Some people's ideas of the perfect wedding may be flying off to Vegas or exchanging vows on a romantic beach. But plenty of couples still prefer the old-fashioned approach to exchanging "I do's": a traditional church wedding.

In fact, the sanctity and symbolism of church weddings have not gone by the wayside, as some people may think.

About 275 guests packed Mount Zion Presbyterian Church for the wedding of Ashley Coleman and David Brewer on May 24.

"We originally wanted a destination wedding, one on a resort in Mexico," said Coleman, 25, a special education teacher at Argenta-Oreana Middle School. "But it got too complicated and costly trying to get everyone there. And having it at the church was the best decision we made."

The Rev. Joel Stevenor of Mount Zion Presbyterian married Coleman and Brewer.

He laughs now, but he recalls a time when he was pastor of another church and a couple asked him if they could have their wedding at the church without mentioning God in the service.

"I had to explain to them that the church was more than a building and suggested they go to the justice of the peace to get married," he said.

"But today, I do see more young couples wanting a church wedding."

Yet, he added, "you still wonder if it is because they want their wedding to be pretty by being inside a church, or are they really seeking God's blessing on their marriage?"

According to a recent article on www.crosswalk.com, the covenant of marriage is a biblical framework designed for the husband and wife to respond to each other and to God.

The wedding ceremony, the article states, is symbolic of the couple's willingness to take part in that covenant with God. Therefore, emphasizing worship during the wedding is important.

A wedding ceremony is in fact a worship ceremony, from the music chosen that provides a Christlike atmosphere to lighting candles during the ceremony to symbolize Christ as "the light of the world."

The Rev. Greg Adams, pastor of Blue Mound and Bethel United Methodist churches, married Matt and Chrissy Cullison this month. The couple wanted their wedding in the historical Bethel United Methodist.

"The importance of getting married in a church is you are declaring that commitment to each other in the presence of God. And God is smiling down on that union," Adams said.

In 2006, a Washington Post article discussed the societal retreat from the church wedding.

Sources quoted in the article cited how Catholic marriage ceremonies have declined for the past 35 years - 426,000 marriages in 1970, down to 212,456 in 2005 - according to church data.

But that isn't the case for Bridget Bilyeu and Ryan Zoeller, who will wed in St. Patrick Church today. Bilyeu, who is Catholic, decided to shorten the ceremony and not include communion.

"It is usually the couple's choice to have communion during the Mass. Most Catholic weddings today do not have the Mass because of mixed religion couples getting married," said the Rev. Joe Malloy, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church.

Also, there is a growing trend of interfaith and nondenominational ministers offering couples the freedom to wed on their own terms.

Not too mention, clergy within the mainstream denominations are accommodating the marriage rituals by conducting weddings outside the church, catering more to interfaith couples and allowing changes to vows that have been a tradition for centuries.

However, not all is lost for church weddings.

"When a couple gets married in a church, they are pledging their love to each other and asking God to be a part of that," Malloy said.

Sheila Smith can be reached at sheilas@herald-review.com or 421-7963.