Building a Meaningful Ceremony
"Writing a ceremony can seem exciting and liberating, while feeling terrifying and overwhelming at the exact same time" - Meg Keene, A Practical Wedding.
My fiancé and I asked my uncle to officiate our wedding ceremony. And, while we are very excited to be having someone we know and admire be a huge part of this day, it means navigating the road of putting together a ceremony. Exciting...but also a bit overwhelming.
Megan Keene of A Practical Wedding's advice? Start by building a foundation - what you and your fiancé believe marriage to be, fundamentally. Sit down together and each write down a couple things and then go through them together. Her other great piece of advice is to know that you don't have to write your ceremony from scratch. Take the ideas and 'feeling' you know you want for your ceremony and then find a service structure that works for you. No reason to completely reinvent the wheel. It's about finding something that's authentic to the two of you.
Once you find a ceremony 'structure' you like, you can edit to make it just perfect. From there, start adding in the extras like readings or music. Keep in mind the length you want and how everything will sound out loud and in front of your family and friends.
I think it's easy for us brides and grooms-to-be to get a little caught up in the material details of a wedding (guilty girl, right here), but it's good to take the time to thoughtfully plan the ceremony. A heartfelt ceremony sets the foundation for a great reception (and marriage!). Just think of the extra sweet and special ceremonies you have attended. They make you get all sappy and remind you what is important in life. They make you love love.
Repeat after me...my ceremony is not the boring part of the wedding. It is about me and my fiancé and our lives together and, therefore, it will be awesome! :-)
Resources I am finding helpful:
- example of a service structure that is not necessarily religious, here
- detailed example of structure, here
- example of structure from an officiant, here
- good things to consider when planning your ceremony, here
Please share if you know of others!