Just like with all aspects of planning a wedding, planning the ceremony means making some pretty big decisions. The nice thing is that it can be as elaborate and over-the-top or as scaled back and minimalistic as you want (10-minute service, anyone?). No matter how many weddings you’ve been to where a cheesy ritual has made you roll your eyes or the length has made you nod off to sleep, this is finally your chance to shine.
It is kinda crazy, however, just how much there is to think about. Oy vey. Much more goes into creating a meaningful ceremony than I had ever really anticipated.
This is what we’re currently mulling over:
- Music
- How we want the bridesmaids and groomsmen to enter
- In what ways we want to involve family members
- What rituals or special ceremonies we want to perform
- What Biblical and other passages we want read
- What vows we’d like to say
I’m doing a happy dance about this one because two of my favorite peeps are going to be lending their musical talents to the big day. My cousin JK has agreed to play flute, and a dear friend is playing the piano. And these, my friends, are some of the songs I’m considering for various parts of the ceremony, because I loves me some Vivaldi.
And, I kinda really, really love this. Adele is freaking amazing. And this song is gorgeous.
I’m kinda stuck on this one. There are too many stinkin’ possibilities! The groom’s attendants (I gots to be fair; it’s not just groomsmen – it’s groomsmen and a groom’s lady!) could process first, with the bridesmaids processing after them. Or the groom’s attendants and bridesmaids could process together. Or the groom’s attendants could be in place already and just the bridesmaids could process. Whew! There sure are a lot of different ways to go about getting a group of people to the front of a church!
I am loving working on this aspect of the ceremony. We want to share our day with our loved ones and include as many of them as possible in important ways. One way we plan to include our mothers is by asking them to read a passage – from a book, a poem, a song, anything – that means something to them that they think might be meaningful to us. We’re also tossing around some different ideas that might involve all the guests, though we haven’t really decided on anything on that front.
I know it might be horribly clichéd, but we plan to have a unity candle. Though this particular rite has been performed at oodles of ceremonies before ours, I’ve always loved it. I think there’s something really special about the symbolism of unifying two as one. And, the best part is that our candle brings a little bit of the beau’s hometown to the ceremony – the candles are from A.I. Root Candle Co., which is based where he is from in Ohio!
I’ve always known I wanted passages from the Bible to be read during our ceremony, but determining which ones is proving harder than I thought. I really don’t want to use the same passages I’ve heard at so many other weddings before. I want to find passages meaningful to me, to us. I’m a big fan of Ecclesiastes 4:9
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”
I’m pretty sure we’re going to say standard vows. There was a time I considered writing my own, but at this point I’m thinking that’s probably not what I want to do.
Yikes! There’s so much to consider!
The Frozen Southerner 