Wedding Stories

Universal Life Church 
Cheap Bride

This happened at my own wedding.  It is now one of my most treasured memories.  After my darling groom got up and made his speech (he has a very fierce stutter and we had 100 guests, so I was very proud - he said it so smoothly) he asked that my mum and dad come up to the front as he had a very special present for them.  he handed them a big box and asked them to open it in front of everyone.

They ripped off the lovely paper to find inside - a used VCR.  When we first started dating, my Dad's VCR broke.  My groom happened to have the exact same one, so he offered it as a loan to Dad until he got a new one.  My smart-alec father replied "how about we do a fair trade - I get the VCR and you can keep my daughter?"  He thought it was a very funny joke, eventually got a new VCR and returned groom's.

Fast forward 2 years to the wedding day, and the deal was kept.  He got the VCR and my groom got me.

Now it's a running family joke that I was a cheap bride....

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Wedding Stories

Universal Life Church
Loud Father

After my father had emergency brain surgery and had finally gotten out of a three month coma, he attended his first social event. The wedding of our next door neighbor and my sister's brother-in-law who also grew up in the same neighborhood. Groom was known for always having motorcycles, boats, campers etc. Most parties were concerned about how long this wedding would last (They're in the middle of a divorce right now, but lasted 7 years, about 6 more than most people thought.)

The 6 of our immediate family were seated at a table in a place of honor and were talking about how nice everything was and my dad, who had not mastered his voice level yet, said very loudly, "I just hope Ron realizes Jane isn't one of his toys". We hushed him as soon as we could and we all started to crack up. It was the first time I saw my dad laugh since the surgery.

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wedding Stories

Universal Life Church 
Forgotten Bride

At our wedding, my father "forgot" me - MY church prefers that "still" married parents of the Bride and Groom walk in together, light the family candles for the unity candle, and then the parents of the groom sit down.  The Father of the Bride then escorts MOB to her seat then goes back down the aisle to escort the bride up the aisle. 

So this was practiced well at rehearsal- things were going well- the day of the wedding our parents entered, lit the candles- and my IL's sat down- My dad took Mom to her seat and then sat down - several people tried to stage whisper to dad to go get me but dad (who is somewhat HOH couldn't hear them - Finally my BIL who was sitting  behind my parents - tapped dad on the shoulder and told him to turn around and look at him- he told dad that he had to go to the back of the church and get me "since that is what people are waiting for" Dad stood up and said (loudly) "OH, I FORGOT!"

He ran down the aisle  to the back of the church to "get Me" - I think it is such a classic funny story - that made me laugh so much the next day when my husband told me the story (once we were on the plane to our honeymoon.

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Wedding Story

Last night I performed a wedding for a Lutheran couple.  Honestly, it was a lot of hard work putting together the ceremony as I don’t know much about Lutherans.  I got a lot of information online and anything I was unsure of I ask them about.  They were really sweet as well as their families.  The ceremony was beautiful and they were very happy which made me very happy.  : )  I have a tender heart.  I was signing on the marriage license and overheard the bride tell one of the family members that they were going to the family Christmas party the following day since they had spent all their money on the wedding and they weren’t even going on a honeymoon.  I tried to give the money to the bride but she refused to take it.  So, sneaky me, I went to the groom.  I took ten bucks out to give to my brother for gas money but tucked the rest into his pocket and told him that I wanted them to go to the family Christmas party.  It was my wedding and Christmas gift to them.  He gave me a hug and said I was awesome.  : )  My husband was mad that I came home empty-handed but, in my heart, it felt like the right thing to do.  They were obviously not well off and I really wanted them to be able to spend time with their families for Christmas.  Seeing how happy they were made me so happy.  

Sincerely,

Jayne

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wedding Stories

Universal Life Church -  Wedding Vows

This isn't a story about me but a story about a friend of mine that got married in March. When they were exchanging vows and the minister was saying the "for richer or poorer" part, my friend (bride) only said the "for richer" part and then stopped. It was hilarious!!! 

Everyone laughed before the minister said "and for poorer" and she repeated it. It was a great moment!

Ms. Pinky

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Universal Life Church

Wedding Ceremonies

  Pagan wedding ceremonies, often called 'handfastings,' are a good option for couples who wish to celebrate the spirituality of their union without getting involved in the minutia of religious debate. Paganism is a religion that celebrates the holiness of nature. Worshipers do not follow a formal doctrine, and although committed Pagans gather to worship together the religion for many is more about an attitude to spirituality and the world.

A gay Pagan ceremony is fairly easy to organize. Couples can choose to track down a Pagan celebrant or instruct their own celebrant on how to conduct the ceremony. The celebrant will invoke the blessing of the God and Goddess, which are acknowledged to come in thousands of forms. The couple light a candle to honor the gods and signify the beginning of their new life. The couple may further invoke the blessings of the spirits by saying 'blessed be'. The celebrant will then conduct the handfasting ritual, asking the couple to join hands and wrapping the joined hands in a strip of red cloth. Gay couples may choose to have a rainbow hand fasting, using gay accessories of strips of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple cloth to represent the chakras and their sexuality. The couple then exchange vows, asking the sky and earth to bestow the union with their elements.

Couples who are interested in traditional paganism may choose to include a broom, to sweep away past hurts, and a chalice of wine, to represent their combined spirits. Pagan gay wedding ceremonies are particularly suited to the range of gay accessories available at the moment. Jewelry pieces that use color or flowing, circular designs will further invoke the elements of nature to bless the union of the gay couple.

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

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Wedding Stories

Wedding Cake
Universal Life Church

My favorite is from my parent's wedding. My dad was very nervous about my mom feeding him the cake after they had cut it. I guess he was afraid it would fall or something like that, so he bit down really quickly and actually bit my mom's fingers. 

My favorite picture from their album is of my mom with a pained look on her face shaking her hand so quickly it is just a blur in the photo. I wish they had gotten it on film, but it was 1975. My mom was able to look past it though, considering my parents are still married nearly 33 yrs. later.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have many classes in Christianity, one about Wicca, several forms of Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. 

You can  become an ordained minister, for free,  and for life, so use this Free Online Ordination, link.

This  online seminary, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies. 
 

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Wedding Stories

Universal Life Church

Food Count

So my caterer didn't want the final guest count until the Thursday before the wedding. I tried to give it to her earlier, but she kept saying, 'No, I don't want it until that Thursday morning, since you may have to add or subtract people at the last minute.' I guess that's good, since we would get a more accurate count that way and we'd be less likely to have to pay for extra meals or not have enough.

Well...everyone in the entire world decided to call me on the Thursday morning before the wedding. THANK GOD I took the day off, even though I didn't think I'd need it. My phone was RINGING ALL MORNING and I think I spoke to every family member and every vendor at least once. Anyway, the caterer called for the final meal count while I was doing three other things at once. I quickly pulled up my guest list spreadsheet, which had the meal counts on it, totaled my columns, and gave her the totals for each entree. After finishing up whatever else I had been doing, though, I thought to myself, 'Hmm, that count seems a little off.'

I had totaled the meal counts over the previous weekend and had a number in my head. We did end up getting calls earlier in the week that two couples who had RSVP'd yes couldn't make it at the last minute. So it would make sense that my total count that I gave to the caterer (that was on the spreadsheet, which had been updated) would be 4 fewer than the number I had in my head. The problem was that my counts were off by two. DO YOU SEE WHERE I'M GOING WITH THIS?

This was REALLY bugging me, so I went back to my spreadsheet for a recount. I totaled my columns again and got the same numbers that I had given to the caterer. I counted by hand and got the same numbers I gave to the caterer. I carefully looked over the spreadsheet to make sure I hadn't accidentally deleted someone, recounted, and still got the same numbers. I even took out my box of RSVP cards, counted them, and still got the same numbers. Finally chalking the whole thing up to me being bad at math and counting wrong over the weekend, I decided that the spreadsheet and the RSVP cards were not lying to me. 

Do you see the problem? I didn't. I went about whatever else I had to do that day and the next day, went to the rehearsal and RD...and then, just as we were being served at the RD, I realized THAT I HAD TOTALLY FORGOTTEN TO ADD OUR MEALS TO THE GUEST MEAL COUNT! And I kept getting the wrong numbers, since WE were not on the spreadsheet of our GUESTS!

It worked out fine. I called the caterer the next morning and asked them to add two more (fortunately, they prepared one extra of each entree, which is what we wanted to eat, anyway!). I just think that the whole thing was absolutely HILARIOUS, due to the way it played out. The waiter at our RD literally forgot to serve my DH...and as someone was running after the waiter to let him know that, I joked, 'Don't worry, honey. You'll get your dinner tomorrow. short pause, as the ironic truth dawned on me...Holy crap! No, you won't! I have to make a phone call!' :)

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wedding Stories

Heavy Metal Madness
Universal Life Church

Being involved in the wedding business allows you to meet all different kinds of brides and the nice thing is when they come back to you to share their big day stories be it good or bad!!!

Here is a story about one of my brides.

Teressa was a well organized bride. Her dress was bought 6 months in advance, the church and the venue was booked a year in advance, invitations, caterers, the band, wedding favors all sorted! What could possibly go wrong!!!!!!!

Well the wedding was lovely, the food was lovely and then it was time for the first dance..... The band were setup all suited and booted and they began to play the music their first opening dance song "I will always love you". The singer was poised into position the first line was beautiful and then the band broke out into a pounding heavy metal!!!!! At first they thought it was a joke then soon realized that the band were not joking at all!!!

The groom had a word with the band to change the style of the music they were playing and their response was that they were not going to compromise their style! Heavy Metal was what they ordered and Heavy Metal was what they were going to play.

Terresa decided to take matters into her own hands and organize her own form of entertainment..... She agreed with the band to allow her guests to sing karaoke. All the merry guests came up one by one to sing a song while the rest of the guests danced all night to the eerie sounds of Whitney Houston, Buena Vista Social Club, Celine Deon....... It just goes to show that you can't plan everything!!!

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar