Joining Hands and Hearts: Interfaith, Intercultural Wedding Celebrations--A Practical Guide for Couples (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Interfaith is not a religion..." (more)
Key Phrases: humanist ceremony, interfaith ceremony, wedding readings, Native American, Greek Orthodox, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

So you're getting married! The wedding is the most gloriously celebrated of life's rites of passage. Today couples of all faiths, colors, and cultures are choosing an interfaith ceremony for its spiritually inclusive and personal approach. It is a way of rejoicing in our differences and celebrating our commonality in an atmosphere of mutual love and respect.

If yours is an interfaith, intercultural, or interracial union, then you have already embraced a love that knows no boundaries. What could be more beautiful? But now that it's time to make a public statement to the world, you may suddenly be filled with questions:

How do we make sure that our ceremony is a reflection of our love and our relationship?

How do we remain true to ourselves and still make our families happy?

How can we create a wedding ceremony that merges our religious, spiritual, cultural, and personal beliefs? Can we do this without offending or alienating anyone?

Who will officiate at our ceremony?

When and where will the ceremony take place? Which rituals will we include?

Joining Hands and Hearts will help you answer all of these questions and more, with a detailed questionnaire to help you learn more about yourselves and each other, practical guides to structuring an interfaith wedding ceremony, tender counsel on how to work with your families, and the most complete manual of religious, cultural, and universal rituals, prayers, vows, and blessings available. In warm, inclusive language, Reverend Susanna Macomb guides you through the most sensitive of issues with love and encouragement. She offers the stories and ceremonies of other couples to inspire you. You are not alone!

Interfaith, intercultural, and interracial couples bring healing and hope for all of us. You are the future, and Joining Hands and Hearts can help you celebrate your union with all of the love, grace, and magic it deserves.

About the Author

Reverend Susanna Stefanachi Macomb is a licensed, ordained interfaith minister. Her work has been featured in magazines including Modern Bride, For the Bride, The Bridal Guide, and Wedding Bells, and on local and national television. She lives in New York with her husband and son.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Atria (December 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743436989
• ISBN-13: 978-0743436984
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #418,457 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The answers we were looking for, June 1, 2004

By	"tomfickle" (Staten Island, New York United States) - See all my reviews

As a groom with many doubts heading into an interfaith marriage, it has answered so many questions and offered many possibilities that I did not even know were available to me. Neither my future wife or I are very religious to say the least, but still we needed that tradition, without the ceremony becoming stodgy or sappy. We wanted it to be personal and unique and enjoyable, but without all the usual bells and whistles. With Ms. Stefanachi's book, we found exactly what I had in mind, and avoided the cookie-cutter variety I had seen in the past. And since we need to present our ideas to our family and make them appealing, this book helped us in that regard as well. I really like the author's non-judgmental attitude. She definitely seems to have a good way of speaking to people through her words, and the ways of organizing the info. The book helped me overcome those doubts and gave me the answers we were looking for.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really useful book for a sometimes difficult process, February 21, 2003

By	rjweisberg "rjweisberg" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

My fiancée and I felt really asea when we started planning our interfaith wedding. We had trouble finding books that had examples of successful ceremonies and real stories about what couples dealt with during the process. There's a tremendous amount of detail here but it's not overwhelming--and most importantly, it let us, as an interfaith couple, start to figure out what we did and didn't want in our ceremony. And the tone of the book is also very warm and supportive, never letting you forget that it's supposed to be a joyous celebration (sometimes a hard thing for a groom to remember!). The book describes literally dozens of practices and customs from faiths and peoples around the world, and my fiancée and I found ourselves getting carried away with what we wanted to put into our wedding! Don't worry, though, you'll find this book as helpful as we did.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trying to plan a non religious ceremony, January 21, 2003

By	Elaine (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

Planning a wedding can be very confusing especially with so many details to put together. One part of the wedding I need help with is planning the ceremony. Since my finance and I are of different faiths and not religious I am looking to plan a more spiritual ceremony, meaningful non-denominational that is heartfelt, joyful with many personal and unique details and have no idea how to begin!!!
Joining Hands and Hearts by Susanna Stefanachi Macomb is the perfect guide and is so many books rolled into one. On one had it is a "How To" guide to plan your own unique ceremony. This book is also a guide for couples who are of different faiths and shows you how to create a ceremony that will include your families as well as your customs. But what surprised me most was this book is also a love story. The stories that the couples tell are so unique and truly show how fate and coincidence can bring couples together. If you have recently gotten engaged or know somebody who has then this book is a must!!!!