A Quaker Wedding

First of all, we are not Quakers.  But we do like the way Quakers get married so we've decided to include some of their traditions into our ceremony.


What happens in a traditional Quaker wedding ceremony is that the couple joins with their community for one hour in silence.  The bride and groom kneel down, facing each other, and silently stare into the other's eyes for the duration of the ceremony.  Each community member also sits in silence (a silent prayer) until he or she feels moved by God to share a message with the couple.  They share the message and then sit down in silence again.  At the end of the hour, the couple is married.


Like I said, we are not Quakers so we will not be staring at each other for a silent hour. (We've been to a wedding where the couple stared at each other for 5 minutes and it was super uncomfortable.  We won't submit you to that.)  What we do love about this kind of ceremony is the messages from the guests.  We like you, we're pretty sure you like us, and we really want you to be involved in our marriage.  We know that you've got some sort of wisdom or love that you could share with us about love, life, marriage, family, dedication, etc., etc.  Of course, you're not required to say anything if you don't want to.  But those of you'd like to, please do!  


Since there are lots of people invited, we are going to ask that you keep any message brief (please don't make us give you the "that's enough" signal from the alter).  But any form of a message is welcome. We've heard of people reading letters or literature aloud, sharing a song, artwork, etc.  If words aren't your thing, find another way.  Pretty much anything is good.  (If you are unsure, you can always ask us.  =)


Here's how the ceremony will go:
Bridget and Ian read their vows
Guest share their messages
Exchange of rings, etc.
PARTY.