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Choosing Readings and Music: Your Wedding Ceremony, Part 2

 in Ceremony / Music / Readings / Weddings  tagged ceremony music / ceremony readings / custom wedding / custom wedding ceremony / personalized wedding / wedding ceremonies / wedding ceremony by

Choosing readings and music that reflect your personalities, values and interests is a great way to start personalizing your wedding ceremony. Last week’s blog got us started with the basics needed to legally marry, but there is so much more you can do with your ceremony. Especially if you are inviting family members and friends to share your wedding day, you’ll want to start the day with a ceremony that reflects who you are as a couple.

Music is a great place to begin. Using music that is significant to you for your entry and exit is fun for you and shares something about you with your guests. I’ve heard “Storybook Love” the theme from “Princess Bride”, “Everything is Awesome” from the Lego Movie, “Marry Me” by Train and “I Like It, I Love It” by Tim McGraw. Each offers an insight into the couple – fanciful, fun, contemporary, and country western. You can include more personal selections to back a unity ritual, as prelude music or postlude music as your guests leave the ceremony space. Of course, if you’re going for a traditional ceremony feel you might stick with “Canon in D” by Pachelbel, “Trumpet Voluntary” by Jeremiah Clarke, or even “Bridal Chorus” by Richard Wagner – you know, “Here Comes the Bride”.

Another way to reflect your personalities in your ceremony is through the reading or readings you select. Perhaps you have a dog or two that you view as family members. A lighthearted reading about what you can learn about love from your dogs may be a perfect match for you. If you’re avid cyclists, there’s a reading for you, too. And if you shared years of friendship before moving on to a romantic relationship, there are a number of readings to select from. Once you’ve selected your reading(s), consider who will offer them during your ceremony. The person who introduced you, a beloved grandparent, or a mutual friend of yours will provide an additional memorable moment to your day.

As you work with your celebrant to craft your ceremony, carefully choosing readings and music that reflect you provides additional insight into your relationship and shares more of your personality. Letting your guests know more about you is a great way to invite them into your celebration. Watch for next week’s blog about additional ways to personalize your ceremony.

Why Opt for a Custom Wedding Ceremony?

 in Ceremony / Personalization / Weddings  tagged custom ceremony / custom wedding / custom wedding ceremony / wedding ceremony by

Why opt for a custom wedding ceremony when a pre-written ceremony is easier and cheaper? Because your wedding day celebrates the two of you and the love you’ve found together. That love is unique to the two of you, and deserves more than a “fill in the names” ceremony. You’ve invested long months making many decisions about napkin colors, centerpieces and name cards. Doesn’t your ceremony deserve some focus and investment, too?

There is no question that if you opt for a custom wedding ceremony you will need to invest some time and attention. You’ll need to provide information on yourself and on you as a couple to allow your celebrant to create a ceremony that authentically reflects you. You’ll need to review a draft or two to ensure that they have the facts right and have captured the tone you want for your ceremony. But many couples have shared that the time they invest working on their ceremony has been time well spent. When they’re busy and stressed by the myriad decisions and tasks associated with planning a wedding day, taking an hour or two to think about their love, their past experiences together and the future that is in front of them can be an opportunity to focus again on the big picture. To focus on what’s really important about the day and why it is even happening.

When you opt for a custom wedding ceremony it puts you in the drivers seat. You select your own music (without limitations imposed by religion or officiant). You select your own reading(s), can decide not to have any at all, or can request assistance in identifying a reading that reflects some aspect of your story. The choice of unity ritual and the choice to include one are also yours, with customization to make it relevant to you a great option. With your vows the centerpiece of your wedding ceremony it only makes sense that you have the option to write your own, or to select ones that speak to the promises you want to make to each other in marriage. When you opt for a custom wedding ceremony you choose which ceremony elements to include and control how they come together.

Opt for a custom wedding ceremony to ensure it reflects you as a couple.

More skill, resources, knowledge and time are required from your celebrant when you opt for a custom wedding ceremony and it will accordingly be a bit more costly. When viewed as a percentage of your wedding budget your ceremony is still one of the smallest expenditures you will make, though, and is really what your wedding day is all about… the two of you professing your love and commitment to each other in front of your family and friends. All the rest is just a great party, so give your ceremony the time and attention needed to make it the perfect beginning to your marriage adventure.