Ceremony

Selecting your wedding ceremony venue and your reception venue are some of the earliest choices you make when planning your wedding day. We are fortunate to have a number of wonderful venues in the Rochester area that offer both ceremony and reception spaces, removing the need for you and your guests to move between locations. Using one venue for both ceremony and reception also ties the activities together, providing a seamless celebration for your wedding day.

Many couples envision an outdoor ceremony experience, either at the reception venue or elsewhere. If that’s your wish, here are some things to look for and keep in mind when visiting potential outdoor ceremony venues:

– Wedding party accommodations: Are there places for the men and women in your wedding party to dress, store personal items, and wait out of sight of arriving guests?

– Is there a place where your wedding party can gather for the processional lineup that will be out of sight of the seated guests?

– Are there restrooms available for your guests? Some guests will have traveled distances to be with you and may need facilities when they arrive.

– Is there adequate parking for your guests?

– Is the ceremony site accessible for your guests? Consider wheelchair, walker and crutch access. Consider the length and intensity of the walk from the parking area. Consider the stability of the ground (will they be walking on cement, grass, sand, wood chips?). And remember that your guests will range in age and mobility.

– Will there be seating for the guests? Is it relatively comfortable?

– Will there be shade for your guests at the ceremony time on your wedding date? On a related point – will your guests be looking directly into the sun?

– Is bug control provided/allowed at the venue?

– Is there power available close to the ceremony venue? This may be needed for both music and microphones for the celebrant, readers, soloists, or you to allow your guests to hear the ceremony.

If you select an outdoor wedding venue for your Minnesota wedding you will also need to have a bad weather backup venue that can gracefully be substituted on your wedding day if needed. Rain, wind, high temperatures and humidity and even snow can cause a ceremony to move indoors, and our weather is just too variable to rely on it cooperating on your wedding day. Last year one couple even had to move their ceremony due to flooding – a consideration if you’re considering a river or lakeside ceremony.

Make sure that you also know how you would implement your bad weather plan if needed. If you are using a single venue for ceremony and reception, your bad weather plan may be as simple as directing guests indoors area when they arrive. If you are dealing with separate ceremony and reception venues, you’ll need to have a communication plan in place to notify guests in a timely and effective manner.

It’s important to include these practical considerations when selecting your ceremony venue, so that your vision of your outdoor ceremony can become reality.

The December holiday season is the most popular time for engagements to happen, so I’d like to congratulate all you newly engaged couples who are beginning the wedding planning journey.

Welcome to Minnesota Life Celebrations, your source for personal, meaningful, secular ceremonies. As a Humanist Celebrant I’ve written and officiated at over 250 weddings since 2010, and am currently booking 2017 dates. I work with each couple to define, write and deliver the ceremony you want for your wedding day. Your ceremony will engage your guests and start you wedding day on a high note.

Please explore this website to learn more about me and the services I offer. On the Weddings page you can check out pictures of recent couples I’ve worked with, read testimonial comments from previous clients, and explore rituals to consider including in your ceremony. There’s even a gallery of Rochester wedding venues to check out. Then contact me for a no cost, no obligation initial consultation meeting. We’ll sit down together and discuss what you want in your wedding ceremony, explore options for all aspects of your ceremony, and create an outline for the ceremony I can create for you.

The best ways for newly engaged couples to contact me are via the online form you can find here, via e-mail at kathy@mnlifecelebrations.com or via phone at 507-250-4655. I’ll be happy to answer any initial questions you have, and to schedule your initial meeting as soon as you’re ready.

As the end of the year draws near, I would like to take a moment to say thank you to some of the people who made 2016 a wonderful year. First, thank you to all the couples I worked with this year. I truly appreciate you selecting me as your wedding celebrant, and opening your hearts and lives so we could create a wedding ceremony that reflected you and your story.

Next, thank you to all the other wonderful vendors I work with regularly. The the venue managers who so kindly refer me to couples seeking ceremony services and who work with the couple and me to ensure we have what we need at the facility. The DJs and musicians who set the tone before the ceremony even begins, and weave music through each ceremony. The photographers who work around the edges to capture the moments for the couples, but are respectful of the ceremony taking place. All these people come together to create a memorable ceremony experience for each couple.

I’d also like to thank my husband who accompanies me to weddings, and who all the couples meet. Rich provides technical support with sound systems and photography for my website, provides chauffeur service so I can practice ceremonies as we travel, and who moves all the heavy sound equipment to make sure all guests can hear the ceremony.

All of these people enable me to do this work of providing personalized, meaningful, secular ceremonies. I look forward to working with them all again in the new year, as well as meeting and working with a new set of couples, including those about to get engaged during the upcoming holidays. Thank you for the memories of 2016, and now it is on to 2017!

Memorable wedding ceremonies are focused on you, the couple being married. They are filled with stories and anecdotes from your time together. They capture your guests’ attention and allow them to feel more connected to you and to your wedding day. And they set the tone for a happy, fun party to follow.

So how do you create a memorable ceremony? First, start with a professional celebrant who knows how to craft a ceremony and can deliver it well. Then, work with them to include elements that are personal and meaningful to you. Look at your ceremony from the start of the processional to your walk back down the aisle for ways to make the ceremony truly reflect you as a couple.

While the tradition of entering the ceremony space with your parent(s) is lovely, it can feel a bit contrived if you have been living independently for a number of years, if you share a home, or if you’ve been married before. Consider walking in to your ceremony as a couple! This simple change at the beginning of your ceremony will have your guests sitting up and taking notice.

I’ve written often about unity rituals, and they remain a great way to personalize your ceremony. If you connect with one of the standard rituals, that’s great, but if not, a custom unity ritual may be just the thing. This season I wrote an ice cream sharing ritual for a couple who included ice cream in every one of their dates – it was fun, memorable and meaningful. Another couple did their first dance as their unity ritual – they weren’t having a dance at their reception, but wanted that traditional moment to remember, so we positioned it as their unity ritual.

Near the end of your ceremony, invite a few of your guests to stand up or step forward to extend wishes for your married life. This can be as scripted or spontaneous as you wish, but do make sure that all guests can hear the offered wishes. Another way to close the ceremony is with a toast. This can be especially appropriate if your venue is a winery or distillery. You can also use your signature drink for the toast, gracefully blending your ceremony into your social hour.

And finally, if you want a visual or auditory send off, consider placing ribbon sticks or bells on each chair that can be used to salute you as you walk back down the aisle. Both are environmentally friendly, but be careful with the bells if there will be children in attendance as you may be serenaded throughout the ceremony.

Each couple is unique and has your own story. You deserve to be celebrated on your wedding day, and your ceremony can do that in a personal, memorable way.