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From The
Sunday, January 29, 2006 Advertising Supplement To The Kalamazoo Gazette
"Creative
Ceremonies Add Personal Touch" by Sheri Benedict
Increasing numbers of
brides-to-be and their fiances are setting tradition aside when planning their
perfect day, opting instead for a wedding ceremony tailored to fit their
personalities. "People are branching out on their own now. They
don't want a cookie-cutter wedding that everyone else has," says the Rev.
Sharon Zinser, 10790 Andrews. "They want to write their own vows,
have a ceremony that means something to them. They want it to be relevant,
and they want it to be theirs."
"People do go in
both directions. We see traditional as well as creative ceremonies,"
says Marialice Doe, retreats coordinator for Sherman Lake YMCA Outdoor Center,
6225 North 39th St. in Augusta. "The younger kids still want the
traditional wedding their grandmother had, while the brides who are a little
older tend to want a little more creativity in their wedding."
2006 will mark the
Center's seventh season hosting weddings in its outdoor chapel on the shores of
Sherman Lake. Approximately 15 couples exchange vows there each year.
Doe believes it is no
the chapel itself, but rather what it represents that is the attraction for
those couples.
"It's the
symbolism of the outdoor chapel, the idea of being outdoors, it's much more
carefree," Doe explains. "The site itself is very simple.
Some of our brides even wear flip flops to walk from their cabins to the
chapel. They'll wear them through the service and only put their heels on
for the reception.
Located in the woods,
the chapel is a five to ten minute walk from the Center's cabins, where the
bridal party prepares for the services. The brides are transported via
golf cars; the grooms make their own way.
"We've had grooms
and groomsmen come over by boat from the public access on the other side of the
lake and walk to the chapel, and we've had horses and carriages bring them down
to the chapel," Doe says.
An interfaith,
nondenominational minister ordained by Reunion Living Ministry in 1989,
Zinser estimates she performs 20-40 weddings each year between the months of May
and October. Some are simple, at-home weddings; others, more elaborate and
centered on a particular theme or period in history.
Each is unique.
"I tell my brides
to think about who they are, who their fiance is, who they are as a
couple," as they strive to discern the ceremony they want, she
explains. "They need to know what it is about the two of them as a
couple that makes them unique and special. Do they speak to one another in
a casual manner? Are they more formal? Some couples love a
Shakespearean sonnet, others can't stand them. All that will show when
they write their own vows."
Musical selections
should also be intensely personal, she says. "Some go for the the
classics - Bach, the Canon in D - but I've also done high-end weddings where the
bridal party marched out to the 'Star Wars' theme. The couples simply
choose the music that fits them."
She does allow
tradition to seep into the structure of her ceremonies, opening each with the
expected welcome and readings.
"Weddings should
be fun, creative and expressive, but they are, first and foremost, sacred,"
she maintains. "I'm not going to do anything that is
irreverent."
Zinser found her niche
shortly after her ordination. Asked to perform a wedding in the
Renaissance style, she agreed despite the fact that she knew little about the
traditions and ceremonies of the period. "I researched them and found
I just loved the symbolism of them," she recalls. "I discovered
all the symbols of Christianity that I loved were pagan in origin.
Renaissance and
Celtic-themed services are her favorite, but Zinser has presided over a wide
variety of weddings.
She recalls a
Valentine's Day union on pink ice at Wings Stadium, in which the Wings mascot
escorted the bride onto the ice; Fourth of July ceremonies marking the birth of
a country as well as the birth of a new family; a Hindu-Christian wedding
blending rituals from the bride's Christian faith with Hindu blessings; weddings
on the beach under the full moon; and sand ceremonies, in which the bride and
groom pour handfuls of two differently colored sands into a jar, blending them
together in a representation of their union.
Children are frequently
incorporated into ceremonies marking a second marriage for one of the parties,
standing up for their parent or doing a reading. Zinser marks the occasion
by saying a blessing for the new family or with the lighting of a unity candle.
The chapel at Sherman
Lake has seen its share of unique services, as well. "We've had
bagpipers pipe their way as they walked out of the woods to the chapel.
We've had violins and harps on the alter area, orchestras sitting in the shade
in the back," Doe says.
There have been Chinese
weddings complete with dragons dancing through them, weddings in which the bride
and groom jumped over a broomstick to mark the completion of the ceremony, and
even weddings in which the happy couple was married by a friend or parent
utilizing information downloaded from the internet.
"People are simply
looking for something different and we try to let them create their own
wedding," Doe says. "They can plan what they want instead of
having someone else plan it for them and tell them what to do, and they're happy
with it."
And in the end, that's
all that matters.
Contact
Rose Ministry at:
269-324-1267
revladyrose@hotmail.com
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