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Guidelines
for newHorizone Wedding
and Commitment Ceremonies
1)
What
are Wedding and Commitment Ceremonies in newHorizone ?
Within the
VZones virtual community, deep and lasting relationships are frequently
formed. Some community members may wish to formalize relationships by holding
a special ceremony.
VZones
Management and Staff support the desire of members to have their special
relationships formalized and recognized in an official manner. Official
ceremonies may include “wedding” or “commitment” ceremonies, or friendship
ceremonies. Friendship ceremonies are encouraged in the event that one or both
parties requesting the ceremony, are underage. Ceremony text may be adapted and individualized to a
member’s specific taste at the discretion of the Wedding Official who will
preside over the ceremony.
2)
How
do I request a ceremony date and a newHorizone Official for
my ceremony ?
Before members
officially request a ceremony, they are expected to review and agree to
the guidelines posted here. Please select a ceremony date NO LESS than 2
weeks from the date that you send in your request. If you do not allow at least
2 weeks notice, the VZones Wedding Officials cannot guarantee the availability
of a wedding official at that time.
If you plan
to have the wedding in a PUBLIC locale rather than a private turf, please
consult the
newHorizone
Event Schedule
to make sure the locale is available
at the date and time you are planning. If that locale is available, please
submit your wedding date and time to the Events Schedule Submission Form
so that no other event will be planned for that locale at that time.
Please select
a newHorizone Staff
Wedding Official to perform your ceremony. A list of
Wedding
Officials may be found
here.
Only those names on the list are currently available to perform weddings. Please
also, before you fill out your wedding request, look over the list of officiates
and the times that are open for them to perform weddings. Please also, contact
the officiate you would like to have perform your wedding to make sure they are
available during that time. Taking this extra step
will ensure your wedding request is accepted in a timely manner.
Please be
aware that your first choice for a Wedding Official may be unable to meet
your request due to time conflicts or personal reasons, so it is wise to
also select an alternative Wedding Official. As an alternative, you may
choose to conduct an exchange of vows yourselves, without a formal ceremony
performed by a Wedding Official. However, in order to receive a Certificate
on the Wedding Registry, a Wedding Official *must be present * to witness
the ceremony so that a request for a certificate may be submitted.
We would also like to invite you to check out the
Wedding
Certificate
page to look over the many certificates we have to choose from. Don't forget to add your choice to the request
form! Once you
have made these choices, please completely fill out the Ceremony Request
Form. When your request form has been processed, a Wedding Official will
contact you to begin plans for your ceremony.
3)
What are the responsibilities of the Official who conducts my ceremony ?
Wedding
Officials will monitor incoming requests and respond to them in as timely
a fashion as possible. Wedding Officials will assist the couple in the
planning and wording of the actual ceremony, and may participate in rehearsals
if this is deemed necessary. This may be accomplished by in world meetings
or via email discussion. The selected Wedding Official will be available
in world or by email to answer questions in the days prior to the ceremony.
The selected Wedding Official will arrive promptly and conduct the ceremony
in a manner previously agreed upon by all parties involved. As “real world”
issues do arise unexpectedly for everyone, the selected Wedding Official
will make every effort to give advanced notice if he/she is unable to attend
and perform the ceremony, and may request that an alternative Wedding Official
take over these duties with approval of the couple.
At the conclusion
of the ceremony, the Wedding Official may, with the approval of
the couple, take a screen capture and submit a short wedding announcement
to nH News. After the ceremony, the Wedding Officiate will submit
notification to the Wedding Registry to provide the
appropriate details so that a Wedding Certificate may be completed and
sent to the wedding CT to post on the Registry. This should take place within a
week from the date of the ceremony.
Certificates
are made and the Registry updated on a weekly basis so your Wedding Certificate
should be viewable on the Registry within 2 weeks of your wedding
date. (most cases, a few days)
4)
What
are NOT the responsibilities of the Wedding Official ?
Wedding
Officials reserve the right to decline any wedding request due to time
constraints or personal reasons. Wedding Officials have the right to decline
any wedding request or ceremony request due to conflicts with personal
values or beliefs.
All Wedding
Officials will be respected in their individual beliefs and will not be
required to perform a ceremony which is outside their personal comfort
zone. Examples would include same-sex ceremonies, underage members, religious
conflicts, etc. In this event, the wedding request will be forwarded to
another Wedding Official, or to Caretaker Passion, who will assist the couple
in meeting their needs for a ceremony.
Wedding
Officials have the right to decline any and all unreasonable requests from
couples.
Some examples
of what have been previously requested, or even demanded:
“Shot-gun”
weddings requested without the appropriate 2-week waiting period; Requests
for the Wedding Official to organize or provide special games, prizes,
etc.
Requests
for the Wedding Official to provide or decorate a wedding turf; Requests
for wedding showers, bachelor parties, or any other such gift-bestowing
events;
All-expense-paid
honeymoons to Niagara Falls (or anywhere else) are not the responsibility
of your Wedding Official! <g>
5)
How do I cancel my ceremony plans prior to the planned date?
Your Wedding
Official will appreciate as much advance notice as possible if you must
cancel or reschedule your wedding. Please fill out the
Ceremony
Cancellation Form as soon as possible.
6)
What
is the procedure for removing a certificate from the registry if I ever wish to do so?
If for any
reason, you wish to have your Wedding/Ceremony Certificate removed from
the Registry, please directly contact the Wedding Official who performed
your ceremony. It is VERY important that you make this contact with the
SAME avatar you used in the ceremony if possible.
Your Wedding Official will submit a request for certificate removal upon
authentic request from one or both parties who actually participated in the
ceremony, and whose names are on the certificate. Requests from any other source
will not be honored.
If the Official
who performed your ceremony is no longer on staff, please contact
Caretaker
Passion and
Raine (WM).
NOTE:
In
the event that a newHorizone couple’s relationship is terminated, it is
not the responsibility of any newHorizone staff member to act as a relationship
counselor, to make judgments about fault, or to assist with division of
property. These issues are to be handled privately by the members involved.
Important: If
your avatar has a current Wedding Certificate on file at the Wedding Registry,
you may NOT have a 2nd official ceremony and certificate filed until the
first one is removed.
7)
Who
to contact with problems or questions regarding weddings?
Your direct,
first line of contact for questions or problems regarding the Wedding Registry
will be Caretaker
Passion
. If you find
that your questions or concerns are not answered to your satisfaction, please
email Raine (WM).
All decisions regarding the Wedding Registry by Caretaker Passion, in
consultation with World Mgr Raine, will be considered final.
Policy
by Raine (WM)
08/15/01 |
