Ceremony questions and ideas NEEDED!!

19 years ago

Well it's down to the last few little details of the ceremony to be decided!!!

We are having a simple "country" wedding--casual!! We are expecting about 100 people.

What songs are good to be played:

as the GUESTS are being seated?? I have read that you should start these songs about 20-30 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony.

Special Family/Friends?? My fiance doesn't have a lot of family coming in for the wedding because they live about 10 hours from where the wedding is. Do we sit those friends of his mother's and family that are coming in the first couple of rows at the church?? If you include these people, there will be approximately 10 couples (between the two of us) that will be seated in the first couple of pews. How long should the song(s) be so that we have enough time to get everyone seated??

Grandparents?? Between the two of us, we will have 4 sets of grandparents that will be seated. I have read that step-grandmothers are seated first and are seated BEHIND the grandmothers. Has anyone else heard of this before?? How long should you give to get everyone seated??

Mothers?? My fiance's mother will be escorted down by her husband and will remain standing until my mother is escorted down by my brother. The mothers together will then light the two family candles next to the unity candle. They will then walk back to their pews and sit. How long should it take for each of them to walk in and light the candles??

We were thinking of now having the candle lighter light the candleabras. Is this a good place to have him light the candles or should it be done earlier?? What is a good song and how long should it take??

The preacher, groom and GM will now enter.

Entrance of the BM?? The BMs will walk down alone. We have 2 BM and the MOH. What are songs for them to walk down to and how long should it be??

Entrance of the RB?? Should this song be the same as the one for the BM??

Entrance of the FG?? Should this too be the same some as the one for the BM??

Entrance of the Bride??

Leaving of the Bride and Groom??

During the ceremony, we are using Penny's Idea of the reading. We are having My fiance's sister, a BM, read the part about his hands to me and then my brother, a GM, is going to read the part about my hands to my fiance. He is then going to say "we now ask that you unite our two families by lighting the unity candle." I thought this would be a really nice thing to do instead of playing a long song and having our guests get board. The preacher will then say a prayer like the one that was in Penny's reading. Should we play a song any other time throughout the ceremony??

Thank you everyone for all of your help!!!

Springbride04

Comments (5)

AutumnBride
19 years ago
The same song can be played for when the guests, mothers and grandparents are sat. The same processional can be played for when the BMs, RB and FG come in. We actually had the same processional played for the BMs, RB, FG and me (the Bride). We had a live organist who just played a flourish after the bridal party had entered and were standing at the front and played the opening louder and more stately when I entered. We were told the less songs the better - you would have to change out the music so often if you had a different song for the BM, RB, FG, and Bride that it would sound a little strange, same with having too much music changes while everyone is being seated.

Do you want a more traditional wedding, even though it is a country wedding? It is helpful to know if you want to the mood to be more light hearted and fun or more serious and traditional, that way we can suggest some more appropriate music for you!
gellchom
19 years ago
Are you having musicians, or recorded music? If you will have professional musicians, I would ask them about this. They know their own repertoire, they know how many songs they will need for a wedding processional, etc. They will have good suggestions and good information for you.
Related Discussions
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Place Settings
Q
Comments (10)
Wonderful OA! The Olympics are being held in our province and I haven't even thot about a tablesetting yet you live in CA and have done one on opening day! I'm impressed! We've been hearing so much about it on TV for so long that it's almost getting tiresome. In fact lately we've been watching the news on CNN more than on any Canadian news channels! We're quite a distance from the coast so won't be attending - I think traffic will be crazy altho I've heard Vancouver has cleaned up very well and it would be fun to see! I know I'm from the "frozen north" LOL but I had to google to find out what an Eskimo pie is! Dairy Queen has something similar as I've gotten them for the Grands but when we were kids we got Revels which I think are similar too. BTW Canada's northern first nations people are known as Inuit, not Eskimos. Love your tall cloche and the colors are so pretty! Thanks, I've enjoyed it.
...See More
Reception after Boy Scout ceremony- Need ideas!
Q
Comments (4)
Jerri, We had cake & punch and pop (plus coffee--forgot the tea, but I don't drink either). I went to the grocery store and ordered ready-made trays of fruit and vegies with dip. Skipped cheese & crackers because it cost too much to have it sliced and put together for me (and *I* ran out of time!). I cooked nothing! We put bowls of candy, nuts & pretzels (bought in bulk at Sam's Club) on the tables between the decorations. The ingredients were supposed to be kept separate but one of my "helpers" decided to dump them all in together. YUCK. We did NOT get the frozen fruit from Sams; we tried it ahead of time and it definitely lacked flavor and texture. If I had to do it over I would do it the same. Nobody really pays much attention to the food since it's just a cake and punch reception, and the table decorations made it LOOK festive even it if wasn't anything special. If it had been a "girl thing" I would have bought the circle netting and tied up wrapped chocolates with a ribbon or something. Depending on your budget a variety of cakes (including my all-time favorite cheesecake) might make a nice addition. You'll need more than one sheet cake for that many people anyway. Best of luck to you! Julie
...See More
Native American Reaffirmation Ceremony
Q
Comments (2)
I agree with Party Music that the buffet line should be on both sides of table & have soup, corn, then stew,(do they make it with flatbread or will they be already put together? I haven't had that so don't know how it's done.. Drinks I always prefer to be in 1 area ,not main food table as a spill can really slow things down. Cake table- cake,forks, napkins & maybe couple of small containers of flowers, any canoes available?? How about a couple of child sized moccasins. Make them out of felt & bead on the front of them(glue or sew on) put a plastic container in where foot should go with low arrangement of fall flowers. Your idea of memories or quotes is good, make that a game where you pass out rough paper in rawhide or beige color & ask them to write something for bride & groom would need pens or pencils to write with but advice, favorite memory about couple or "how to get through the net 25 yrs" would be fun & interesting memory of the party. Only thought is be sure things are pretty secure in case of wind, would heat be a problem, might consider a tarp or 2 to shade some areas if you have trees or house you can anchor them on. Home Depot has brown ones that are nice & last quite well. Also have beige colored 6 ft wide shade cloth that can be anchored with long high wires to higher trees or close to roof so have some shade. It's sold in rolls 100 ft long or shorter 6 ft by 20 ft long. smaller rolls are $29. I think, I shade parts of my yard & makes a big difference. Sounds like a fun party!
...See More
Ideas needed for kitchen layout - island seating question
Q
Comments (8)
First of all, congratulations- looks like a beautiful home! Aside from blocking the view of dirty dishes (which is a big plus), a raised height bar also provides a clear delineation of usage. For example, there's a natural indication of where the newspaper should go and where the dirty dishes should go. There are good reasons people stray from this natural pattern of interaction, especially in smaller kitchens or out of concern for small children (which your kiddos may be), but I think I would try and keep it raised in your kitchen if possible. I like your idea of placing some of the same materials found in the living room (such as the fireplace stone) in the kitchen. This will help bring the house together. I wouldn't worry too much about whether the fireplace lines up with the hood, in part because the rooms are designed such that folks will rarely have a view of both together. And even if there was some natural vantage point which caused you to see them both inline, I wouldn't rush to shift the hood down any further because that will increase the number of steps you take from the cooking area to the sink (a trip that is taken quite often). People often don't think enough about their day to day interactions with the elements of the kitchen. For example, what will you be looking at while you do the dishes? In your case, a dish washer can look out many windows, but also interact with folks at the bar or keep an eye on kids in the living room. Seems like exactly what you want. So, I would keep the angled island despite folks' accurate comments on your other post that it's not an ideal layout for storage space. Speaking of day-to-day interactions and your concern about storage, I would think about what each cabinet will be used for. For example, how far will you have to walk to put away a stack of heavy plates that just came out of the dishwasher? Can you put pots & pans where they're easily accessible from the cooking area? If you walk through this exercise, my hunch is you'll find that the cabinets around the sink/DW/oven end of the kitchen will be in high demand, and the space in the pantry and next to it is not as much. However, overall I think you have plenty of space (especially considering you've got a dining room buffet and wet bar cabinetry for some items other folks would have in kitchen cabinetry), so it may simply be a prioritization exercise. One thing I might think about changing is the pocket door between the mudroom and the kitchen. I love pocket doors for their efficient use of space, but they are not as easy to open and close. The passageway from the garage to the kitchen is one of the most heavily used in many households, and making it as simple as possible to pass through will pay off frequently. Because pocket doors are more difficult to open/close, they are also often left open. This is not a big deal in many of the situations where they're commonly used, but may be something to consider in your...
...See More
duckie
19 years ago
I agree about asking your music people about what they recommend. Also, if you are getting married in a church, ask if there are any restrictions on the music which the church will make. I think too you are expecting entrances and such to take longer than they will. So you won't need all that many songs.

General seating - determine about how many pews it will take to seat the groom's people, and how many the bride's. Divide that by two. The first rows of the groom's side ought to have groom's people. Then fill in the remaining with bride's. Or, don't worry about which side is which and just seat most people wherever. All in all it is dreary to see half the pews filled with the other half empty.

Your proposed seating plan for grandmothers and step-grandmothers seems awkward at best. If it seems like it will work, great, but it probably wouldn't be my first instinct.

I'd have candleabras lit well before the family candles. Candleabras are just set decoration, while family candles are symbolic and should be lit closer to the ceremony.
Glitter53
19 years ago
Here's a very helpful music site:
http://www.weddingtips.com/wtfavori.html

You can hear sound clips and suggestions for songs at various times of the ceremony and reception!

As for music while seating guests, pick a few and play them as long as it takes to seat people...then play out the last song and stop. Simple. Actually, play a single piece and that should be sufficient...too many changes just gets to be tooo much.

As for seating, I agree with the others, including the seating of the Grandmothers. Seating one behind the other just seems disrespectful somehow....I'd treat them as equals and let them sit together and enjoy each other's company.

As for other 'rules', this is your wedding and as you didn't mention Miss Manners attending it, you should do as you and your family darn well please. There will be no wedding police present...;-)

Relax and enjoy! Your ceremony sounds lovely!
springbride04
Original Author
19 years ago
Well thank you everyone!! I totally agree now that I think about it, I think we will play the same song for seating the "special family, grandparents, and mothers." I don't think there is any possible way to seat the grandmother and step-grandmother together.....DO NOT get along!!!

But thank you everyone!!

Springbride04

Ceremony questions and ideas NEEDED!!

Comments (5)

AutumnBride

gellchom

Related Discussions

duckie

Glitter53

springbride04
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Ceremony questions and ideas NEEDED!!

Comments (5)

AutumnBride

gellchom

Related Discussions

duckie

Glitter53

springbride04Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

springbride04
Original Author