Make your Wedding Ceremony Magic and Memorable
You want your wedding ceremony to be the best ever, the most beautiful, the most meaningful and the most memorable, for you and for your guests. You want fresh ideas for every aspect of the ceremony. You want it to be as unique as you are, and you aren’t afraid to use your imagination and think way outside the box.
With so many preconceived ideas about where a wedding should be held, what should be included and how the whole affair should come across, it can be hard to let your creativity and imagination take hold.
Once you find out that you can have a ceremony anywhere, include traditions new and old, multiple languages, include your children or other family members, or even pets, you can start to think about a ceremony that truly reflects who you are as a couple. As someone who has officiated countless unique and beautiful wedding ceremonies, I can attest that there is really no limit to the kind of wedding you can have.
Here are some ideas to inspire your creativity:
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HAVE A CELEBRANT-LED WEDDING CEREMONY
Right away with a celebrant, the only limit to the creativity and uniqueness of the ceremony is your imagination. Get the legalities done by a Registrar, and then presto changeo, get to work with a wedding celebrant to create the ceremony of your dreams.
A celebrant will listen to your ideas and is open to all sorts of creative possibilities, both your own and hers. There’s nothing like the fun of brainstorming, then taking the best of what you’ve thought of and, together with the celebrant, making it happen. Nothing is too crazy to at the very least consider doing or having at your ceremony, from words, to rituals, to vows, to readings, to the setting of your ceremony.
You are free to include any elements you choose and that have meaning for you. Perhaps you would like the ceremony conducted in several languages in full or part, or you would like to include children and step-children in the ceremony. Maybe your special day will include a song, a hand-fasting ritual or the planting of a tree. Every possibility is open to you!
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WEDDING LOCATIONS:
You can have your celebrant-led ceremony absolutely anywhere you want. No need for a licensed venue, just a place you love or that has special meaning to you and for your relationship.
For nature-lovers, the great outdoors is your stage – river, lake, forest, meadow, boat, garden, beach, mountain, picturesque ruin in beautiful countryside, the family farm – any place, anywhere that is special for you, and that’s not impossible for your or your guests to get to!
For couples who prefer an indoor celebration there are a great deal of unusual options, think art galleries, museums, restaurants, dance studios, your own living room, an arthouse cinema…what’s your favourite indoor space? See if it’s available on the day you want and go for it!
If you decide on an outdoor wedding venue, do remember to consider the weather and plan for anything. This may mean setting up a marquee with heaters and all the bells and whistles, or just having some umbrellas and wellies on hand. Some bad weather can even add a little fun to the day so be true to your ideas and make it exactly what you want it to be. It’s a good idea to make your guests aware of the setting so that they can plan for all kinds of weather and everyone has the best experience possible.
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MAKE YOUR OWN WEDDING RINGS OR HAVE REALLY UNUSUAL RINGS:
Many places offer couples a chance to make rings for each other. One groom I know worked secretly in his basement on a ring for his bride, under cover of time spent playing video games with his friends. When his first attempt disintegrated into a black lump, nothing daunted, he worked 12 hours straight to make a fresh and beautiful one to be ready for the day of the proposal.
Another couple had a diamond shape enclosed by a circle tattooed onto their ring fingers and at the ceremony anointed each other’s fingers to show that their love is infinite and healing.
Perhaps you are exchanging the rings that belonged to your grandparents or other family members?
These details can make your ceremony even more special and your celebrant can incorporate the story of your rings into the service if you wish. So, make sure you mention that you’ve made your rings when you exchange them with each other, or indicate whatever is special about them. It adds enormously to the power of the rings and their symbolism of your infinite love for each other and the deep bond you have built with each other.
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WRITE YOUR OWN WEDDING VOWS:
Nothing is as special, personal and unique as writing your own vows to make to each other.
You can get inspiration from researching and reading the words other couples have said to each other. You’ll find funny, sentimental, deeply emotional, short and simple, complex and poetic. But the best guide is your feelings for each other, telling each other what you mean to each other, and promising each other to do the things that are most important for nurturing and deepening your loving relationship for the rest of your lives.
A Brazilian bride composed an epic poem in Portuguese, incorporating symbolism and folklore from all over Brazil to express her deep love. Your vows can be short, concise and sweet, or epic, tender and humorous, whatever feels right. You can write an essay or a sonnet, or two sentences that say everything you need to express.
There’s no right or wrong and no ideal length for wedding vows. It’s whatever you feel moved to say. A word of advice – you can say just about anything you want, but steer clear of the intimate in-jokes!
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UNIQUE WEDDING CEREMONY RITUALS:
As well as exchanging vows and rings, you can use rituals of all kinds to make your wedding ceremony different from anyone else’s. You can present each other with items that symbolise your relationship – letter tiles from a Scrabble game if words are your thing, crampons if you’re into climbing, maps for travellers, a dictionary in a language you haven’t tried before if you love languages, train tickets to somewhere wonderful if you are train aficionados.
You can give each other items that represent wedding traditions from your respective cultural or religious backgrounds, from coins to symbolise that you will always provide for each other, to bread to symbolise that you will always feed each other.
You could plant a tree together to symbolise that your relationship and your family will grow as you nourish each other in every way through the years ahead.
Think about what special interests you share, and give something to each other that represents that shared passion.
Have fun exploring your traditions. Ask parents, friends and relatives for ideas. Your celebrant will be very happy to offer suggestions for words to use, and ways and places to bring the rituals and special objects into your ceremony.
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INCLUDE YOUR LOVE STORY IN THE CEREMONY:
Everyone loves a good love story, and a wedding ceremony is the perfect time to tell it and to hear it. And your story is unique. Nobody else’s story is exactly like yours: how you met and what happened next and how you fell in love and realised each other was THE one. And how the proposal came about – the setting, the words, the lead up…
This is a chance to have fun, and to reminisce about what led you to your wedding day. And the great thing is that you have total control over what to put in, and what to leave out!
The celebrant only knows as much about your story as you choose to tell her. Much safer than having anyone else tell it, and possibly revealing things you would rather not share with your guests or your spouse!
Having the celebrant tell your story is a fresh and captivating way to begin your wedding ceremony. No matter that your guests may know your story, or at least think they do – they will love to hear it again, and there may be fresh details they’ve never heard before!
While a church or registry office wedding places certain restrictions on your ceremony, a celebrant-led wedding is an opportunity to step out of the box. Your unique story can be heard in the setting of your choice and with the atmosphere and elements that are unique to you as a couple. Let your imagination run wild. If you can imagine it, it’s probably possible.
A celebrant can turn your dreams into your actual wedding ceremony that you and your guests will remember forever. So start dreaming and watch the magic happen.
Catherine Kentridge is a London based Celebrant creating beautiful, elegant and completely customised wedding, vow renewal and civil partnership ceremonies, together with baby naming & family ceremonies, and memorial or celebration of life ceremonies.
You may choose a simple or elaborate ceremony to celebrate happy new beginnings or the life of a loved one lost. Catherine will work with you to create a ceremony that is full of feeling and warmth, something extremely personal to you and a memory to treasure
See some of our amazing wedding Celebrants and Registrars here
