Monthly Archives: February 2018

Use Music to Set the Mood

 in Ceremony / Music / Weddings  tagged ceremony music / music by

Use music to set the mood for your wedding ceremony and wedding day. Taking time to select music that has meaning for you is another way to personalize your wedding ceremony. Yes, your music provider – DJ or live musicians – can provide generic prelude music before your ceremony begins, and can tell you what the most popular choices are for music during the ceremony, too, but why choose those for your once in a lifetime (hopefully) wedding ceremony.

Rather than using the same music other couples are selecting, take a little time to choose cuts that are meaningful to you. Maybe you remember the first song you danced to. Or there’s a song with lyrics that really describe your feelings for each other. Or there’s a certain style of music that gets your toes tapping. Those are the pieces you want to hear on your wedding day.

I worked with one couple who were big K-pop (Korean pop music) fans. Their first trip together was to Canada to see their favorite group perform. So they chose to exit their wedding ceremony to a wonderful upbeat K-pop song. Another couple were big country music fans and found lovely ballads for the processional, and a boot stomping selection for the recessional.

Whether your preference is for traditional, classic music, big band, pop, country or even metal, use music to set the mood for your wedding ceremony. It will make the experience more personal, more memorable, and more authentically you.

Ceremony Venue Selection

 in Ceremony / Venue / Weddings  tagged ceremony / venue / wedding by

Ceremony venue selection is one of the earliest tasks when planning your wedding day. So, if you’re one of the new Valentine’s Day engagements – Congratulations to you, by the way – you’ll soon be looking at venues for your wedding ceremony. Outdoor ceremonies continue in popularity, and can be beautiful, but there are some extra things to consider when visiting outdoor ceremony venues. For example:

1. Bad weather – is there an indoor backup space at same location? If not, how would your guests know where to go, and if you’ve moved the ceremony indoors somewhere?

2. Position of the sun – will it be in your eyes? The eyes of your guests? This can be a real distraction if you select a ceremony time anywhere near sunset.

3. Accessibility – are the distance from parking and the terrain to be covered comfortable for your guests? Certainly consider elderly guests, but a broken leg can happen to anyone at any time.

Ceremony venue selection

4. Privacy – is there a place for the wedding party to gather and line up for the processional that is out of view from the guests? Some venues are so open that there’s no place to begin the processional from, and guests can see the entire wedding party at all times.

5. Seating – is seating provided for the guests? Do you have to set it up, or is that handled for you? Unless you are having a very brief (10 minutes or less) ceremony, your guests will be more comfortable if they can be seated. And arranging chairs is an additional task that your wedding party doesn’t need to be handling on a busy wedding day.

6. Facilities – are there bathrooms in the vicinity for you and your guests to use? Especially important for guests who have driven a distance to be with, you want them to be comfortable upon arrival.

7. Insects – are there any provision for bug control? I’ve seen guests spend most of the ceremony swatting at mosquitos, bees, and small biting insects. Memorable, but not the way you want it to be. See if it is possible for the venue to do a “bug bombing” of the ceremony site in advance of your ceremony time.

Using the considerations above, potential ceremony venues can be evaluated in a fair and logical way. Ceremony venue selection can soon be checked off your to do list, and you’ll be moving on to planning other aspects of your ideal wedding day.

Envision Your Wedding Ceremony

 in Ceremony / Weddings  tagged wedding ceremony by

It can be a challenge as an engaged couple to envision your wedding ceremony in detail. You know your date, you know your venue, you know you’re going to have a ceremony, but what will that include and how will you make is special and memorable? Couples I work with are seeking a secular or non-religious ceremony, but want it to be appropriately significant and to mark this important step in life.

Occasionally I’ll meet with a couple who already knows many of the things they want in their ceremony, and I’m happy to work with them to include those elements. But most often couples tell me they have little idea where to start or what to include. Since we aren’t bound by religious requirements the simple answer is that anything is possible, but that isn’t a particularly helpful answer. That’s why I come to each initial meeting with a couple prepared with lists and pictures and ideas and experiences.

Envision Your Wedding Ceremony - Crossing the threshold to marriage

Using those resources we can quickly determine what is important to you as a couple, and what you want to spend time on during your ceremony. We can also set a target length for your ceremony, and explore many options and possibilities to reflect your personalities and priorities. During our discussion you can begin to envision your wedding ceremony in a more concrete way – you understand the flow, the content and the feelings evoked.

Being able to envision your wedding ceremony will help it feel more real, and can relieve the stress of the unknown. And it will become even more real to you when I provide the first draft of your ceremony and you can see it come together. Every couple deserves to have a unique and memorable ceremony. Together we can envision your ceremony and then bring it to life.