weddings

Celebrating the New Year

 in Anniversary / Celebration / Engagement / Weddings  tagged anniversary / celebrations / ceremony / milestone anniversary / weddings by

Celebrating the new year is something all of us can do. But for some couples, the new year means even more. Perhaps an engagement made your holidays especially bright. Or maybe 2022 is the year you will be married. Or perhaps this is a year for a milestone anniversary celebration. Whatever the reason, may the new year bring much happiness and many wonderful memories.

Happy New Year!
Celebrating the new year, and maybe something more??

Newly engaged couples are still wrapped up in the wonder of the proposal and sharing your happy news with family and friends. Soon, however, you’ll begin to consider if 2022 is going to be the year of your wedding, or perhaps you’ll be looking at 2023. If you want a particular month for your wedding or have a particular venue in mind, you’ll want to work quickly to secure the date and place for your festivities.

For engaged couples already planning a 2022 wedding, celebrating the New Year is a reminder to keep working on your plans. Especially if you’ve had a long engagement, it can be easy for months to slip by and all of a sudden you can find yourself scrambling to complete all the tasks associated with a wedding. If you haven’t secured your key vendors already – photographer, musician/DJ, and celebrant/officiant, you’ll want to do that right away.

Let’s not forget about couples married 25, 30, 40, 50 years or more. Milestone anniversaries are a wonderful time to gather with family and friends to publicly voice your love and commitment to each other once again. These gatherings can be at informal – picnics or family reunions. Especially if you had a smaller celebration or eloped for your wedding, you might choose to plan a more elaborate vow renewal ceremony and celebration. No matter the style of the event, a lasting love is always worth celebrating.

Celebrating the new year is only the beginning of 2022. There are many more celebrations to come. Congratulations to all the newly engaged couples. Best wishes to all the couples marrying this year. And wishes for many more loving years together go out to the milestone anniversary couples. Love in all its forms is always worth celebrating!

Looking Back at 2021

 in Ceremony / Weddings / Welcoming Ceremony  tagged weddings / welcoming ceremonies by

Looking back at 2021 brings memories of the return to mostly “normal” ceremonies. Memories of rainy outdoor ceremonies and lots of miles put on the car. Memories of happy couples and happy babies. It has been a good year as I officiated 47 ceremonies with one left on the schedule for the coming weeks.

A couple of smaller ceremonies were delayed this year due to COVID outbreaks, but most went off as planned. The return to “normal” is not complete yet as variants and unvaccinated people continue to make scheduling and holding ceremonies a challenge. Holding outdoor ceremonies – always preferred by most of the clients I deal with – helped limit concern of virus spread.

Looking back at 2021 ceremonies, though, it’s clear that the weather was not very cooperative. Three weddings I performed were damp or wet events when the couples chose to continue with outdoor plans despite the weather. One couple did opt to move their ceremony indoors which allowed everyone to be more comfortable… and dry. The weather this year reinforced the need to have a valid bad weather backup plan for any ceremony planned for Minnesota. Equally important, however, is the willingness of the couple to shift to their indoor space when inclement weather strikes.

This year included lots of out of town ceremonies. I’m not sure why that happened, but it certainly impacted the time spent of rehearsals and ceremonies, and the miles put on my car. I did get a couple of overnight hotel stays which helped a bit. So far, all my booked ceremonies for 2022 are here in Rochester, so this year seems to have been an anomaly.

As with every year, the overwhelming impression left looking back at 2021 is one of happy, smiling faces. From the proud parents to the ecstatic brides and grooms, from the tired but proud new parents of a little one to the grandmas celebrating the new generation of their family. All my reasons for offering ceremony services were reinforced once again this year. As I wind down the year, I’m already working with couples planning 2022 ceremonies. And so the cycle begins again.

Special Seating at Weddings

 in Ceremony / Guests / Wedding Ceremony / Wedding planning  tagged ceremony seating / wedding ceremony / wedding guests / weddings by

Special seating at weddings is usually provided for the parents and grandparents of the couple, and possibly other close family members. These seats are at the front of the ceremony space to provide the best view of the couple and the ceremony. There are a few things to consider when planning for special seating.

  1. Who do you want to have special seating for at your wedding?
    As mentioned, you’ll want to have places for parents and grandparents at a minimum. If your parents are divorced, you’ll want to make sure their new partners (if any) are seated with them. If you have siblings who are not in the wedding party, you’ll also want them to be up front in reserved spaces.

Other people you may choose to provide special seating for include: spouses/partners of members of your wedding party, godparents, and those who will offer readings during the ceremony. Make sure to allow space for escorts/partners for any of these people. Importantly, you’ll want to have a parent of any flower girls or ring bearers seated up front, along with a chair for the children to sit in during the ceremony.

How will these important people know where to sit?
Ushers can be a great help with guiding these people to the places you’ve allocated for them. Providing a list to the ushers can be helpful here, and ideally the ushers will be able to recognize these special guests. It’s also very helpful for people to be contacted ahead of time to let them know that spaces will be reserved for them and invite them to ask the ushers for assistance. The advance notification can be a task delegated to the moms, dads or siblings.

If you don’t have ushers, you’ll want to place “Reserved” signs on each row near the front, at a minimum. Consider actual seat assignments with name tags on the chairs if many people are involved, or if you’re concerned that your guests may not understand wedding etiquette. Just be careful not to use markers that will transfer to clothing if guests will be sitting or leaning against them.

  1. How will others know to avoid the special seating?
    This is what the “Reserved” signs are for, but recent experiences tell me that sometimes that isn’t enough. In one case, an aunt and grandfather sat in the seats in the front row normally reserved for the groom’s parents. They had to be asked repeatedly (and forcefully) to vacate the seats so the parents would have a place to sit after entering in the processional. In the second case, a stepfather who was seated before the processional began made it nearly impossible for the groom’s father to sit on the aisle as had been rehearsed. The stepfather had to be asked to move down the row as the processional was beginning. Thankfully, he moved and the situation was handled discretely, and no one was aware.

Special seating at weddings can be a bit tricky to coordinate, but is worth the time and effort. You want the very special people in your world to be treated warmly and respectfully. You want other guests to know where, and where not, to sit without feeling uncomfortable. And you want everyone ready to celebrate with you as the music starts, the wedding party enters, and your ceremony begins!

The Importance of Celebrating Love

 in Celebration / COVID-19 / Engagement / Love / Weddings  tagged celebrating love / engagement / Valentine's Day / weddings by

The importance of celebrating love cannot be overstated. Even as the pandemic continues to rage in our country, celebrating love with the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday, with engagements and with weddings this year is crucial to our experience as humans.

If we accept the importance of celebrating love as a major milestone in our lives, we then need to decide how to do that. Couples may celebrate anniversaries of first dates or the first exchange of “I love you’s”. Later in their relationships, proposals made be planned and executed. The period of time between proposal and wedding known as the engagement is another celebration of love.

During the engagement period most couple’s reflect seriously on what a lifetime commitment means to them. They may move in together and make the adjustments necessary to lovingly share space. And of course, they usually plan their wedding.

Wedding plans are going to be challenging again this year due to COVID, and some couples may choose to plan a 2022 wedding hoping to avoid restrictions and worries. No matter how large or small the celebration, no matter how short or long the planning cycle is, the wedding day will arrive. On that day, the couple will stand in front of a few or many of their loved ones and publicly voice their commitment to each other. They will demonstrate the importance of celebrating love in a way uniquely their own because they are unique, their relationship is unique, and the future in front of them is unique.

So with the Valentine’s Day holiday upon us, let’s remember the importance of celebrating love … even when a pandemic is making life extra challenging. Love will prevail, couples will get engaged and marry, and life will go on! So this weekend, lift a toast To life and love!

Four Wedding Trends for 2021

 in COVID-19 / Trends / Wedding planning / Weddings / Welcoming Ceremony  tagged wedding ceremony / wedding guests / wedding trends / weddings by

Four wedding trends for 2021 are influencing couples planning their marriages this year. The pandemic continues to drive changes to what is possible and what is safe. We can’t know when we will return to some sort of “normal” where weddings are concerned, but couples will certainly be influenced by these four wedding trends this year.

  1. Shorter planning cycles. States are frequently changing the number of people who can gather based on current COVID numbers and spikes. Couples are choosing to schedule, plan, invite guests, and hold their weddings within a few weeks to months. This in turn drives the next trend.
  2. Smaller guest lists. Smaller weddings can be planned more quickly and held more safely, both considerations in 2021. Some couples are choosing to have only very close family and friends. Others are focusing on local friends and family so guests don’t have to incur the risks involved in airports, airplanes and hotels. There is an upside to more intimate weddings as couples are able to include guests in meaningful ways in the ceremony and throughout the day.
  3. More intentionality in the wedding day. Couples who have delayed or postponed weddings from last year will tend to be more thoughtful about what is truly important to about the day. They might have fewer people in attendance, but will want something special and memorable. Choices around the ceremony, dinner and reception may all be customized for your day.
  4. Weekdays. 2021 will likely host many weddings postponed from last year, along with the events for newly engaged couples. This will put a strain on venues and other wedding vendors. Venue availability in particular will drive couples to get creative and consider weekdays for their weddings.

These four wedding trends for 2021 relate to each other and are all driven by the pandemic we’re living through. If you’re planning, or re-planning a wedding for this year you’ll likely feel the impact of some or most of these. But there are upsides to each of these trends, too. Ultimately the weddings of 2021 will be special and unique because each couple is.