My fiance and I both want a non-traditional wedding ceremony, without the procession. The ceremony and reception will be held at an restaurant in NYC. I've read somewhere we could have our guests stand in a circle around us with a small wedding. However, we are inviting about 50+ people and am not sure if this could still work with this many people. Do you have any thoughts on this or any other alternative ideas to a non processional wedding? -Dorothy
As those who've read Offbeat Bride know, I loves me some circles, and of course it's only fitting that I'd be all for couples trading in the aisle approach for circle time. Doing your wedding in the round is a great symbol (you start your wedding inside a ring!) and also a nice way to avoid the hierarchy of rows of seats.
As you can see from the picture here (from Vania's Island celebration), you can make some pretty big circles with lots of guests. That said, if you're in a smaller enclosed space, I can imagine it could get kinda of tight. In that case, I would vote for two circles around you — a seated inner circle, and a standing outer circle around the chairs. It still means you have to split your guests into two tiers, but that's better than rows. Making some of your guests stand wouldn't work for a long ceremony, but it's good encouragement to keep things short 'n' sweet.
If you want to read more non-processional ideas, here are a few links:
Comments on "Wedding circle seating"
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vania
April 4th, 2007 · 8:38 AM · #
Thanks for the mention! I liked the circle idea and 2 circles would be a great solution – ours was just a wee bit too big when we had to speak up over the sound of the waves in the water.
Maya
April 4th, 2007 · 1:00 PM · #
We totally did the circle (lo, these many almost 7 seven years ago) and I had so many people saying how much they loved being "up close and personal" with us. Our officiant actually had us pause and look around at all of our friends in turn, which was great. We used bamboo that we cut from our site to mark the aisle and the circle – simple and inexpensive, plus totally organic/recycle-able.
Jen
April 4th, 2007 · 10:55 PM · #
It's not circular seating, but one of the coolest weddings I've been to didn't have an aisle. It was held in an old hall with a stage at one end. The guests gathered in front of the stage and the curtain went up, revealing the bride, groom, and wedding party all standing in place facing the audience. It was gorgeous and dramatic.
And hey, I'm a first time commenter on here, but I'm really excited for your reading in Bellingham this weekend!
Offbeat Bride | Aisle-free ceremony
April 21st, 2007 · 4:41 PM · #
[...] your guests sit in a circle (here's more info about weddings in the round), with your officiant in the center. Your officiant introduces the two of you and your families. [...]
TheJerseyTomato
May 24th, 2007 · 1:19 PM · #
I attended a handfasting ceremony that took place in a wooded backyard. Everyone stood in a circle holding hands. The best part of the ceremony was when everyone gave personal blessings and advise to the couple (one guy spoke Klingon); the worst part for my date was that you couldn't break the sacred circle until the ceremony was finished and there were 50 people wishing the couple well… he really had to pee.
Kate
July 6th, 2009 · 1:34 AM · #
We're doing a handfasting ceremony up a canyon. Everyone will be standing in the sacred circle. We'll have a chair for my aunt and a few extra for anyone not wanting to stand for the whole 15 minute ceremony.
The circle idea works especially well with the weird 'stem mom and mom' dynamics and who would sit where. 