The Christian faith today is just as strong as it was more than 2,000 years ago, and it is not surprising that a Christian wedding is still the highlight of any church’s celebratory calendar. The joining of a man and woman in holy matrimony is a ceremony that the officiant celebrates with enthusiasm, and over the centuries, many wonderful traditions have sprung up around the nuptials. While fashions have changed, and the words of the vows may have been updated a bit to sound more palatable to the ears of modern brides and grooms, it is astounding that the Christian wedding theme itself has remained virtually unchanged for the last several decades.

Keeping in mind that a Christian wedding is at once a very joyous occasion while at the same time also a very solemn time in the Christian faith today – after all, the divorce rate is over 50% at this point, and sadly this includes many Christians – the traditional Christian wedding ceremony reflects this dichotomy by its adherence to several traditional aspects that set it apart from a wide variety of other wedding themes.

For example, if you planning a modern Christian wedding, you will almost certainly find the following:
•Wedding invitations that have a religious theme. As the invitation sets the stage for the actual ceremony, brides and grooms are careful to tailor the formal tone of the invitation to the formal tone of the wedding itself. Will the ceremony itself be formal or casual? Whatever the tone will be, Christian brides and grooms will make sure to express this via the invitations.
•The unity candle is a most beloved tradition that is going strong. Usually a thick candle is lit by two slender tapers at some point during the ceremony to symbolize the newly created unity of the couple.
•Christian themed memory books will permit guests to not only leave their names but to also share a word of advice, a favorite Scripture, as well as anything else they want the newly married couple to remember.
•Wedding rings, of course, are part and parcel of this ceremony, and it is not unheard of for rings to be engraved with the date of the wedding as well as a Scripture reference, oftentimes 1 Corinthians 13, but many other beloved references may be included as well.
•Church bulletins are wonderfully crafted handouts that will be given by the ushers to the guests as they are arriving and seated. These bulletins are keepsakes for the guests to remember the wedding celebration.
•In many congregations it is customary to present the newly married couple with a family Bible. Several beautiful editions are available for this momentous occasion to commemorate the wedding date as well as start off the new couple on their walk with God together.
•Christian-themed wedding favors include such beautiful offerings as bubbles (for the kids) in heart shaped small containers, or heart shaped – sometimes also dove-shaped – cookie cutters.

As you can see, Christian weddings are chock-full of traditional elements, as well as modernized versions thereof, and perhaps this is the very reason why the theme has remained virtually unchanged for such a long period of time.