Every wedding is beautiful in its own way, whether you have a traditional affair or go all out with different cultural or pagan rituals, whether you have 200 guests or elope with only a handful of family and friends present.
When planning your wedding ceremony, you may know exactly what you want included and can visualise it in its entirety from start to finish. Others of you may have a blank canvas, are not really sure what you CAN include and are open to ideas. If that sounds like you, read on for some fantastic ideas on how to make your ceremony more personalised, how to add a little extra sparkle.
Adding a ceremony element (or two or three…) to your day can add fun to your ceremony, allow your personalities to shine through and be a beautiful way to include your guests, if you wish to.
Here are just a few ideas…
Unity Ceremonies
Lasso Ceremony
The lasso ceremony has origins rooted in Mexico and other Hispanic communities, closely linked to the Catholic faith. A floral garland or rosary is draped around yours and your partner’s shoulders and twisted into an infinity symbol. At the end of the ceremony, it is removed for you to keep.
Blending Paint/Canvas of Hands
This is for the brave when it comes to using paint whilst wearing your wedding attire! The both of you pour a different colour of paint each onto a single canvas. The colours blend together as a sign of unity. Extra colours could be used if there are children involved, to represent a family unit. Similarly, you could paint your hands instead and press them onto a blank canvas.
Unity Sand
Less messy than using paint, you could both pour coloured sand from individual transparent containers into one larger one to represent unity. As above, if there are children involved, extra containers of different coloured sands could be used to represent a family unit.
Wine Blending
Fancy a sip during your ceremony? As a couple, one of you would pour from a bottle of white wine and one from a bottle of red into glasses to create a blush that you then both drink. Wine not your thing? Create your favourite cocktail instead! With ChatGPT, you can even create your own unique wedding cocktail!
Unity Candle
The unity candle ceremony has been adopted from Pagan tradition. Both you and your partner use individual candles to light a larger, shared one together. An alternative to this is to ask other family members, such as both mothers, to do it instead to signify the joining of two families rather than two individuals.
Unity Ceremony Shot
Canvases, sand and candles all a little bit too tame for you? Never fear, you could go for a shot instead! Two shot glasses are filled with your favourite spirit and away you go. Salut!
Handtying
Handtying is a small part of a fuller Pagan/Celtic tradition of handfasting and is the origin of ‘tying the knot’. Ribbons or cloth are draped over your clasped hands and then tied into a knot symbolising the bringing together of two hearts. There are many different versions of handtying knots and materials to use – have a google!
Involving and Gifting Your Guests
Ring Warming
Ring warming is an old Irish tradition in which your wedding rings are passed amongst your guests in a pouch at the start of the ceremony. They are invited to pass on a positive thought or good wish to you as the rings pass through their hands.
Surprise Ring Bearers
Prior to your ceremony, have your wedding rings attached underneath one or two guest chairs. When the time comes for the ring bearers to bring the rings forward, your guests will be asked to feel under their chairs. Whoever finds the rings becomes your ring bearer/s.
First Kiss, Last Kiss
As the people who gave you your first very kiss, both mothers are asked to join you and give you your last kiss at a point in the ceremony before you share your kiss as a couple.
Rose Ceremony
You can choose to present roses to your mothers and/or grandmothers (or anybody else for that matter) during your ceremony as a way of showing appreciation for their support.
Handtying
If your ribbons or cord are not already plaited for your handtying, you could involve chosen guests in the draping of them over your hands. Add an element of surprise by not telling them beforehand. As they drape their ribbon or cord, they can be told how they are special to you and why they were chosen. Expect tears!
Wish Jar/Tree
Each guest writes a thought or message to you both on tags or wooden shapes, such as hearts. These are placed in a jar or hung on a tree as a memento of the day, which you can read at a later date.
Other Ways in Which to Personalise Your Ceremony
· Choose how you want to enter your ceremony – both already at the front when guests arrive, dance down the aisle to your favourite groove, have your grandmother as a flower girl or your dog as a ring bearer. You decide!
· Use your guests’ talents – ask somebody to sing, play an instrument or read a poem they wrote.
· Instead of exchanging rings during your ceremony, gift each other with something else - each other’s favourite drink, something cute, romantic and meaningful or something humorous such as a kettle and a drill!
· Organise a surprise flashmob!
· Wear what YOU want! Black dress? Yes! Jeans? Go for it!
· If you have children, exchange vows as a family.
· Mix up the ‘wedding party’ - have a best woman instead of a best man, bridesmen instead of bridesmaids. Choose who YOU want involved and assign them the roles that YOU, not tradition, want them to have. Or choose to have none at all.
· Choose how your guests view your ceremony – you could face them, they could sit in a circle around you or you could be raised on some sort of platform.
This blog simply scratches the surface of how you can create a wedding ceremony that is totally unique to the two of you, that allows your personality to shine through. The only limit is the lack of imagination!
Happy planning!
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