That two may be one

". . . but the greatest of these is love"

A wedding is, first and foremost, worship of the God who calls a man and woman together in marriage. Recognizing this as you plan your ceremony will give you a clearer vision of what your wedding service should be. Because your wedding is worship, only those actions appropriate to worship are permitted. The pastor will assist you to determine what is acceptable and what is not.

Location

The service should be held in the church or the chapel. It is much clearer to all involved that the ceremony is worship if it is held in a sanctuary, rather than in a home or yard. Exceptions will be permitted only by the pastor's permission. The church will be open two hours prior to the appointed time of the wedding service. The sanctuary of First Lutheran Church seats over 800 worshipers.

For smaller weddings, you might prefer holding your wedding in the chapel. The chapel is a beautiful, intimate worship space which comfortably seats 100 worshipers. A piano or electronic keyboard can accompany the wedding service held in the chapel.

The Order of Worship

The pastor will provide the liturgy that will be used for the service. If you have ideas for changes or modifications in the service, feel free to discuss them with the pastor. If the suggestion meets with the approval of the pastor, it will be incorporated into the service.

Vows and Scripture Lessons

Usually the vows provided by the pastor will be used in the service; alternative vows will be acceptable with the consent of the pastor. You may select up to three Scripture passages for use in the service; otherwise, the pastor will select appropriate wedding texts. Appendix I provides possible Scripture texts. Non-biblical readings are not permitted.

Music

The Christian wedding is a service of worship. Choose music that will point people to God and show evidence of your Christian commitment. There is room for personal taste and variety of music styles, of course, but all music should lend itself to the criteria of appropriateness for worship—music should reflect a distinctively Christian content.

The criteria of what is appropriate for worship is sometimes difficult to define precisely. It is helpful if you ask whether or not the music and words honor the God in whose name we gather. Popular, secular music is usually not appropriate for worship; we suggest such music be played at the reception. If you have suggestions of music to be played or sung at your wedding, we welcome your suggestions and would be happy to review it with you to determine its appropriateness for Christian worship. While the final decision is at the discretion of the pastor, please know that your suggestions will be taken seriously. The organist will acquaint you with various music selections. Feel free to share your ideas or suggestions with the organist or pastor.

The singing of hymns is encouraged and allows for the assembled congregation to actively participate in the service. Appendix II lists hymn selections from the Lutheran Book of Worship which you might want to consider.

Should additional microphones or amplifiers be needed in addition to the house system, the contemporary worship system may be requested. No contemporary sound equipment may be used without First Lutheran's sound technician present.

Couples who reserve their weddings at First Lutheran may pick up a CD packet of suggested wedding music from the church office. In addition, we encourage couples to use staff musicians of First Lutheran because of their excellent music abilities and familiarity with First’s wedding service. Staff musicians are listed in the CD packet as well as honorarium information and phone numbers.

Organist

It is your responsibility to contact the organist for an appointment to review and select music for your wedding. Call the church office for the name and number of the organist. Call the organist well in advance of your wedding.

The organist or assistant organist of First Lutheran Church or a substitute arranged for by the church must be used at all weddings where the organ is employed—please do not request a guest organist. The organist of First will help you choose music for the service. Should vocalists or instrumentalists be requested, the organist can secure the additional musicians. You may secure vocalists or instrumentalists provided they have the musical ability to enhance a worship service.

Flowers

Flower arrangements are limited to two bouquets placed on stands near the ends of the altar. You will need to make arrangements with a florist for the selection, purchase, and delivery of flowers to the church. Flowers should be delivered to the church a minimum of one hour prior to the appointed time of the wedding. Please have the florist place the arrangements on the flower stands near the ends of the altar.

You may wish to have the flowers used at the wedding remain at the church for use at the Sunday morning worship. If so, please notify the church secretary no later than the Wednesday prior to the wedding so that your gift of flowers for the Sunday worship can be acknowledged in the bulletin.

Candles

Candles certainly beautify the sanctuary. We are delighted to provide three ways candles may be used for your ceremony.

1. Candelabras – Two are available and hold seven candles each.
2. Aisle candles – These are attached to brackets on the pews, seven per side of the main aisle.
3. Unity Candle – This liturgical action represents the biblical description of “two becoming one.” The church provides a stand to hold two small taper candles and the Unity Candle.
4. Altar candles - used at all worship services.

All candles used on the candelabra, aisle and altar are provided by the church for a fee. The church also has available for use a Unity Candle and tapers for lighting; couples are also welcome to supply their own.

Aisle Runner

The use of an aisle runner is discouraged because of the difficulty of securely fastening the runner to the front of the church and because one can easily trip on folds in the runner. However, if an aisle runner is used, it is your responsibility to rent one from a florist or bridal shop and have it placed in the sanctuary at least one hour prior to the appointed time of the wedding. Plastic aisle runners are not recommended; cloth is preferred. The aisle length of First Lutheran is 90 feet.

Special Decorations

Bows may be placed on the ends of every third pew in the sanctuary. Bows are available through bridal and floral shops; you should make arrangements for them to affix the bows to the pews at least one hour prior to the starting time of the wedding. Arches, additional candles, etc. are not permitted. The color of the pastor's stole, paraments, and liturgical banners will be the liturgical color of the day of your wedding. "Theme weddings" are not allowed.

Ring Bearers, Flower Girls, Junior Bridesmaids

We are delighted to include children as members of the wedding party. However, we suggest you consider the special "challenge" for those children who are very young. The service seems very long to little ones, so we ask you to keep this in mind when selecting youngsters for a role in the wedding.

Participation of Other Clergy

We welcome the inclusion of clergypersons from other denominations. The pastor of First Lutheran will preside; the invited clergy will assist. If possible, it is recommended that the assisting clergyperson be present for the rehearsal.

Readers

You are welcome to have lay persons read the Scripture Lessons during the service. Because it is important that everyone be able to hear God's Word, readers should be able to project vocally and speak distinctly. They need to be present at the wedding rehearsal to receive instructions from the Wedding Coordinator and to become familiar with the speaker system in the church.