Wedding Tactics

Happy Valentine’s Day !!!

Sorry for the delay in this posting. It is due in full to a not-so-brief power outage we had in our little subdivision in Maryland. The five inches of ice and snow began to fall last night and accumulated quite well over night. However, we had two outages and I was unable to get posted.

In honor of today, Valentine’s Day, I will let you all in on a cute little wedding celebration that is held each year. Marry Me & Ski For Free Mountaintop Matrimony is an annual event at Loveland Ski Resort in Colorado. Loveland is located about an hour west of Denver. It is an excellent day-ski area being situated just off of Interstate 70.

Every year, Loveland Resort has a mass wedding ceremony. Couples can get legally married or renew vows, at the top of the mountain, and then ski down. The only requirements are that you have a valid Colorado marriage license and are able to ski or snowboard down afterwards.

At the conclusion of the thirty-minute mass ceremony, couples ski down the mountain and celebrate with food, drinks, music and prizes.

The wesbite has a variety of webcams. If you are interested, tune in at NOON, mountain standard time - which is two hours behind the east-coast.

I’m not so sure I would be comfortable skiing in my veil, and I know the garter would just be way to hard to remove!

Dave Cullen an author and journalist with The New York Times, Salon and Slate, said in a recent blog posting, Finding a soul mate and building a life together is an integral part of the American dream. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

It really struck me as something, well, meaningful. Simple. But, meaningful. And also, VERY correct.

I personally could not care less about who wants to marry whom. Let’s start at the beginning of my rationale, no?

Anyone who has been in a relationship at one time or another has learned that there are things that go on in a relationship that no one on the outside knows. You may even have thoughts about your friend’s relationship at one point, and realized you have no idea what kind of toothpaste they prefer or what clothes, if any, they sleep in. See? There are tons of things about people with whom we are close that we don’t know about, so you can safely say you really have no idea what goes in any relationships except your own. Are you with me?

I had a conversation with my grandma about two and a half years ago, she has since passed. We were watching the news or Dr. Phil, or something definitively informative and correct and she sat up in her chair, turned to me, and said, I think they should have something legal, but it shouldn’t be called marriage.

Ok. So, from my 82 year old grandma, I think that’s a decent YES they should be allowed to.

Personally, I’m a fan of love and marriage and relationships, we all know I’m head-over-heels in love with Marc and please! I have a countdown ticker on my email. I like weddings, especially mine.

Maybe it is generational, maybe it is also a little political and a little religious-based but I don’t see any reason why two men or two women shouldn’t marry?

If Republicans would let gays marry, there would be a lot more two-parent households out there.

Interesting notion, eh?

Well, there’s one thing that definitely sets the Commitment Ceremony apart from the Traditional Wedding–it is not legally binding. There is no license required. That said, a commitment ceremony should hold all the same basic values as its traditional counterpart. That being, the term ‘Commitment’. The exchange of vows, no matter the setting, should never be something that is done lightly and without serious thought and understanding.

There are numerous (wonderful, I’m sure) Commitment Ceremony Officiators out there, but there is no rule stating you must use one. Nice, eh? That’s right, you can choose anyone (or no one) to officiate your Commitment Ceremony. A Best Friend, a Parent, Relative, Clergy (if they’re willing)…your dog, if that’s what you wanted (although I wouldn’t say this is your best option, certainly).

Still not sure what type of ceremony you’re wanting? You’re in luck! Coming in December, I’ll begin posting Ceremonies you can use (in part or in their entirety) for your big day. Check them out and see if you can find one for you!

Commitment Ceremonies, legalities, license, traditional wedding, values, vows, Officiators, rules, Clergy, December, ceremony

Commitment ceremonies are becoming more and more common in the ‘marriage’ venue. So much so that they deserve their own catagory here at Weddingtactics.com!

There are many reasons people don’t want (or can’t) get legally married–religious, pre-marital existance, alternative lifestyles, legal issues, non-religious beliefs–the list is as varied as the people involved. No matter your reasons for wanting (or not wanting) a certain type of ceremony, there are a myriad of options available to you and yours.

This is a good place to start!