Everyone wants their wedding ceremony to be memorable right?! No one ever actually plans for anyone to forget it, yet the ceremony sometimes gets short-shrift. Couples tell me they’re worried about their guests being bored during their ceremony. If that’s you, you’re in the right place: I can’t stand boring ceremonies either! So, here are some ways you can make your wedding ceremony more original.
Make it engaging
If people don’t know each other or feel included, a ceremony can feel a bit exclusive. A wedding ceremony should be a shared, joyful experience, not something you are passively observing. It’s the celebrant’s job to engage your guests, whilst keeping the focus on you. Any celebrant can, at the very least, namecheck key people; better still have a bit of info on them. You can get friends and family involved in readings, blessings and symbolic rituals. I also have a few ideas for embarrassment-free ice breakers and tricks, to get people more connected.
Make it emotional
A personal ceremony fires up the happy, lovely emotions, which we all want – especially at a wedding. Some British people have a low threshold for PDAs (public displays of affection), but ALL of us want to feel the love on a wedding day. For starters, consider the words of your ceremony. Words are so powerful in expressing emotion. They can get us roaring with laughter, whooping with joy, and sometimes shedding a quiet, happy tear. The right words, which convey genuine emotion – are absolute gold.
Make it relevant
We’ve all been to a wedding unfortunately, which is the standard ‘fixed price menu’ of ceremonies. There’s an unspoken sense of ‘take it or leave it’, ‘this is how it is’. Often the problem is that it’s stuffed full of random, generalised, gushy cliches that you can’t relate to. It’s quotable, Instagram-able padding which adds nothing to the ceremony – except time. Can you tell I’m not a fan?! You could be spending that time, champagne in hand, chatting to friends and family you haven’t seen for 100 years (or whenever lockdown started). You deserve a wedding ceremony that’s relevant to you. I reckon to spend around 4 hours actually talking and listening to my wedding couples. I also get more brilliant info from the questionnaires I send out.
Make the vibe right
A ceremony is memorable when the vibe is right. This is a nuanced thing. If your wedding theme is boho, fun and the tone of the ceremony is too formal, there’s an obvious mismatch. The right vibe is the one you choose, and it’s very personal. For example, I might show two couples the same love poem and one will say it’s beautiful and romantic, and the other will say it’s cheesy. A good ceremony gets the vibe right all the way through, which enhances your whole wedding day. By the way, I think this photo is cute, but if you think it’s naff – that’s OK!
Make it original
As individuals we are all so brilliantly original. I’m not talking about creative genius, or Nobel prize-winning originality. I mean the everyday originality of each and every one of us. When I meet couples for the first time, it doesn’t take long for this to come out in their funny/endearing/ridiculous/clever personality traits, habits and sayings. Next, they tell me about their adventures, mishaps, jobs, families and friends. And the best bit by far, is their love story, with all its twists and turns, to the happy ending. Together it’s the most amazing cocktail for an original wedding ceremony. Celebrating your originality is absolutely always memorable and never boring.
For a wedding ceremony to be really memorable, it has to be personal, all about YOU. It needs to have energy, be relevant, not too long, with a mix of emotions, and a big soft heart in the centre, when you make your vows and your mum/dad/best friend start to cry. There are also so many extra sprinkles and sparkles of originality that you can add. As your celebrant, I bring lots of ideas to the table.
No more boring wedding ceremonies! I’m excited to hear your story. Find out more here about your original, beautiful wedding ceremony.
