HOW TO CREATE A WEDDING CEREMONY VIBE THAT PERFECTLY REPRESENTS YOU

Whilst wedding ceremonies are one of the most traditional parts of a wedding day, there is no reason you cannot break the rules and make it your own. Ceremonies can be created in so many different ways.

• Ceremonies can be small and intimate, or surrounded by hundreds of your shared connections.

• Ceremonies can be sentimental, heartfelt and full of tears, or feel like one big party of your love for eachother!

• Your guests can be seated in rows, or standing in a circle around you.

The opportunities are endless, but sometimes we need some ideas, tips and advice to get the creative juices flowing and imagine exactly what it is that we want for our ceremony. I have gathered advice from some of the ceremony experts in creating the mood (your celebrant and musician), as well as some tips and tricks from my wedding-photographer-self to help elevate your celebration during those key moments!

So let’s jump in and create a wedding ceremony that best represents and reflects the two of you in your forever love celebration!

Creating the right atmosphere

How do you imagine your dream ceremony?

Do you imagine a celebration full of tears, sentiment and tender moments. Or perhaps you want to sign your legals, pop a bottle of champagne and have a boogie with your bridal party down the aisle to your favourite hype song. OR… maybe it’s all of the above?

The first step to planning your ceremony is deciding what you want the vibe to be.

From there you can select your celebrant, musician and vendors to suit and feel confident that they will support your vision and help it come to life.

Choosing your marriage celebrant

I can confidently say that your biggest influence on your wedding ceremony is your celebrant. They become the narrator of your love story, inserting humour, challenges, milestones and your personal quirks that culminated in. Just like your own community, celebrants have such unique personalities, ideas and quirks that culminate beautiful and unique atmospheres for ceremonies.

Here’s some advice from Byron Bay Marriage Celebrant Cara Gallagher:

“One of the most important parts of your ceremony is getting a fantastic celebrant who you gel with. Someone who is going to listen to what you want for your ceremony and give you ideas on how to make it your own.

It really should be a co-creation. Your celebrant sets the tone for the day.

If your celebrant isn’t impressing your guests, it can create a bit of a cringe factor which makes people feel a bit awkward and at worst - a less than ideal celebrant can ruin your day.

Most celebrants will ask you to tell them your love story and get you to tell them a few qualities that you love about each other, and then they will weave it all together into a wonderful story about you two and include all the legal elements to ensure you are legally wed.” - Cara

KNOW YOUR KEY MOMENTS:

Now that you know what atmosphere you want to create, it is important to consider what key moments are important to you.

Below is a list of potential key moments. Take note of which ones you resonate with!
Next we will flesh out each of these key moments with ideas, advice and information on how you can personalise your experience to make it yours.

• ‘The wait’ before the ceremony begins

• Walking down the aisle

• Start of ceremony

• Vows

• Legals signing

• First kiss

• Ceremony exit

The wait

The moments before the ceremony begins can be an incredibly overlooked part of the day.

If one of you is waiting on the other end, how do you want these moments to be before your ceremony? Do you want to be mingling with your guests and hugging your heart out, do you want to wait at the end of the aisle and soak up the moment, or perhaps you will have your own entrance with your bridal party, on your own or with a special person in your life when the ceremony is ready to go!

The reason that I mention this is that these quick moments can set the tone for your partner. They may want to be around people or given privacy so that they can sink more presently into the moment! It is equally an opportunity to have some fun, add some sentiment or celebration and walk down the aisle too!

wALKING DOWN THE AISLE

Walking down the aisle can be an incredibly momentous, emotional moment. Consider choosing a musician whose voice moves you and would brilliantly fit the vibe of the songs that are most special to you on your wedding day.

Start of the ceremony

This one might seem quite insignificant on paper. But as a photographer, I often find the first 30 second at the end of the aisle to be one of the most beautiful moments.

This may be the first time you have spoken ALL day. There may be tears, hugs, cheers or just those looks that so deeply say, “dang, I love you”. It is such a natural moment that brings out all of a couples quirks.

TIP 1: Consider asking your celebrant to take a moment before beginning the ceremony or saying anything into the mic until you have had your moment. If you want a minute to say, “hello, heck, we’re doing this!?” let them know!

TIP 2: Many celebrants will ask you to take a moment and look around at your most precious people, and soak it all in. If this is something that you’d appreciate, take note.
PS. It makes for a really cute photo too!

YOUR VOWS

When it comes to your vows, your Celebrant is your expert and they will be there to guide you through everything step by step.

Below are some tips on writing your vows from Byron Bay Marriage Celebrant Cara Gallagher from Modern Love Ceremonies:

The most important thing in the ceremony is the vows.

Writing a love letter to your partner where you include 3 things is a great start.

Those three things are:

1. Compliments - tell them how much you love them and why.

2. Goals - let them know what life you want to lead with them.

3. Promises - make some epic promises about what you will bring to the marriage table so that you get to share the life you are aiming for together.

If you write a few sentences about each of the sections above - you will undoubtedly have incredible vows to make to your fiance!

First Kiss

Maybe you’re someone who wants to practice your kiss, or maybe you’ll throw out the rule book and go hard on being in the moment. As a photographer, I’m all for the latter.

I’ve seen dips, I’ve seen pecks, I’ve seen smooches. I’ve seen it all…

And I LOVE IT!! Every first kiss is so different from the next, and I this brings out soooo much authenticity in my couples wedding photos, which is just what they love!

There’s no correct way to do your first kiss other than what feels right for you!

TIP: Don’t overthink it, throw out the rule book and kiss your partner however the heck you want to!

Legals

For some, legals are incredibly important. For others, it may seem a little mundane.

Here are some ideas from Caity the Celebrant to make your legals fun and unique!

• Drawing your witnesses names from a hat!

• Involving your kids and having them sign a kiddies legal form.

Once you’ve signed your legals, you might want to pop a bottle of champagne, share a shot of limoncello before walking down the aisle or say some words to your friends and family!

Ceremony Exit

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!! And I say this because I feel like this is the part of the ceremony that is often poorly planned.

There are three important elements to consider:

1) Confetti or petal throws

You can’t not have your guests grinning ear to ear whilst their throwing their hands up in the air as you exit. It’s such a joy for everybody to feel as an included part of your celebration.

Confetti throws absolutely squash any awkwardness and make for a high energy climactic ending to your ceremony.

TIP: when organising your confetti, be known that there is a sweet spot. Not too much that you can’t even see the two of you, and not too little that it’s a bit odd and anticlimatic.

2) Having a second kiss

A great way to keep that confetti moment going is to stop in the middle (for longer aisles) or before the end of your aisle for a second kiss.

No only does it make for a bunch of cheering and extra celebration, it’s an awesome time to break away from tradition and make things a little more adventurous by making it a bit more different to your first kiss!

3) Knowing where you are going and what’s happening next

We’re at the end of the aisle, and now what…?

Have a plan.

Do you want to turn around and give your guests a bunch of hugs and kisses? Do you want to escape the madness for a private moment. Or do you want to seize the moment and grab a group photo? Is there music that you want playing at this moment?

It’s important to have this planned so that you’re not lingering around awkwardly asking, what now? Where do we go? Communicate with your celebrant so they can plan this with you and let your guests know if you’re going for a private moment.

Below is a beautiful moment from Brooke and Joeys wedding where they exited the chapel followed by their bridal party for a quick moment before their guests had a delayed exit to join them for their congratulations.

BONUS TIP: TECHNOLOGY & UNPLUGGED CEREMONIES?

Have you ever seen an iPad at a ceremony? I have…

Now I think unplugged ceremonies can be great for very straightforward reasons, BUT, I do not think that they are necessary nor do they suit every couple. So here’s my take.

Go unplugged for key guests and immediate family

I have had moments where Mum is in the front balling her eyes out but her face and emotion is hidden behind the flip-out phone case where she’s recording your ceremony. And moments where a gigantic 5 megapixel iPad made itself a guest during stunning ceremony exit photos.

I think it is SO important to have a recording of your ceremony, it is a part of your day that quickly becomes a blur and feels like 5 minutes instead of 30+ minutes.

But consider asking your key family members to keep their phones away. That way they can be in the moment, seeing it with their own eyes and be immersed in all of the emotion.

What is the alternative if you still want some phone photos videos?

I recommend designating a guest or two that you trust to sit on either side of the aisle and to be your assigned ‘videographers’ if you do not have a videographer or a content creator. Having these moments and hearing your words over and over is timeless, and by no means should you compromise on having these memories because you’re worried about technology getting in the way!

If you wish to have an unplugged or semi-unplugged ceremony, chat to your celebrant and they will be sure to mention this as part of their housekeeping at the beginning of the ceremony!

Going with an unplugged ceremony?

Consider hiring a videographer that includes a full ceremony recording as part of their package, or a content creator who will capture bits and pieces for you to treasure. Please note that both services, whilst they seem similar, offer a very different service and end products.