Why Not Get Married in Your Church?

When I was a young lady, I attended a wedding in the most beautiful setting I ever saw. We were all standing in a field of multi-colored wildflowers, surrounded by majestic mountain peaks. The shish kebob wedding feast was held beside a rushing greenish river. Talk about atmosphere . . . . That’s what I wanted for my wedding.

When it was my turn, my family lived in a similar setting (without the river). I thought it would be so beautiful to have a meadow wedding. I wasn’t thinking logistics; I was only dreaming. Thankfully, God gives young brides parents with practical sanity. What if it were to rain? How would you get the guests down to the valley? Have you thought about seating? Of course I hadn’t! I was in love!

My husband and I decided to get married in my church. It was a beautiful, simple wedding. We held the reception at my home on top of the hill. Our wedding day was the best of both worlds. It was attended by nearly everyone in our church and almost all of our close relatives. We were blissfully happy.

Fast-forward quite a few years, and the trend for weddings has changed. Many people are getting married outside nowadays. Many are opting for simple weddings—no ties or jackets, and no frills. Back yards, beaches, poolsides, staircases, lakesides, and hotels are the new venues. 

There’s nothing wrong with these. People can get married wherever they want.

Around fifteen years ago, some brides opted for different venues because their churches had conservative standards for wedding gowns—and the skimpy dresses they wanted to wear didn’t make it. I personally knew several brides who opted for beach weddings because of their dresses. I knew one who got married in a different church, because she’d picked out a revealing gown. Her friends from her home church traveled to another, rented church to witness her wedding!

Obviously, God made the great outdoors. There is no better cathedral. God made the home. It can be a beautiful setting. This post isn’t against any setting, just so you understand. But, I’m wondering if brides and grooms might want to at least rethink their choice of venue. 

Why not the church building? (I realize there’s nothing “magical” about the building. The church is, after all, the people.) Why not get married with your church congregation all around you? Why not get married at the altar? Why not?

The way I see it, there are quite a few pluses to being married at your church:

1. It has a roof! Whatever the weather on your special day, you’ll be shielded from the elements. You won’t have to put up a tent.
2. It has seating. You won’t have to pay for and cart in a hundred (or more) chairs.
3. A church is a building sanctified by God for meetings that honor Him. What better place to stage your sacred wedding service?
4. Wearing a modest dress in your wedding completes the beautiful symbol of the pure bride in white being joined to her groom in holy matrimony.
5. God is the authority—besides the state—for marriage. The pastor says, “By the authority vested in me by the State of ____________, and in the presence of God and these witnesses, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife.” Many times he will also quote, What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder (Mark 19:39).
6. Your church friends who witness your wedding will be the same people who support you all through your future years as a couple. It’s natural for you to be married with the blessing of your church.

Are you getting married? Is a friend tying the knot? Is your daughter planning her wedding? Maybe you’ll want to at least consider holding the wedding at church.

Ring the bells!