The year is rolling up like a long carpet and you may feel as though you’ve been on a magical carpet ride ever since he (or she) popped the question. On top of it all, it’s that time of year again. For some of us, Halloween kick-starts those end-of-year jitters: the pressure of planning for the holidays; the dread of colder and shorter days.
Yet you’ve got more to be jittery about than most because you are getting married! Yes, you planned it last year. (Or, maybe, last week.) And for very good reasons you timed it squarely in the middle of the holidays! After all, you have so much to be thankful for. What better season to celebrate your nuptials than the season of giving thanks?
The good news is that you are absolutely right! There is no better season to get married. You don’t have to be religious to be grateful that all the paths of your life have led you to your best friend, soul mate and life partner. And the natural good will of the season makes it all the more poignant. Plus, if you’re lucky, most of the people you want at your wedding will be nearby and in a mood to celebrate.
And what about the ceremony? Isn’t this the ideal place and time to acknowledge the good fortune, amazing synchronicities and the generosity of people in your life that led you to this miraculous moment? Wedding experts from Bridal Guide magazine agree that weaving gestures of gratitude into a wedding ceremony planned for this time of year can make it especially meaningful.
Why not make “thank you” the centerpiece of your holiday wedding ceremony? Your JP will help you find readings that focus on gratitude. By inviting family and friends to read them at your ceremony, you’ll add to the warmth of the occasion.
Here, for example, are excerpts from a traditional Iroquois prayer as translated by Harriet Maxwell Converse:
We who are here present thank the Great Spirit …. for our [friends] that come from the west and east….We give Him thanks for our [parents] and supporters, who had charge of our harvests. We thank the Great Spirit that we have the privilege of this joyful occasion. We give thanks that the voice of the Great Spirit can still be heard….
Before your wedding, prepare your heart with gratitude. The editors of Bridal Guide suggest that you list all that you have to be thankful for — not just each other, but those experiences, precious people, good advice that brought you here. Then, with the help of your JP, look for creative ways to incorporate the essential elements of this list into the ceremony itself.
Focusing on gratitude before your wedding is like tuning a piano: your spirit will be overflowing — pitched and receptive to the sacred bonds surrounding you. By blending the theme of thanks-giving into the ritual of your union, you will create a wedding ceremony in tune with the spirit of the holidays. What’s more, you will create a treasured holiday memory for you and your beloved, as well as your entire family.
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