At least one-third of all new marriages in the U.S. involve divorced or widowed parents with children under 18 living in the home, according to the Stepfamily Association of America.

Even as blended families become more common, parents in these families struggle with ways to ease the concerns of children who feel, on a conscious or unconscious level, that their secure place in the family is threatened by the pending marriage of a parent.

Many couples are finding that they can start their new lives with a strong commitment to their blended families with a family-oriented wedding service that gives children a meaningful role in the nuptials.

This five-minute ceremony – known as the Family Medallion service – can easily be integrated into any religious or civil wedding ceremony. It differs from the traditional wedding in only one respect: after the newlyweds exchange rings, their children join them for a special service focusing on the family nature of remarriage.

Each child is given a gold or silver Family Medallion with three interlocking circles, a symbol that represents family love in much the same way the wedding ring signifies conjugal love.

Holly Powers and Paul Bousquet incorporated the Family Medallion service into their ceremony by adapting it beyond the formal commitment to love and protect all the children either spouse brought to the marriage.

“We used language that emphasized the challenges of building a life together,” said Holly. This included acknowledging that it would take time to adjust to the new family unit and that to succeed they must constantly communicate and foster trust and intimacy by doing things together as a family.

Holly said she and Paul would never forget the moment during their wedding when her children from her first marriage were summoned to their sides to participate in the family wedding service.

While the justice of the peace recited the words of the ceremony that Holly had so carefully crafted, Holly and Paul placed the Family Medallions around the necks of Emily and Michael.

“A marriage involving children is a lot more than simply the union of a man and a woman – it is a merging of two separate families,” said Dr. Roger Coleman, chaplain of Pilgrim Chapel in Kansas City, Mo., who developed the Family Medallion and the family ceremony that goes with it.

“Every day of my ministry I see how divorce creates a sense of failure and hopelessness in people. The family ceremony is a sign of hope and an important step in rebuilding broken families,” he said

Today, more than 15,000 couples a year use the Family Medallion ceremony to help cement the bond between parents, stepparents and children.

“Ignoring the vital role that children play in remarriage is a setup for a dysfunctional family situation and possibly even a second divorce,” according to Christopher Vender, director of Catholic Ministries of California in Thousand Oaks, who has used the Family Medallion wedding service on several occasions.

Holly and Paul believe their decision to recognize and honor Emily and Michael during their wedding will permanently strengthen their family bond. “Both Michael and Emily will always have the medallions as a tangible symbol of our family love,” Holly said.

The Family Medallion is available in the form of a pendant, ring, key ring or lapel pin. Additional information about the Family Medallion Wedding Service may be found online at www.familymedallion.com; by calling Clergy Services, Inc. at (800) 237-1922; or by writing to P.O. Box 32333, Kansas City, Mo., 64171.