You want your wedding to engage both the hearts and minds of your guests. You want it to describe your relationship and to inspire the two of you to an intense commitment. And you don't want references to a deity which would have no meaning for you. You want your meaningful, beautiful, literate ceremony to be true to your deepest convictions.
A Humanist wedding is for you.
Maybe you have a pretty clear idea of what you want your ceremony to say. Maybe there are readings and poems which you want to use. Maybe you want to include rituals from family faith traditions, in a way which doesn't compromise your principles. I will advise you on staging and protcol, on the order of the various elements you might wish to include, on how to handle vows and exchange of rings. I will work with you to help create a ceremony that blends these elements into a cohesive, moving experience.
Maybe you have no idea what you want. I have some sample ceremonies from which you may choose.
If there is someone close to you who will feel that your wedding is not complete without some religious text, I will happily provide a space in the ceremony for someone to read it, but I will not read it myself.
I have done ceremonies with readings in French and German. I have done ceremonies in which others have spoken blessings in Hebrew, read texts from the Bible or offered prayers. I have done ceremonies in homes, back yards, parks, and once, on a rock in the middle of a Vermont stream. I have done a ceremony under a huppah lovingly constructed of antique linens from both families. I have done an October ceremony in a hayloft, where all the guests came in costume. I have done ceremonies in a clerical robe and in street clothes.
Your wedding is yours, not mine. Together we can include humor, lightheartedness, dignity, emotion, solemnity . . . to make a ceremony you and your guests will remember with delight.
"Thank you so much for helping to make our special day so perfect. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. We have received numerous compliments on how lovely and moving our ceremony was, and we owe a great deal of that to you. Thanks so much."
Joy and Lisa
H.E.
Valerie White, Humanist Minister
Memorial services, baby-namings, adoption rituals, polyamorous commitments, divorce rituals also available.
Ordained by the
Humanist Society
156 Massapoag Ave.
Sharon, MA 02067
781 784 6114
valerie@forevermail.com