What is a wedding blanket ceremony?
Native American · also called blanket wrapping, wedding vase ceremony
In the blanket ceremony the couple arrives wrapped in separate blue blankets, representing their past and its difficulties. Those are removed and a single white blanket is placed around them both. Practices differ substantially between nations, and this is a tradition to approach through a specific community rather than in general.
The blankets, and the vase
Blue for the life each person has lived, white for the one they are beginning together. Removing the blue and being wrapped in a single white blanket is the visible moment of the marriage, and the white blanket is kept afterwards - frequently displayed in the home for the rest of their lives.
A wedding vase ceremony often accompanies it: a vessel with two spouts and one shared chamber, from which each partner drinks. Two openings, one body of water.
Approaching it respectfully
There is no single Native American wedding. Cherokee, Navajo, Hopi, Lakota and hundreds of other nations have distinct ceremonies, languages and protocols, and several are not open to outsiders at all. Describing a generic version does a disservice to all of them.
If you have a connection to a specific nation, the ceremony belongs to that community and its elders, and they are who to ask. If you do not, this is one of the clearest cases where borrowing the visible form without the relationship is not the same act as participating in it.
Planning it properly
A tradition only goes well if the people running your day know it is coming. These are the things to say out loud, and who to say them to.
- Ask the specific community, not the internet
- Protocols, permissions and who may officiate belong to individual nations. This is the whole planning step and it cannot be shortcut.
- Confirm what may be photographed
- Many ceremonies restrict or prohibit photography. Ask before booking a photographer, and brief them precisely.
- Source the blankets through the right channels
- Buying from Native artists and communities rather than a generic supplier matters, and elders will often advise on it.
- Give your officiant the full order of service
- If a traditional practitioner leads it, your coordinator and photographer need briefing from them, not from a guide like this one.
Common questions
What does the blanket ceremony symbolise?
The blue blankets represent each person's past and its hardships; the single white blanket wrapped around them both represents the shared life beginning. The white blanket is kept and often displayed at home afterwards.
What is a wedding vase ceremony?
A vessel with two spouts and one shared chamber, from which each partner drinks - two openings drawing from one body of water. It frequently accompanies the blanket ceremony.
Is it appropriate to include a Native American ceremony in our wedding?
Only through a genuine connection to a specific nation and with that community's guidance. There is no generic Native American wedding - hundreds of nations have distinct ceremonies, some closed to outsiders - so the question belongs to the community's elders, not to a guide.
The vendors who make this work
The blanket ceremony depends on people who have done it before. Every review on Lazo comes from a couple who actually got married with that vendor, and rankings can't be bought.
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