This text: 'Wonderful Weddings & Afterward Wonders' is a great book which offers insight into the world of wedding celebrations. It is not only insightful for engaged couples and their supporting families but also for other wedding celebrants as a guide. As a textbook this volume can be beneficial as a practical guide in the Course of Pastoral Theology in Bible colleges/seminaries. The information is not only insightful but also educational, inspirational and humorous. It is well worth the money, time and energy needed to procure this volume.
WONDERFUL WEDDINGS & AFTERWARD WONDERS
(Insight For Getting It Right)By Lorne K. FreakeAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Dr. Lorne K. Freake (Ph.D.)
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4772-6123-1Contents
PREFACE.........................................................xiFOREWORD........................................................xiiiACKNOWLEDGEMENT.................................................xvPROLOGUE........................................................xviiDEDICATION......................................................xixINTRODUCTION....................................................1THE WEDDING REHEARSAL...........................................5WONDERFUL WEDDING CELEBRATIONS..................................9WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 1.....................................11The Biker's Wedding.............................................11WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 2.....................................13Everyone Is Here ..., Except The Minister!......................13WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 3.....................................16One Couple, One Marriage, Three Ceremonies......................16WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 4.....................................19Wedding In Uniform..............................................19WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 5.....................................21One Couple-Two Wedding Celebrants...............................21WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 6.....................................25Getting Together On The Green...................................25WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 7.....................................28February The 14th, One Stormy Night.............................28WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 8.....................................30The Tri-Lingual Wedding.........................................30WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 9.....................................34Making It Official (Again) After 25 Years.......................34WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 10....................................36The Non-Religious Ceremony......................................36WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 11....................................39Second Time Around ... To The Same Man..........................39WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 12....................................42The Short Wedding...............................................42WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 13....................................44The Couple ... With Customized Vows.............................44WONDERFUL WEDDING STORY # 14....................................47The Outside/Inside/Outside Wedding..............................47WONDERFUL FEATURES..............................................49For Wedding Celebrations........................................49WONDERFUL MATERIAL..............................................54On Marriage From The Bible......................................54AFTERWARD WONDERS...............................................61WHAT?...........................................................63WHEN?...........................................................65WHERE?..........................................................67HOW?............................................................69WHY?............................................................71WONDERFUL QUESTIONS FOR A WEDDING CELEBRANT.....................75CONCLUSION......................................................87AFTERWORD.......................................................89EPILOGUE........................................................91BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................93COLLECTIONS/ARTICLES............................................97WEB PAGES/LINKS.................................................99ABOUT THE AUTHOR................................................101ANNEX I.........................................................103ANNEX II........................................................105ANNEX III.......................................................107ANNEX IV........................................................109ANNEX V.........................................................113NOTES...........................................................116
Chapter One
THE WEDDING REHEARSAL
If at all possible, every wedding celebration needs to have a rehearsal. Having it the day (evening) before the wedding is ideal but if not possible, at least in the morning of the actual wedding day. Having a wedding rehearsal accomplishes several different purposes such as: it provides a great opportunity for everyone in the wedding party to know what is expected of them during the actual wedding celebration.
It gives the wedding celebrant a great opportunity to personally get to know all the people in the wedding party and hopefully a greater possibility of being able to remember their names! A wedding rehearsal helps tremendously in the actual logistics of the wedding ceremony such as who stands where, when should they start walking, etc. It provides opportunity for each to know their cues and when to respond to them.
If a religious wedding, I usually begin the rehearsal with prayer. Furthermore, I explain to the wedding party and relatives that we will go through the routine at least twice until we are all generally comfortable. While I even rehearse the section of the vows with the couple, I do not read all of it to them at the rehearsal. I let them know what the general routine is, but I do not go through the actual vows, in order for it to be extra special to both them and their families on the actual wedding day.
I explain to them that I know that there will be many different ideas which they will want to share and ultimately to see included in the wedding ceremony but as the wedding celebrant, I tell them that I hear only ONE voice and that is the voice of the bride ...
To conclude the wedding rehearsal I generally give the wedding couple two simple rules to keep in mind:
(One) While we have practiced the ceremony in a certain way, if during the wedding, someone does something different than was practiced, just 'go with the flow', just improvise, as no one will notice anyway ...
(Two) While they maybe be excited and/or nervous and want to celebrate, I passively (jokingly) tell them to keep all the celebrations until AFTER the wedding ceremony, especially if they celebrate with the use of alcohol. Furthermore, I explain if either one of them or either one of the witnesses show up for the ceremony under the influence of alcohol, there will NOT be a wedding ceremony! So far, I have never had any grief concerning this, thank God.
Now we will move into sharing with you four-teen stories of different wedding celebrations which I have been involved with. I'll begin with a little background information first, which will help you know where we are going with this. I trust that you will be blessed by what you read.
Chapter Two
WONDERFUL WEDDING CELEBRATIONS
In this section of the book, I am going to give you an inside look of what modern day couples go through in order to have a wonderful wedding celebration. There is no official guide book in order to tell people how a particular wedding should be conducted. Most people go by what they have witnessed firsthand at other people's weddings or what they have heard from their friends who have seen it elsewhere.
On occasion, there is some inspiration for wedding planning that comes from reports on television or magazine articles, where journalists have written about the wedding ceremony of an actor/actress or someone else who has been in the limelight recently. With the easy access to...