While weddings have taken on a more secular character in recent years, there is a growing interest in integrating wellness and spirituality into marriage ceremonies, reports the New York Times (April 13). “For many couples, health and mindfulness are an integral part of their everyday lives, and they want their weddings to reflect these values. And with more event planners and venues catering to the needs of those who prioritize wellness, it’s easier to accomplish that,” writes Sarah Lyon. The article finds a wide range of spiritual practices and beliefs being incorporated into these wellness-based weddings, including tarot reading, meditation, yoga, journaling, and healing crystals. “I feel like weddings are just an extension of people’s energies,” said Kara Ladd-Blum, a Brooklyn-based “conscious marketing consultant.” On the morning of her wedding, she joined her spiritual mentor and engaged in a solo healing session, which she described as a “self-love ritual.”
“It definitely has weaved its way into weddings and events,” says Ali Phillips, a Chicago event planner. She estimates that about three-quarters of the weddings she has planned each year contained a wellness element. At the Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club in Brewster, Massachusetts, wedding groups can enjoy acupuncture and beach yoga sessions. At Canyon Ranch Woodside in California, couples and their guests can sign up for spiritual growth sessions and botanical tea making. Another resort in Lenox, Mass., specifically offers a mindful weddings program including spa treatments and guided meditation. “There’s even an anniversary ‘reflection visit’ for couples,” Lyon writes, “where they can participate in a sacred stone ceremony, hike or work out in a nature ropes course.” The U.S is not the only place seeing the growth of alternative spiritual weddings. In Ireland, only one-third of weddings were performed in a Catholic church in 2023, compared to 91.4 percent of Irish marriages in 1994, according to an Irish Times report cited by America magazine (May). In contrast, one-quarter of the total wedding ceremonies in 2023 fell under the category of “New Age and other religions.” One “solemnizer,” an individual licensed to perform marriages, says that the Catholic liturgy does “not meet people where they are…[not allowing] a broader understanding of the divine indwelling.”
