Christian Weddings

Resources to Make Your Ceremony Unique

By Andy Langford
Abingdon Press, $5.95

ISBN 0-687-01143-4

Planning the Big Day

Review by Esther Sweeney

If you're a bride-to-be, you know there's lots of froth and fantasy in planning your wedding, not to mention frantic activity. Suddenly it's almost time for the ceremony and you and your fiance don't know exactly what kind of ceremony you're going to have. You want something memorableÑnot the 10-minute "I do" version. As Christians, you want a service that testifies to your faith and connects you with the countless other couples who have pledged your vows "before God and these witnesses." Yet you want some unique touch, something that clearly marks the ceremony as your own. What to do?

Andy Langford has written exactly the book they need: Christian Weddings: Resources to Make Your Ceremony Unique. Langford begins with a checklist of 18 different possibilities for elements to be included in the service. He then presents each element with numerous examples and suggestions from more than 20 different denominations. The lists of hymns and scripture selections are especially helpful.

The heart of the service (and of the book) is the vows the couple make to each other. Though all have basically the same meaning and occur in the same order, it's really surprising what a difference a change in wording can make. Whereas the Baptist service includes praying and encouraging one another, it does not mention faithfulness in sickness and health. The Presbyterian service is exactly the opposite. The words for the giving and receiving of the rings also vary but with the same underlying meaning. A chapter is devoted to lighting the unity candle, a relatively recent addition to the wedding service, but one that is widely accepted.

Langford clearly believes that the guests at a wedding should be members of an active congregation rather than simply passive witnesses or spectators. Thus they can participate in hymns, responses, and the Lord's Prayer.

Abingdon Press has also made this book available in a software version for Windows, DOS, or Macintosh. After a couple has selected from the different elements and designed their wedding service, it can be printed immediately from the software.

Filled with straightforward advice and many choices, all biblical, Christian Weddings makes no bones about the perspective it gives on the wedding ceremony. It is for couples who want their marriage to begin with truly Christian worship.

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