Ring Relay
An idea for your wedding ceremony
Here's an idea for your wedding ceremony - if you want something a bit different.
Ring Relay
Arrange for a long ribbon to be strung down both sides of the aisle, from the back row of seats to the front row. The colour of the ribbons is unimportant, but white, silver, gold or 'true blue' might be considered.
During the ceremony, just before the rings are exchanged, the bride and groom face the congregation. At the back of the chapel on the groom's side, a groomsman or chapel assistant threads the ribbon through the groom's ring and hands the ring to the person sitting on the back row adjacent to the aisle. Similarly on the bride's side, the ribbon is thread through the bride's ring and handed to the person sitting on the back row.
Row by row, the rings are slid along the ribbons to the front, ending in the hands of couple's fathers. The pastor takes the rings from the fathers and then proceeds with the ring exchange.
It's a beautiful addition to the ceremony, in that people have a real involvement with the wedding. For just a couple of seconds, they have control of the wedding. Quite a feeling. And they love it!
During the ring relay, there might be background music or singing. And when the fathers hand the rings to the pastor, they might say a couple of supportive sentences. These are just ideas to stimulate your own thoughts when planning your wedding.
One further idea is that the pastor might take that time to remind the guests (family and friends) that whilst only those sitting by the aisle are taking part in the ring relay, everybody in the room has been invited to the wedding to take an active part. They are taking part by witnessing the exchange of vows and more importantly in the future, they are to take part in the couple's married life together; to help and support them as one does in a big happy family.
This, after all, is what a wedding ceremony is. It is a public display of not only a man and woman being joined together in love, but also of their families and friends to similarly join together.
