You might also help make getting these photos easier for your photographer by making sure that people who are going to be included in these special group photos are told to be available for photos being taken when other groups are done...either before or immediately after wedding ceremony.

You will not want to be trying to pull these groups together at reception, because getting them all together at same time at reception is often one of most difficult things you'll do on your wedding day. It is better to avoid doing these photos at reception altogether, if possible and get them done early in day.

Also, be sure that all people to be included in your photos know to stay in room photos are being taken until all groups are done. If someone slips off because they think they are through being photographed and it turns out that they are needed for an impromptu additional last minute group request, everything grinds to a halt photo-wised, until someone tracks them down and brings back.

If you aren't careful, this could be repeated over and over again as various people slip outside for a smoke or to use restroom after their group as been taken. When this happens, it can extend time needed for photos by as much as an extra half hour...and that time is probably cutting into your reception time, too.

A lot of churches today have church services scheduled pretty soon after wedding concludes, so many times photographer ends up being rushed timewise on getting group photos for you. I've had priests tell me immediately after receiving line concludes, "You have only 20 minutes to get all your groups done. We've got a church service starting soon."

In my email to be bride before wedding date, I always try to avoid having this happen by asking if there is a church service planned for after wedding...and, if so, how soon will it begin after wedding . I point out that everyone will need to RUSH back in immediately if we are crowded for time by church. Don't let others complicate it for your photographer by them slipping out of room before all group photos are taken.

Copyright, Bill Collins, 2004

Fit played an equally important role in realm of superstition surrounding wedding ring. The fit had to be perfect. Too loose a fit would lead to a sloppy marriage, carelessness, and even cause couple to grow apart. Too tight a fit would doom couple to a suffocating, painful marriage.

In ancient times, wedding bands occupied third finger on left hand just as they do today. The significance of third finger was belief that vein in third finger, "vena amoris," led directly to heart. This was a thought propagated by Egyptians and adopted as truth by ancient Greeks and Romans, until later disproved.

Even after discovery that there was no vena amoris, custom of wearing wedding band on third finger survived. Early Christian marriages included a ritual that landed wedding band on third finger: As priest recited, "In name of Father, Son, and holy Ghost," he took ring and touched thumb, first finger, and then second finger. When he said, "Amen," he placed ring on third finger, sealing marriage. The wedding band has occupied third finger into 21st century, except for a short period during Elizabethan era, when whimsy decreed that wedding ring reside on thumb.

Double-ring ceremonies gained popularity during World War II as young soldiers shipped off to war. The token of marriage contract took on new sentimentality during those troubling times, and that custom remains intact today. Ceremonies differ, vows are often unique, but tradition of wedding band has survived through ages, and probably will—for all eternity.