Product Description

Planning a wedding can be an emotional and logistical nightmare, especially if you want your ceremony to be as unique as you are. Well, forget about the three-tiered cake, stop obsessing over what Martha would do, and make your special day a walk down the aisle less travelled with I DO, a creative, accessible guide to designing unique marriage ceremonies. Beginning with an explanation of traditional wedding elements-the bridal veil, the exchange of rings, the cake, the vows-author Sydney Barbara Metrick offers inspired wedding alternatives drawn from ancient Greece and Persia, pagan Europe, Elizabethan England, and other traditions. Planning guides are included to help you create your own personal event, whether it's to celebrate an interfaith, intercultural first union, a second or third marriage (including one or both partners' children), a same-sex marriage, or a commitment ceremony. With I DO as a guide, you'll be well on your way to creating an unforgettable ceremony to inspire a lifetime of love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96237 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 152 pages

About the Author
SYDNEY BARBARA METRICK has a Ph.D. in expressive arts therapy and has specialized in addressing life passages with creative expression and ceremony. She has written four books on art and ritual, and in addition to designing and performing ceremonies, Metrick's work includes personal and professional coaching and training for individuals and businesses. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Customer Reviews

Writer Loses Focus
I bought this book because I want to incorporate innovative ideas and special traditions into my wedding ceremony. This book offers irrelevant information like, "A photographer or videographer can record the event for you so you can relive the memories. If there is a reception afterwards, you will need to hire a caterer."

I didn't buy this to be a wedding planner. I bought it to be inspirational. It tried to do too much and misses the mark on the subject that it's supposed to be about. If the author had posted the title above their keyboard, we might have a book worth reading now.

No, this book is not written only for atheists or the non-religious
Let's look at page 7. The author states that because traditional ceremonies often subordinate a woman's role in marriage, one might adapt the vows to highlight the symmetry of the relationship between husband and wife. As an example, she compares the standard Episcopal ceremony from the Book of Common Prayer 1945 with a modification that "still holds much of the tone of the original" I beg to differ. The former is a religious ceremony specifically mentioning God and Christ. The later is not at all religious and does not mention God or Christ. Thus, the tone of the original is completely lost on the modified version. It is interesting to note that there is not one mention of subordination of a woman in her role in marriage in the Book of Common Prayer example given. If the author wanted to give an example of taking religion out of the ceremony for the non-religious, that would have been fine. But calling the non-religious version a modification of a traditional ceremony to "meet the needs of modern times" was a farce. She needs to say "to meet the needs of the non-religious". The author needs to say exactly what she means. There are many religious people including same-sex couples who want a unique ceremony that is not completely stripped of all religious meaning.

Ok, so I understand that some reviewers are angry because they believe this book is clearly for atheists and that athiests could easily give a religious ceremonies book the same two stars. Not at all true. Let's look at who the BOOK says it is written for: "whether it's to celebrate an interfaith, intercultural first union, a second or third marriage (including one or both partners' children), a same-sex marriage, or a commitment ceremony." I am sorry, but it nowhere says this book is for non-religious people only or atheists only. The book purports to be for ALL different types of people, religious, non-religious and atheist who want a unique ceremony. I feel the book is very clear that it is written for the above groups of people. My beef with it is that it takes religious ceremonies and mangles them and calls it good. Surely the non-religious or atheist can come up with unique ceremonies without resorting to stripping down religious ones to be completely meaningless, then declaring the resulting mess to "still hold much of the tone of the original".

Probably the best resource for wedding ceremonies I've ever had.
I'm a minister, and I collect books on wedding ceremonies, particularly alternative ones, because I end up helping the bride/groom to plan and organize things. When it comes to the actual ceremony, we sit and write the ceremony together. This book contains everything in ONE work that is necessary to do the job.

Had I bought this early on, I could have saved myself lots of money. It has lovely examples and explains how and why to put each part of the ceremony in, or to skip if you prefer.

Other books are more geared towards the bride only, and focus on all aspects of putting together a wedding. This is the best resource on just the ceremony.