are you have/having and why?

[mj512]

I will be having my wedding in a church. Not simply because of my faith. While my faith will be represented majorly in my wedding, I would have went for an outdoors wedding if I wasn't scared of rain/could find a good spot.

I will be having it at the church because it is what I like best so far. But of course our faith will be shown through our wedding no matter where it was.

[hummingbird521]

At first I wanted our wedding to take place outdoors at the church under the pavillion. But after carefully considering this we decided the mosquitos that time of year and with it being late evening that that would be a real problem. We decided then to have it indoors in the santuary. Now I am glad we done so. and yes, we wanted it to be somewhat traditional.

[countrygirl]

We are having a full catholic mass for our weddig. We wanted one outside, but the church doens't recognize them if they are not done in the church itself. I don't agree w that myself. We could always ask the bishop for permission, but figured that is just way too much work for us now.

[JennF]

We opted to go with a civil ceremony because we're having so few guests. He doesn't have a large family and most of my family won't be making the trip.

It was funny for me to realize that the majority of weddings in the UK are civil ceremonies. According to one article that I read it's over 60%. And until fairly recently a civil ceremony had to be held in a Registrars office..in fact, there are apparently formal rooms set aside for the event. When the registrars office was floated by me as a possible venue I balked at it because it felt so informal. But it turns out to be practically the norm there. I think I'm still happier with our venue though. :)

The only thing that's bothering me about a civil ceremony is the fact that there can't be any religious content at all. This causes some limitations with the music choices. For example, for a long while you couldn't use a lot of pieces by Bach. Apparently now it's left to the discretion of the Registrar. Jonathan's faith is really important to him, so I would have liked to have that reflected during the ceremony. Ah well.

[LaceyinPgh]

I wanted a civil ceremony. Religion is something I have always felt very uncomfortable with. Sean said he didn't care as long as he didn't have to deal with it. I felt that was fair. We had originally started to plan a civil ceremony.

However, my grandmother had an absolutely irrate fit that under NO circumstances woul dhse be coming ot an unholy wedding. We HAD to get married in a church. She called my mother at all hours of the day and night about this for weeks. Finally, I consented to have a religious ceremony as long as I held total control over it. I book a church and put in the contract (I drew it up they didn't have one) that there would be NO stipulations on my dress or the fashion of the bridesmaids or groomsmen. There would be NO regulations on the music. THere would be NO requirements dealing with decor. I would bring in my own minister if I felt that there minister didn't fit my style. I did end up bringing in my cousin to do the ceremony because he is ordained and his thoughts, views, and ideas reflected comfortably with my own. The only mention of God or Christianity actually in the ceremony was a brief opening prayer.

I wanted my ceremony to be a fully reflection on me, not one someone else's beliefs about what I should think or be. I didn't fully get that. It is the biggest regret of my wedding that I didn't get that. I will never forgive my grandmother for making my mother feel so pressured that she literally begged me to change my ideas. I will never forgive myself for not looking at both of them and telling them to shove it. And for the record, my grandmother did not attend my marriage, but for other reasons.

[Kacie_bride]

Mine will be a religous ceremony, but not in a church. Our church is too small and all of my guests would not fit in the church. I would have prefered that is be in a church. Our pastor just retired, but he is still going to perform our ceremony because we didn't know what the new pastor would be like. In fact, we will not be meeting the new pastor for another 2 weeks.

We will be having a short sermon, but not communion. There will be 2 readings from the Bible.

I not only wanted a religous ceremony, I wanted a Lutheran ceremony. I have nothing against any other denominations or religions, but I would not get married if it was not a Lutheran ceremony. I was baptized into that church, confirmed, will wed in a Lutheran ceremony, and will have a Lutheran funeral. My children will be raised in the church. I will not shove it down their throat. If they decide when they are old enough that they do not want to attend church at all I will not force them. Nor will I force them if they decide to seek another denomination.

Justin grew up Baptist, but is now a member of our church. If he didn't want to join that would be okay.

[ikkin510]

We are having a religous cereomy due to how important our faith is to us. We thought about having it outdoors, but the location we wanted it at didn't have an indoor space in case of bad weather. Plus with all the people traveling, that would be tough giving the directions for both locations "just in case." So we are having the ceremony in the church Steve grew up in and his grandparents helped start.