Had an alternative wedding ceremony?

A journalist who is writing for glossy magazine LOOK, published in the UK, is doing an article exploring the alternatives to traditional marriage ceremonies.

She would love to talk to a couple who decided not to legally marry but to have an alternative wedding blessing, instead, to celebrate their commitment to each other.

The couple would need to be aged 18 to 35, and be happy to give a short phone interview and send in some photos of their wedding.

You'll even earn £150 when the article is published! Perfect budget for a romantic night out ...

If you fancy chatting to Viki Wilson about how you 'did it' then email her at viki.wilson@btinternet.com and mention GreenUnion.

Posted in Green Wedding Celebrants & Blessings , Civil Partnerships , Natural Nuptials , Press

Low Impact Wedding Series - Ceremony

In the beginning we talked about having a sunrise wedding. Doesn't that sound so auspicious and romantic? But then we thought about the details - all the guests would have to arrive in the dark and you'd have to get dressed and ready at four in the morning!

So instead, we had a morning wedding ceremony starting at 9:00 am. The wedding breakfast followed at about 10:30 AM and lasted until about 1:30 pm. The real party for the wedding was the rehearsal dinner and we invited all the wedding guests to a BBQ at the ceremony location the night before.

Ceremony Area - The ceremony was held with the shelter as a back drop. It worked out perfectly because the front had a peek that served as a beautiful frame for the alter.

Ceremony Music - Again we’re thinking eco friendly, so canned music with speakers was out. We have a friend who plays the cello and that just seemed perfect. He agreed and we asked that he pick the procession and recession. He actually composed the music and gave it to us a wedding present. The walk in was “Look, Isn’t She Pretty” and the walk out was “Okay, We’re Done, You Can Go Now”. I left the titles out of the program, but they make me smile. Our cellist friend was gratis.

Ceremony Officiant - The groom’s family is Catholic and mine is, well... a little bit of this and that. I have never been baptized and had no intention of joining the Catholic church so we were extremely lucky.

It was really important to the groom that Father Terry do the ceremony and Father Terry is one of the most open hearted and open minded priests I have met. He agreed to marry us “in the Bride’s place of worship” which I decided was to be outside and he did a wonderful job. He basically read the ceremony we came up with and we gave $100 to the church as his payment. Search for officiants and celebrants in our wedding directory.

Total Cost = $100

You can get more ideas on how to conduct your wedding ceremony and the legalities of getting married in the UK by going to our advice pages.

Posted in Green Wedding Celebrants & Blessings , Natural Nuptials

What is an Interfaith wedding?

While you plot and plan, try on dresses and taste delicious organic locally produced food and cakes, preparing for your big green wedding day, it's sometimes easy to loose the plot, forgetting the true reason for taking this journey.

Janette Blakemore of Sacred Life, an Interfaith Celebrant, has put some thought into the subject and here's her very sound advice about the whole wedding thing. Over to you Janette...

HOW TO CREATE A WEDDING CEREMONY THAT TRULY REFLECTS YOUR VALUES & BELIEFS

To the spirit, relationships are the perfect vehicle to help us walk back into the experience of love, wholeness and unity together.
Miranda Holden

You are thinking about having a Green Wedding because you know that how you choose to spend your resources effects us all and that sustainability matters.

You also know that sustainability in a loving relationship has nothing to do with whether your wedding chair covers match the serviettes!

Posted in Green Wedding Celebrants & Blessings , Civil Partnerships , Wedding Planning