Invite your JW relatives to your 'worldly' wedding

Honesty

This from a pro-JW website:

Non JW Bride-to-be:
I recently learned that my JW Grandmother and Dad's JW family will not be attending the wedding portion of my wedding because it is a church of another faith. I have to admit that I am very very hurt by this. My Grandmother is the only Grandmother I have ever known and means so much to me. The fact that she will not see me walk down the isle and say my vows, the whole affect of the bridesmaids, flowers etc. really breaks my heart. She will be at the reception to see me but I will not look the same as I will in the church etc. In my religion I am permitted to go to other churches etc. I just don't participate in the things I don't understand/beleive and do not take part in their communion etc.
JW # 1:
Love works both ways. You don't understand why they won't attend your wedding in a church, and they may not understand why you don't arrange to have your wedding in another place so that they can attend.
I'm sure they would LOVE to see you be married. Must it be in a church though? You could make adjustments if you really wanted them to be at your wedding. You could simply arrange to have it at a more neutral location. It is your choice of course, but for me, my family being there would be more important than where I had it.
JW # 2:
As has been stated, there are reasons that a witness could with good conscience attend a wedding in an other religious building. I have done so since I have been a witness. But, if one of my grandchildren join another religion and get married in a religious building, I will not be at their weddings. The reason? I love them so and I have done all I can over the years to show them why being a witness of Jehovah is so important. That the bible tells us to get out of Babylon the Great. My love for them would not allow me to attend a religious ceremony of any sort to do with them. I will do what I can for them apart from attending the religious building. I will continue to tell them about the good things God has in store, and I mean by them, my grandchild and spouse, if I am allowed. Once they are married, I will have deep respect for them both. If they have children, and have them baptized in another relgion, I will not be there. I am telling you my feelings on the matter, but these feelings may be shared by your grandmother.
Please, go on loving her and respect how hard it is for us as loving grandparents not to be able to share your every joy.
JW # 3:
The love that you process for you family should cover their desired to not be part of your Catholic Wedding. They are not doing it to hurt you, or because they don't care about you, they are doing it because they love Jehovah more and they feel they would offend him if they would go inside the Church. Don't focused in what they are not going to do, instead happily share in what they are willing to do.

What a witness to the Only True religion, eh?

Gross...Can't they get their bloated heads out of their ass for one second??
JW#2 especially.
I married my now ex hub seven years ago. All of my JW fam was invited. I was married on the front lawn of an old mansion by a Justice of the Peace, and had a big Italian dinner inside following. Everyone of my fam was set to come, until a week before. I called my mom to ask a question about seating and she informed me that they had thought and prayed and decided that it would look bad to attend this wedding. That meant everyone. So...I'm not a jw anymore, you still talk to me, want me to visit, want to be part of my life... blah, blah blah...but the second something isn't going in your favor you pull the Society card out.
Ironically, my mom and step-dad went to his 'wordly' brother's wedding a week later. IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

jayhawk1

I have never understood why JW's can't view a building as a building. What if she had a catholic wedding in a park? Wouldn't that offend more than the location? I was married in a park, by not one, but two ministers who was man and wife. The wife did most of the ceremony, because she had a great talent for speaking. My family loved it! They had never experienced a wedding like it before or since! My wife and I agreed we wanted everything to be very alternative. The wedding speech was not the usual one most get to hear.

But back to my point, I just don't see going to a different building than the Kingdom Hall for a wedding is such a big deal. When my Uncle got married, my mom was a Pioneer and we went to the church for his wedding, both the practice one and the real one the next day.

The local Kingdom Hall uses the town hall building to have pot-luck get-togethers all the time. Nobody has said, "Wait a minute, isn't this a building govenment business is handled in. We can't gather here!" If they can recognize the town hall building as just a building, why can't they do the same for a wedding?

Is this how they act for a funeral too? "Can't go see grandma for the last time, it is at a church."

vitty

When I told a family member that I WAS going in the church to see my non witness niece marry, because I loved her and wanted to give my support. The answer I got was " I love Jehovah more"

I was stumped what could I say........................I was an active JW then, but knew in my heart it was wrong to stand outside.

SirNose586

It really is different in Liberal Dub-land. I've attended a cousin's wedding in a Baptist church with my fam.

JWdaughter

My uncle, now married and divorced 3 times, 3 JW women, 3 JW weddings,(so many kids/steps that we have lost count!) refused to go to my wedding and my cousins wedding because they were in churches. Go figure.

The funny thing is that wedding talks don't change a whole lot no matter WHO is doing the ceremony or which church/KH they belong to. The last Catholic wedding I went to was a lot harsher on immorality before marriage than I ever saw addressed at a KH.

Anyway, you know JWs take marriage a lot more seriously than Catholics do-and watching a ceremony that is just a mockery of marriage is so disgusting to a good JW like my uncle.

Rabbit

It happened to me, too.

I was married by a JP in a public reception hall. About 150 of my relatives never showed up, most did not even let us know in advance. Of course, 100% of the 'no-shows' were...JW's. I purposely made our wedding palatable to JW's so they could come.

I am not DF/DA and at the time was just inactive. I was marrying a non-dub, several years after a divorce from a dub. The big reasons given to me by the JW 'spokesperson' was that I was: I would be marrying, not, "in the Lord." I was read, well, screamed this scripture, 2Cor. 6:14, "Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers." And Vs. 17, "Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,' ...and quit touching the unclean thing..."

My sweet wife 'to be' over heard the JW calling her an "unbeliever" and that I should "quit touching the unclean thing."

That hurt coming from a future relative.

Sad little people...*sigh*

The Rabbits...happily married anyway.

rebel8

Love works both ways. You don't understand why they won't attend your wedding in a church, and they may not understand why you don't arrange to have your wedding in another place so that they can attend.

ta da......another shining example of jws' mastery of social etiquette!

(Apparently this one missed the lesson on the fact that it is not the guests' right to change the condition of an event they're invited to. Etiquette says they RSVP yes or no without complaining or trying to manipulate the hosts into changing the event in any way. I had no idea how to behave politely in real society after being a dub for much of my childhood, so I read a bunch of etiquette books to learn.)

mama1119

Ewwww, they sound so creepy, so robotic. The point abput the government building was a good one.

crazyblondeb

One more reason for them to be "different" than others. The think they are setting an example. Yea, one of stupidity.