Cocktail – A friendly Ritual for your secular ceremony

Are you looking for a fun & friendly ritual for your secular wedding or vow renewal ceremony? Have you thought about the cocktail ritual?

For the record, the origin of the word cocktail comes from the English “tail” which means “tail” and “cock” which means “rooster”. On this subject, there are many legends, of which here is a version: Around 1776, in the United States, the keeper of an inn named Flanagan was a great fan of cockfighting. One day, his rooster disappears. Robbed or killed? Flanagan offers the hand of his daughter, Betsy, as a reward to anyone who brings him his rooster, dead or alive. Some time later, a cavalryman from the independence army brings the rooster back to the inn. Overjoyed, Flanagan offers a general tour. Under the spell or under the emotion, the beautiful Betsy uses the wrong bottle and creates a mixture which was greatly appreciated and will be called a cocktail. Today there are hundreds of cocktails from which you can make the choice that suits you.

This ritual is enjoying growing success because it allows a moment of sharing to be integrated into the ceremony, not only between the bride and groom but with all the guests. As an officiant since 2009, I particularly like to involve the guests in the ceremony rather than limiting their role to that of spectators and the cocktail ritual is ideal for making your secular wedding ceremony interactive and friendly.

More and more couples are favoring this fun ritual in order to seal their union with humor. A good way to give a little summer feel to your wedding. If you're getting married in December, don't despair, you can always opt for a good mulled wine!

The idea is to prepare a cocktail whose ingredients best represent the bride and groom. The bride and groom can ask their officiant to assist them or, to give it a more intimate touch, they can involve their witnesses or other loved ones who I am sure will enthusiastically take part in this exercise!

For example, Tequila Sunrise combines the power of tequila and the sweet and tangy side of orange. Likewise, the Mojito is a subtle blend between the heady strength distilled by rum and the spicy freshness of mint and lime.

If you want to involve all your guests in this ritual, simply prepare the same cocktail in advance, pour it into bottles and place them in a pretty basket or on a tray with as many glasses as guests per row of chairs. At the chosen time, the officiant announces the ritual. The bride and groom's cocktail can be prepared in advance or on site in which case the ingredients are listed. The officiant then invites the guests to make a toast and raise their glasses.

This ritual requires a little organization before and during the ceremony but it is a good way to involve all the guests without requiring their travel. For a smooth operation, I suggest that you appoint a person at each end of the row who will be responsible for the service or more simply, for passing the basket so that everyone can help themselves and for collection at the end of the ritual.

However, make sure that the bottles and glasses are not too large so that your guests are not tempted to take another small rinsing and no longer pay attention to the rest of the ceremony!

Good cocktail!

Magali