Outdoor Wedding? Ask The Church First!

Reasonable Request?
Recently a Greek synod banned outdoor weddings, citing that weddings held outside of a church lose their holiness. The leaders saw a trend of people talking on their phones, laughing, smoking, and even chewing gum during what was to be a holy ceremony, and they felt that those behaviors would not be seen in the confines of a church.

Raising Questions
The ruling brings up many questions for potential brides and grooms. The first of which is to know what your religious requirements may be before you start planning your wedding. Some other churches may frown on outdoor weddings, requiring that the ceremony be held in a house of worship. Other faiths may not have rules like that at all.

Requirements
Also, some religions and churches have certain requirements that need to be met before a wedding can be held there. Some churches require pre-marital counseling. Other churches may not marry a couple if they are not both members of a specific church. Still, others may only require that one member of the couple be of that specific faith.

And Considerations
The other consideration is that guests may not know proper etiquette when in a house of worship or at a religious ceremony held outdoors. While most of the behaviors that disturbed the leaders of the Greek synod are unacceptable no matter what faith the couple may have, the couple may want to take certain precautions to keep disturbances to a minimum.

The usher is a great tool in offering people alternatives. For instance, if a parent shows up with an infant the usher can point out a ?crying baby? area while seating the parent. This way the parent knows where to go if the baby starts crying, and then there will be few angry stares.

While every faith is different, there are a lot of things to consider when planning a religious-based ceremony. Be sure to know what you want and what the house of worship expects as you plan your wedding.

About the Author:

Chris Morton ran hotels and restaurants for 17 years - catering for 100's of weddings. His wife Sue is a wedding planner with 10 year's experience. Together they have established http://www.TheWeddingWizards.com to provide unbiased help for brides and grooms.