Wedding Ceremony ideas

All brides-to-be are excited to make their dream wedding come true and start their happy life with the man they love. But one can get nervous when it comes to decide what bridal traditions and customs to choose for the wedding ceremony.

The wedding is a civil or religious ceremony that celebrates the beginning of a marriage between two people. Fortunately, these days weddings are not as strict and traditional as they used to be. Every couple can personalize their ceremony as they like, they can choose which tradition to follow and decide their wedding’s details. As long as they are united in marriage by an authority figure, it does not matter if the bride is not wearing a wedding veil, the groom does not have a best man or the couple chooses to wed without having a wedding reception afterwards.

Of course, wedding traditions and customs vary from one culture, religion and country to another, but most wedding ceremonies include special garments, music, prayers or readings from religious texts, exchange of wedding vows and rings and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure. Either civil or religious, the ceremony is usually followed by a wedding reception or party.

Having a civil wedding ceremony does not mean you are bound to accept a short and dull service. You can personalise your ceremony and add special touches to make it intimate and memorable. A religious service, on the other hand, has to follow a prescribed formula set out by your religion. Whether Christian, Catholic or Buddhist, religion will eventually dictate a big part of your wedding order of service. But as long as you respect the church’s practices and you talk to the officiant about the personal details you want to include in the wedding service, you can still personalise your ceremony.

Here are some cute and simple wedding ceremony ideas:

Gift your guests with flower favors

A nice romantic gesture would be to provide flower favors for the guests attending the ceremony: boutonnieres for men and flower hair clips for women. Arrange them on trays at the beginning of the wedding aisle. This way, you will all feel like being part of something special and great.

Have a short pre-ceremony cocktail party

If it’s possible to use the location an hour before the official beginning of the ceremony, organise a short cocktail party to start celebrating as soon as the first guests arrive. Some festive cocktails and simple treats like mini-sandwiches and rolls will give everyone the chance to relax, mingle and chat.

Glam up the bridesmaids’ outfits

Instead of common flower bouquets, give your bridesmaids some stylish accessory that can serve as bridesmaids’ gift as well: a chic clutch, a vintage brooch, coloured silk fans, elegant strings of pearls etc.

Choose the music that defines you

If you have a civil service or if your religion allows you to choose the music to be played in the church, make sure to accompany your walk down the aisle with a meaningful song. Ask the organist to play your couple’s song or a famous love song that can stand as a love declaration for your spouse, like “At Last” by Etta James or “Can’t take my eyes off you”, by Frankie Valli.

Use a nonconformist wedding ring “pillow”

Instead of the classic pillow where the wedding rings should lay, use a small treasure chest with a key one of you will unlock and reveal the wedding rings. Or take a vintage book, cut its cover and some of the pages in the shape of a heart and place the wedding rings inside.

End the ceremony with a toast

As soon as you are officially declared “husband and wife”, have the ushers pass around your favourite drink and make your first toast as a happy couple. This way, you will end the ceremony on a celebratory note and the guests will arrive to the wedding reception in good spirits.

Parade your way to the reception

After the ceremony, invite your guests to form a parade and follow you and your husband to the reception. This is appropriate if the location for your reception is not too far away from where the ceremony took place. And, of course, you also need some musicians to accompany the merry procession.

Order of wedding ceremony

The precise order of the wedding ceremony may vary from one culture to another, but usually both civil and religious services follow the same general outline:

Civil wedding ceremony

The civil ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary. Usually, the civil ceremony is held at the Registry Office, but as long as the functionary is willing to officiate the ceremony elsewhere, the bride and groom can wed in a less formal location. Also, they can personalise the ceremony with optional rituals beyond the basic requirements. For example, they can read a love poem in the beginning of the service or have a toast with the guests before the ceremony concludes.

Religious wedding ceremony

At a religious wedding ceremony, the bride and groom must accept the church’s wedding practices, but they can still customise some aspects of the ceremony. Here is a typical order of religious service:

Procession: This is the part where guests arrive and take their places for the ceremony. The organist plays prelude music and there can be some ushers standing outside the church to greet and direct the guests to their appropriate seats. Usually, the bride’s family and friends are seated to the left of the church, while the groom’s family and friends, to the right. When all the guests are seated, the groom and best man (if any) take their place to the chancel steps to watch the bride entering the church and walking down the aisle, with her right arm resting on her father’s arm. When the bride reaches the chancel steps, her father withdraws, leaving the bride and groom stand alone in front of the priest.

Opening remarks: The priest begins the service with the famous line: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…” and then says a few words on the importance of marriage and asks if anyone present knows of any reason why the couple should not be married.

Exchange of vows: Some couples write their own wedding vows, some just repeat in turn after the priest the familiar “to have and to hold, for better or for worse…” vows and answer “I do”.

Exchange of rings: Both rings are blessed by the priest, then the bride and groom exchange the rings repeating the words: “With this ring, I thee wed. With my body I thee honour and all my worldly goods with thee I share. In the name of the father, the son and of the Holy Ghost”.

Pronouncement of marriage: This moment is marked by the words: “I now pronounce you husband and wife”, after which the priest speaks a few closing words, gives his blessing to the couple and let them kiss.

Recessional: This is the reverse of the processional. The bride and groom exit the church as husband and wife, followed by their families, friends and guests, while the organist plays recessional music. Usually, the religious wedding ceremony is followed by a wedding reception where guests eat, drink, dance and celebrate the marriage of the happy couple.