A Wedding Under a Tree

Photos courtesy of Jose Villa Photography

Getting married under a tree is a gorgeous visual for your wedding day. Ceremonies under trees carry a hefty metaphor with it as well.

Photos courtesy of Millie Holloman Photography

Here's what theologian, Anne Keeler Evans has to say:

"The root system of a healthy tree is as large and beautiful as the canopy. As you stand beneath the leafy spread, you stand on ground that is held together by an expansive root system that enriches and supports the earth. There is nothing that a marriage needs more than the same sort of grounding a tree has. We must plant the tree, and our marriages, in soil that will nourish and support it (and you). Carefully cultivated, and protected, those roots will flourish and provide nutrients for the tree to grow.

The foundation of your marriage must be firm. What are the strengths of this marriage which, when dug deeply into your lives, will support it always? How will you make sure that there is enough space for the roots of your marriage to spread? Have you cleared out enough space in your life to accommodate your marriage? Are you willing to be intimate enough to be married?

The trunk of the tree can be relied on to support us. With good roots, we stand firm in one another's love. We can lean on one another when we're tired or shaken. When we hold one another and relax into that embrace, we can feel the roots of our love.

And the canopy spreads out above us, sheltering us from the sun in the summer, turning brilliant colors in the autumn, tracing lacy patterns against the sky in the winter and bursting into bloom again with the return of spring. So our marriage moves with the seasons, things change, but the essence of the marriage remains, strong and flexible, rooted deep into the earth."

{For more insightful information from Anne, go to The Wedding Priestess}