Plan Your Wedding

The Order for Worship

Weddings at Trinity provide family and friends an opportunity to worship. The following outline may be used in order to develop a bulletin for your wedding worship service. A typical wedding worship service lasts about 30 minutes.

• Procession
• The Greeting
• Prayer of the Day
• Music may be inserted
• Bible Readings
• Homily
• Music may be inserted
• The Exchange of Vows and Rings
• Pronouncement of Marriage
• Blessing of the Marriage
• A Unity Candle lighting may be inserted with music also
• Closing Prayers and Lord's Prayer
• Benediction
• Introduction of the Couple (optional)
• Recessional

Trinity welcomes the presence of other clergy in assisting with your wedding. However, as a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we require that a pastor of the ELCA preside at your wedding. This will probably be one of Trinity's pastors.

Music Guidelines for Your Wedding

All music for your wedding must reflect the presence and grace of God in Christ who is the source of all love and blessing. It should be of high quality, setting a tone for a Christian marriage. Here are some questions to be asked about the music. If the answer is YES, then the music is probably appropriate:

• Does this music/text reflect praise and/or thanksgiving to God?
• Is it based on, or does it reflect a biblical theme?
• Is this song in the form of a prayer?

Selecting hymns for all to sing in your wedding is a fine way to engage your guests in the joy of the day. Hymns that focus on marriage and community in Christ are appropriate. If you are interested in congregational singing, please discuss this during the music consultation session.

Music Consultation Session

The Director of Worship and Music will meet with you for a required music consultation. Please arrange this with her at least three (3) months in advance of your wedding and before you begin making plans for any music.

Your wedding music (instrumental and vocal) is an important way to reflect the sacredness and beauty of your wedding worship service. The music consultation sessions will guide and assist you in making selections that insure a beautiful, God-pleasing wedding.

If your wedding will be off-site, a music consultation session is still required and all music guidelines apply. There is a $50 charge for the consultation session if you choose to have someone other than Trinity's Director of Music provide music for your off-site wedding.

Recorded Music

We do not allow the use of prerecorded music in weddings. This includes soloist accompaniments on CD.

Other Musicians

We are happy to arrange for additional musicians (a vocal soloist or instrumentalist) to be involved in the music for your wedding. If you are interested in this service, please indicate this to the Director of Worship and Music.

If you wish to arrange your own soloists or other instrumentalist and they need to rehearse with Trinity's Director of Worship and Music, one rehearsal session is included in the fee. Additional rehearsals are available with additional costs. Please contact the Director of Worship and Music directly to arrange rehearsal times.

Contact Shirley Sands

Video Projection

We do not allow the use of any video projection screens in conjunction with a wedding worship service.

Scripture Readings

Worship always includes the reading of God's Word. Usually two or three passages from the Bible are read during the wedding service of worship. You may choose to have more or less. You may choose to have a person or persons significant to you read the scriptural passages, or the pastor may read them. Here are some suggested readings:

From the Old Testament:

Genesis 1:26-31
Genesis 2:18-24
Song of Solomon 2:10-13
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
Psalms: 33, 100, 117, 127, 128, 136, 150

From the New Testament Letters:

Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39
Ephesians 5:21-33
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Philippians 4:4-7
Colossians 3:12-17 1
John 3:18-24
Ephesians 4:1-6
1 John 4:7-12

From the Gospels:

Matthew 19:4-6
John 2:1-11
Mark 10:6-9
John 15:9-12

Vows

You may use or adapt any of the following vows, or you may choose to write your own:

• I take you, (name), to be my wife/husband, from this day forward, to join with you and share all that is to come, and I promise to be faithful to you until death parts us.
• I take you, (name), to be my wife/husband, and these things I promise you: I will be faithful to you and honest with you; I will respect, trust, help and care for you; I will share my life with you; I will forgive you as we have been forgiven; and I will try with you better to understand ourselves, the world and God; through the best and worst of what is to come until death parts us.
• I take you, (name), to be my wife/husband, I promise before God and these witnesses to be your faithful husband/wife, to share with you in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, to forgive and strengthen you, and to join with you so that together we may serve God and others as long as we both shall live.
• (Name), I take you to be my wife/husband, from this time onward, to join with you and to share all that is to come, to give and to receive, to speak and to listen, to inspire and to respond, and in all circumstances of our life together to be loyal to you with my whole life and with all my being until death parts us.

If you choose to write your own promises, they should be consistent with the biblical understanding of marriage and should make clear that the promises are a life-long commitment. Please consult with your pastor if you choose to alter the wording or use a form not included here.

Holy Communion

As baptized Christians, you may request that your wedding worship service be set in the context of the celebration of Holy Communion. Marriage often involves a festive meal; Holy Communion always does. Marriage is a sign of intimacy and union; so is Holy Communion. The celebration of Holy Communion abounds in the festive marriage imagery in which Christ the bridegroom celebrates with his bride, the Church, the heavenly wedding banquet which knows no end.

As Holy Communion is a sign of unity, it is always open to the assembled people and not limited to the bride and groom or the wedding party. If circumstances prevent including the congregation, the marriage service should be used alone, without the celebration of Communion.

If you plan to have Holy Communion as part of your wedding service of worship, contact the pastor for instructions regarding details.

Decorations, Flowers, Paraments, Candelabras

The paraments (altar cloths) are designed and used according to the church year calendar. They each have meaning and color, highlighting the particular season of the church year for which they were designed. The pastor can tell you what color paraments will be in use when your wedding day arrives.

At various times through the year other items are in place in the front of the worship center as part of the congregation's seasonal emphases (for instance, Christmas trees, wooden crosses during Lent, etc.). We ask that these items remain in place even during your wedding. If you have any questions about colors or seasonal appointments to be in place at the time of your wedding, please contact a pastor.

Floral decorations are commonly used for weddings. If you wish to have flower arrangements, there are numerous wooden stands available for your use. Ask your Wedding Coordinator about options.

You are invited to leave your wedding flowers for Sunday worship. Check with our Ministry Assistant Cindy Beck (cindy@trinity-ec.org) if you desire to do so. The Sunday bulletin will then announce that the flowers which decorate the worship center have been given in honor of your wedding.

Trinity's Altar Guild owns 14 pew candles which may be rented for your wedding. Two candelabras (seven candles each) are also available. We ask that you provide the candles (6" to 8") for the pew candles and candelabras. If you choose to rent these items at some time after your wedding reservation form has been completed, please call the church office or check with your Wedding Coordinator. Other decorations should be discussed with your wedding coordinator.

Many couples choose to light a unity candle during the service to signify the union of marriage. If you do so, please also supply two smaller candles to accompany the unity candle. Bring all the candles to the rehearsal.

Ushers

A minimum of two ushers should be chosen for your wedding. If you anticipate more than 150 guests, more ushers should be secured. Often, groomsmen or bridesmaids are used as additional ushers. The wedding coordinator will instruct you and your ushers as to their responsibilities.

Bulletins

It is helpful, but not necessary, to have printed bulletins to inform members of the congregation of the order of service and the names of participants in the worship service. You should discuss the bulletin with the pastor presiding at your wedding. We ask that you produce your own bulletin, and the pastor will be happy to provide you with examples. Please bring the bulletins the evening of the rehearsal.

Schedule Your Wedding

Planning a Wedding Off-Site

Frequently Asked Questions

Download the 2012/2013 Fee Schedule