Wedding and Marriage Reading

This is one of our favorite readings which we use when we renewed our wedding vows last weekend.  We hope you enjoy as much as us.


Matthew & Wendy
Spirit Wedding Cars

What Does Marriage Mean In Today's World?

by Teresa Ling

We live in a world where the old-fashioned social pressures to conform have all but gone.


No longer does a young woman wait for her husband to give her a new independence from her parent's home. And society no longer frowns upon couples who choose not to marry.


So why get married at all?


Perhaps when two people decide that, in the absence of these conformities, this is something they actually want to do – for themselves, for their families and for its own sake, that the meaning of marriage has shifted to the same extent as times have moved on.


Now, a cynic might say that a piece of paper alone will not guarantee that two people will stay together for life...... and a cynic might have a point.


But ridden of any outside pressure, the vows and intentions are totally pure and unadulterated.


There cannot really be a better guarantee than this.

Wedding Reception Seating Plan

A wedding seating plan allows you to choose who sits where and who sits with whom. This allows guests to find their ‘place’ in the reception room quickly, and also helps your caterer to know exactly where guests with specific menu choices are sitting. Finally, it means you can seat people together who you feel will get on well (or apart if you think they won’t!).

The shape of the room will play a large part in determining the way in which the tables are arranged to create a great atmosphere.

Top Tips

• Remember, if the tables are spread too far apart your guests will feel very isolated at their tables. If you place the tables too close together guests will feel uneasy and not have any room to extend their chairs.
• Spare a thought for elderly guests. If your evening entertainment is in the same room as your wedding breakfast, it can be best to sit them furthest away from the music.
• Keep all children relatively close to their parents so they can be supervised.
• Traditionally, parents of the bride and groom sit on the top table. However, in some cases, this doesn't work well. If, for example, parents are divorced and perhaps remarried and relationships are strained, consider an alternative option.
• Pay particular consideration to guests who know very few people, sit them with guests who will be friendly and welcoming. Equally, separate guests who you know don’t get on well. Your wedding is not the time to mend family feuds or force friends to get along.
• Hand out seating cards when the guests arrive with the table name or number inside. There is a traditional order for seating the bridal party. If rectangular, the top table seating is in this order, from left to right facing the guests: chief bridesmaid, groom’s father, bride’s mother, bride, bride’s father, groom’s mother, best man. 

Picture shows the layout of the ballroom at The Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare.

We hope this helps.

Wendy & Matthew

Spirit Wedding Cars