Special Vows for your Grand Cayman Wedding or Vow Renewal

In the last few months I have looked at locations for your Grand Cayman Destination Wedding, and more recently I have looked at flowers. Tonight I want to talk about a topic which is dear to my heart, and this is your wedding vows.

Since I am both a wedding planner and a celebrant, as soon as you book your wedding I will start talking to you about your ceremony. I begin by asking you a few questions, such as will you have family or friends at the ceremony. Many people like to involve their family or friends in the actual ceremony, and I am happy to oblige.

One of the things I really enjoy is including children in the wedding ceremony. The start of your new family is an important milestone for children, and this should be marked and honoured in some way. This involvement can take different forms, a small speaking part or reading for the child if he/she is old enough, a special vow to the child by the step-mother or step-father, and sometimes a token given by the couple to the child. Whatever you chose it should feel natural, and the child should be comfortable with it.

As part of the ceremony I say to the couple, I want you to take each other by the right hand, look at her/him and repeat after me..."I (name) take you (name) to be my wife/husband. This is a very solemn part of the ceremony. Whether you are doing a secular or a religious ceremony under our law you must, of your own free will acknowledge that you are committed to a legal marriage. The actual words however, are not proscribed by law, and as a Civil Registrar of Marriages I can help you be creative.

While many people repeat their vows as I say them, others memorise their vows in their own words, or read them from a slip of paper. One groom even read his vows from a hand-held device. Whatever you choose to do, your wedding vows should hold significance for you.

Some brides and grooms want a more spiritual service, including a prayer. In these cases I will include a short inter-faith blessing. I also use the Apache Wedding blessing, the Cherokee wedding blessing, an Irish Marriage blessing and very frequently a spiritual blessing which was written by my own father.

Some couples like this one, choose the "Hands" blessing.

Quite often couples of a particular heritage or culture wish to honour such heritage by including
something which relates to this culture in their ceremony. So for example I have included the Seven Steps in a ceremony for a bride with Hindu heritage, the seven blessings for a groom of Jewish heritage, and various blessings for a couple who were Buddhist.

I think the strongest part of my professional practice as a Civil Registrar comes from getting to know a couple from correspondence and when I do the documentation for their marriage in our preliminary meeting. As I observe how you react to each other I can often suggest readings, blessings or additional parts to your ceremony.

Call me today to plan your own wedding ceremony, as unique as your love. Call me at (345)5256551 or email me at mywedding@candw.ky

Call me to plan your wedding vow renewal in the beautiful Cayman Islands, tell your spouse how much he/she means to you in a special ceremony for your 5th, 10th, 15th or 50th wedding anniversary, or any anniversary in-between. Surprise vow renewal requests are welcome!