It should be noted that more and more couples want to organize their wedding ceremony in a romantic place. Many couples dream of a ceremony in a unique and original place so that their union is magical and unforgettable, as in a fairy tale.
Unfortunately, however, the desire to celebrate their marriage outdoors or in a place other than the classic municipal hall or church, often does not come true because the pastor or the mayor does not allow the celebration of the rite outside of the parish church and the municipality.
What is the symbolic ceremony
Have you fallen madly in love with a place surrounded by nature or do you dream of organizing the ceremony in the same structure where the reception will take place but the civil ceremony is not allowed? Don’t worry: a symbolic ceremony can be organized.
The symbolic ceremony is a figurative rite that has no legal value because in it does not take place the classic registration of the bureaucratic part. To obtain, therefore, the civil effects of marriage, it will be necessary to join in civil marriage in the municipality or before or after the symbolic ceremony.
A symbolic ceremony, however, should not be labeled simply as a “fake marriage”; it is a very emotional rite that celebrates and witnesses, in front of others, the love and the union between two people.
Why choose the symbolic ceremony?
Here are some of the reasons why a couple chooses to celebrate a symbolic rite:
1- If they dream of a romantic outdoor wedding, in a dream location but the classic celebration is not possible due to the lack of the necessary permits.
2- Because they want a unique ceremony, without constraints or pre-set rituals.
3- When a couple is already married that, with the symbolic rite, they want to celebrate their wedding anniversary by organizing the renewal of promises.
4- When it’s a foreign couple who choose a romantic and scenic wedding in Italy after having already been legally married in their own country.
5- When it is a couple who wants to witness their love without the legal constraints that a civil or religious marriage entails.
How to organize a symbolic ceremony
Each symbolic ceremony can be entirely customized and created on the bride and groom. The bride and groom will be free to write the wedding vows that they will pronounce at the time of the exchange of rings.
Moreover, since there are no constraints regarding the readings or songs to be performed, it can be created in a totally free way, adding poems, music or gestures that best represent the couple. The symbolic ceremony can, then, be organized in any place and can be celebrated by anyone.
Symbolic ceremony: what rite
A symbolic ceremony is the celebration of love between two people that takes place in a totally free way: there is no set list and, above all, there are no rules on what to say and do. Usually, during a symbolic ceremony, a ritual is performed that has a meaning particularly dear to the couple who chooses it. The rites of symbolic marriage are different and can also be included within ceremonies with civil or religious value, provided that the celebrant agrees.
Here are the most common:
- Rite of the Sand
Each of the bride and groom receives a jar or glass jar containing colored sand and together they pour it into a larger container as they say their wedding vows.
- Rite of Light
The bride and groom each receive a candle that they will light in a small brazier or other lighted source. They will then both light a third, larger candle that will become the symbol of their union.
Usually this rite is accompanied by the reading of a song or a poem by the celebrant or a friend of the bride and groom, or by the performance of music dear to the couple.
- Rite of the Rose
Immediately after the exchange of rings, the bride and groom exchange a red rose. The meaning of this rite is very deep: after the exchange, each of the couple will again hold a red rose in his hand to testify that with marriage nothing has changed even if everything is different because it begins a new life together.
- Rite of the rings
This symbolic rite provides for the active participation of all guests at the wedding: the rings, tied with a ribbon or inside a small bag of fabric, pass into the hands of a guest to the other. In this way, the bride and groom receive the warmth and blessing of all present.
- Rite of Handfasting
This is a rite of Irish origin: it consists in tying with a ribbon the hands of the bride and groom who, in this way, become the symbol of their souls become inseparable with marriage.
Symbolic Rites for Catholic Weddings
Within a Catholic wedding celebration, therefore religious and with legal value, it is possible to add to the traditional rite, during the prayer of blessing, two other rites very suggestive and symbolic.
- Rite of Veiling
This rite requires that the parents or witnesses of the bride and groom hold a white veil over their heads while the priest says a prayer and gives his blessing. The veil is a representation of the Holy Spirit who will protect the couple during the wedding.
- Rite of Coronation
For this rite, it will be necessary to prepare two wreaths of flowers or plant elements that, during the ceremony, the priest places on the heads of the bride and groom. This gesture symbolizes the mutual gift that each spouse gives to the other in the grace of the Lord.