Wedding Ceremony Tips & Tricks
After months of planning, your day has finally arrived! In order to ensure things run smoothly, here are some invaluable tips to keep in mind. How to avoid fainting! There are three things you can do to reduce the likelihood of you or your bridal party fainting on your big day. Eat – A wedding day is a day of celebration which should include good food! Remember to eat prior to your ceremony to keep your blood sugar in line. Drink – Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate – ideally, hydration should include water! Be Married (or Merry) – It’s important to keep moving during your ceremony. We recommend bending your knees and wiggling your toes to keep the blood flowing and to keep you standing! How to keep your wedding party and yourself comfortable during your ceremony! Outdoor summer weddings are notoriously hot! Hydrating helps. Having a “security blanket” in the form of a handkerchief for the groom and the groomsmen can be a life saver should you begin to profusely sweat! This same handkerchief can double as a handy device for wiping tears should “dust get in your eyes!” The groom should always have two handkerchiefs in his pants pocket – one for himself and one for his bride. Please remember, her face is a “no touchy zone” during the ceremony so simply hand her the second handkerchief should she begin to cry. For the bridesmaids we recommend hiding a makeup sponge in their bouquets. If they begin to cry, this can be used without smudging their makeup. Don’t skip the rehearsal! There’s something to be said for feeling confident with the flow of your ceremony prior to it actually taking place. A rehearsal is intended to iron out the wrinkles and prepare you and your wedding party for your big day. Knowing when and how to begin your processional, where and how to stand during the ceremony, who to hand your bouquet to, how to do a ring exchange so it looks professional and great on photos, how to navigate to and from your signing table, how to ensure your kiss is photo-worthy are all things we assist you with during your rehearsal. Suit Etiquette 101 Let’s face it, not every man out there regularly wears suits. In fact, your wedding day may be the first time ever for you and your groomsmen. Let’s ensure you all look the part, and feel great as you stand together during the ceremony. Which buttons do I button? With two button jackets, button the top button and never button the bottom button! With three button jackets, follow the “sometimes, always, never” rule. This simply means, if you feel like it you can sometimes button the top button, always button the middle one and never button the bottom one. As a reminder, make sure you have a handkerchief in your pants pocket should you sweat or need to dry your eyes. Signing your Licence A stand-up cocktail table or wine barrel are almost always easier to navigate around for your licence signing than a sit down table. They also make pretty good “bouquet holders” during the ceremony allowing your maid of honour to make adjustments to your wedding dress without having to juggle multiple bouquets. How to include your guests in your ceremony Your best friends and family are all present to celebrate the love you share for each other. Why not include some elements in your ceremony to honour their presence? Ring Warming During a ring warming, your rings which we recommend stay in a box or bag, are passed around to your guests. Each guest holds the rings, takes a moment to pray, bless or put some positive energy into the rings. Ideally, the rings make it back to the front in time for your ring exchange! Community Vows After you’ve exchanged your vows, it can be fun to include your guests by performing community vows. Your officiant invites everyone present to respond, enthusiastically with the words, “We do!” to a few questions. This not only indicates their agreement but also gives them a moment to reflect on why they are at your wedding – not just for the drinks and dancing, but because they want to see you go the distance as a married couple!
How To Choose Our Vows
Vows give you the opportunity to express your heart to one another in the company of your closest friends and family. Although this can feel daunting, our officiants are pros at guiding you through the process. Here are a variety of sample vows to help get things started. Contemporary Stand by Your Side I (Name) promise to you, (Name), before our family and friends, to stand by your side, to share and support your hopes and dreams. I vow to always be there for you. When you fall, I will catch you. When you cry I will comfort you. When you laugh I will share your joy. No matter what lies ahead of us, I will see it as a journey that can only be completed together. I promise this now and forever. Sacred Vow In the presence of our family and friends, I (Name) take you (Name) to be my wife/husband, my partner and friend to join my life with yours, to share with you all that is to be, to laugh with you in joy, to comfort you in sorrow, to grow with you in love. I will honour you, I will be faithful to you, all the days of my life. This is my sacred vow. All My Heart With all my heart, I (Name) take you (Name) to be my wife/husband. I promise to be your lover, companion, and friend, Your partner in parenthood, Your ally in conflict, Your greatest fan. I will be your comrade in adventure, Your comfort in disappointment, Your accomplice in mischief, Your strength in times of need. I will listen with understanding, and trust you completely, all the days of my life. My Person I believe in you, the person you will grow to be and the couple we will be together. With my whole heart, I take you as my wife/husband, acknowledging and accepting your faults and strengths, as you do mine. I promise to be faithful and supportive and to always make our family’s love and happiness my priority. I will be yours in plenty and in want, in sickness and in health, in failure and in triumph. I will dream with you, celebrate with you and walk beside you through whatever our lives may bring. You are my person — my love and my life, today and always. I Promise I promise to encourage your individuality, because that’s what makes you unique and wonderful. I promise to nurture your dreams, Because through them your soul shines. I promise to help shoulder our challenges, for there is nothing we can’t face if we stand together, and through them we’ll emerge stronger. I promise to be your partner in all things, not possessing you, but working with you as a part of the whole. I promise to share with you the joys of life, because with you they will be that much sweeter. Lastly, I promise to you perfect love and perfect trust, for one lifetime with you could never be enough. This is my sacred vow to you, my equal in all things. True Partnership I ask everyone present to witness that I, (Name), take you, (Name), to be my lawful wedded wife/husband. In doing so, I vow to do my utmost to make our lives together a true partnership. I commit to being motivated in our marriage and I will observe and act on your needs. I vow to care for your well-being and show my love in all I do throughout our lives together. I will endeavour to comfort you and enrich you with my love. I will show you I can be an equal partner and with my support build a stable foundation for our lives together. Share in Your Dreams From this day forward, I promise you these things: I will laugh with you in times of joy and comfort you in times of sorrow. I will share in your dreams and support you as you strive to achieve your goals. I will listen to you with compassion and understanding and speak to you with encouragement. I will help you when you need it, and step aside when you don’t. I will remain faithful to you for better or worse, in times of sickness and health. You are my best friend and I will love and respect you always. Loving Friend (Name), I pledge to you to be your loving friend and partner in marriage. To talk and to listen, to trust and appreciate you; to respect and cherish your uniqueness; and to support, comfort, and strengthen you through life’s joys and sorrows. I promise to share hopes, thoughts, and dreams as we build our lives together. May our lives be ever intertwined and our love keep us together. May we build a home that is compassionate to all, full of respect and honour for others and each other. And may our home be forever filled with peace, happiness, and love. Just as You Are I promise to give you the best of myself and to ask of you no more than you can give. I promise to accept you the way you are. I fell in love with you for the qualities, abilities, and outlook on life that you have, and won’t try to reshape you into something you aren’t. I promise to respect you as a person with your own interests, desires, and needs, and to realise that those are sometimes different, but no less important than my own. I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you see through the window of my personal world into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams. I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face change as we both change in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting. And finally, I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I