http://www.yourweddinghub.com - Hey it's Allan Burnett. Welcome back to Your Wedding Hub.com. Brides I hope you are getting some good tips!
I have been talking to Mitch Clarke for the last couple of days talking about planning the ceremony. Today I want to touch on an issue that is a very relevant one now a days. And Mitch, that is what happens when you are dealing with a couple that maybe come from 2 different faiths. You know and it used to be when we talked about that people thought that meant Protestant/Catholic. I mean beyond that. Let's say or maybe you are talking to somebody that comes from sort of a fait background and the partner is about to be married maybe is just atheistic or agnostic. How do you deal with some of those issues Mitch?
Mitch: Well you know Allan, I always think that they are more things that bring us together then what separate us. And I always kind of look for common ground. And when you have a couple that is in love with each other obviously there is some kind of an energy there that is really powerful. It has brought them together in wedding ceremony.
I work with that. Because there are those things that bring them both together and there are some really common elements in faith. I remember there was a couple that came in and the bride was German and the groom was Sikh. And he walked into the chapel and he was actually quite uncomfortable in the Minoru Chapel. Because he had never been in a chapel in his life. And so he was looking for things here that were similar to where his faith is. And he starts looking at the stained glass windows and he starts "Hey Boy! There are a lot of things that we have in common!".
So he said " You know Mitch what I want to do is during the wedding ceremony I want you to explain a few of these stained glass windows because of the guests that we are going to be having at the wedding. And you know we put that whole thing together and we celebrated our faith in a special way and I felt that the bride was just beaming because she probably thought "man what is going to say and what is he going to do" And all I did was just kind of redirect their attention back to themselves so that they could share what brought them together. And it was a coming together of 2 families. Which is what marriage is really all about.
It was a celebration about love and it was a celebration of faith. So you know I think that is really the key to when you come from different backgrounds. Rather than trying to polarize and separate. No, come on, let's find those common things that bring us together in our faith and let's use those as a means of coming together because that's what marriage already is. It says really that 2 people become one. And so then from that point you know I'm sure that things are "tickity boo" by that time.
Allan: So let me just ask you one other, we are running out of time, on this one Mitch, but if you got a couple that say "You know what Mitch we are not comfortable with prayer does that create a problem with you as a minister?"
Mitch: no it doesn't. Because as a matter of fact I am glad when they say that. I sigh a sigh of relief because then I know what they want. And I think there is a way of even handling a prayer. Because a prayer to me is a cry of heart. It is not necessarily something that is directed a particular deity per say. It is the cry of the heart. What do you want to have happen in your lives together?
So I can take a prayer and turn it into a statement of blessing. Instead of saying "dear God" and "amen" I just simply word it in such a way that it is a blessing over this couple. And you know I find that they are able to embrace that and to remember that and once they have really kind of thought through it and walked through it that might even be a prayer of heart.
Allan: Brides and Grooms that are listening to this I hope you are getting a bit of a taste of just how important it is to sit down with your wedding officiant and I have said this before and I may offend some people in saying it but when you meet with the person that you think is going to be the person to do your ceremony and you just feel like, you know what, it didn't click then you need to say "NEXT".
I always tell Brides and Grooms if that happens to be me I will take it personally but I will get over it! You really want to connect with the person that is standing there and I think you can hear in talking to Mitch that it is extremely important to him that he feels that sense of connection with the Bride and Groom that he stands at the altar with.
So we cannot over state how important it is to sit down and plan the ceremony.
So thank you for joining us on You Wedding Hub.com
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