by Timmy Duncan

Created on: October 08, 2010

Many couples today have different views than their parents did or even from each other. Very often a marriage of two individuals also represents the marriage of their two individual cultures and traditions. If the couple wants to incorporate both their traditional marriage ceremony and their not so traditional ceremony into their wedding day, there are certainly ways of doing that.

In some cases, a couple might be in a rush to get married - perhaps for insurance purposes, legal purposes, or maybe one of them is military and being deployed. There are lots of reasons to get married in a hurry and many brides do not want to sacrifice the whole white wedding with all its bells and whistles. One way to handle this situation is to get married legally by a justice of the peace as soon as a marriage license can be obtained and then plan a more traditional  wedding ceremony and reception for a later date. This way the couple gets all the benefits of being legally married while still having all the time in the world to plan the big fancy wedding.

Another reason a couple might choose to have a non-traditional ceremony before a traditional ceremony is a difference of beliefs either from one another or from their families. If a couple practices a more non-traditional religion or if they have a different belief system altogether. For example, a couple that is more free spirited might choose to have a non-traditional wedding ceremony that is more in line with what they believe and then have the big wedding that is more along the lines of what people would expect to see. Maybe they want to stay true to themselves and their beliefs but they also want to keep their parents and extended family happy. This would be a great way to compromise and include both their non-traditional views as well as the more traditional wedding ceremony.

Perhaps the couple comes from completely different backgrounds from one another. Opposites do attract, as they say. Maybe one of these two lovebirds is from a more traditional religious background while the other is more free spirited and has a New Age philosophy. They may decide to compromise so that they can include both of their belief systems and honor their differences as well as the things they have in common. The willingness to do this is a sign of a good relationship and of mutual respect for one another.

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