Tips & Ideas
THE ROSE CEREMONY
submitted by: Susan M. Smith
While dating, my husband and I enjoyed planting roses in his yard and even made a stunning pond, complete with a stream, river rocks, moss roses, and goldfish. We were delighted to see neighborhood frogs adapted it as their new home and delivered hundreds of tadpoles. There is a rabbit who plays beneath the blue spruce and hops over near the sliding glass doors for our viewing pleasure. Beautiful yellow finches, robins and other birds love to splash and bathe in the stream. What a delightful blessing this yard has become.So naturally, when we became engaged, we decided that the garden was the best possible place to celebrate our wedding ceremony and reception. Our guests were delighted, stating what a lovely experience it was. In addition to the traditional wedding vows, we had a “Rose Ceremony,” where we exchanged identical red long-stemmed roses. The roses signify our commitment to working through difficult times. When we don’t have the words, we offer a rose in a special place to express apologies, love and commitment to work through whatever the misunderstanding may be.