Personalise your wedding ceremony using these 4 tips

If you are looking for tips to personalise your wedding ceremony, Distinctive’s celebrant, Paul Archer shares his thoughts on making your wedding truly unique.

There is something very special about bringing people together for a wedding ceremony and taking this major step into a new life in front of friends and family. As a wedding celebrant, I help you to personalise your wedding ceremony during the planning. And on the day, I’ll also take some time to mingle with guests and get to know parents, the Best Man and the friends who will be doing readings. It helps to create a special feeling which really animates the ceremony. Often when guests come up and chat at the end, they think I’m an old friend of the couple which is a great compliment! Having a ceremony where we have the freedom to make it unique is a great plus and often guests say it’s the best wedding they have ever been to – that’s so satisfying.

Four great ways to personalise your wedding ceremony

1. Alternative ways of tying the knot

Handfasting is having something of a revival. It’s an ancient Celtic ritual from which we get the expression ‘to tie the knot’ and is hugely symbolic. It also brings other people into the ceremony as they tie the ribbons round the couple’s hands as they say their vows.

Hand-fasting is based on the traditional Celtic tradition of ‘tying the knot’

We can provide the ribbons, but you could also choose some to tone in with the bridesmaid’s dresses or your floral display. Or they can represent sentiments that are important to you. One bride brought fabric from her late stepfather’s favourite shirt and the groom used a fabric that reflects his Irish background. Another couple are using Liverpool and Everton football scarves. Also, apart from anything-else, handfasting with ribbons provides another great photo opportunity! Check out this Handfasting 101 from Brides.

2. How to choose your readings

This is another way of bringing your unique touch to the ceremony. Words have a special power and a good reading truly captures what you want to say. We have 30 pages of readings to help inspire you, ranging from Game of Thrones to When Harry Met Sally. Lyrics are popular – John Lennon’s Grow Old With Me or The Book of Love by The Magnetic Fields, for example. Poetry can come from modern poets such as Wendy Cope’s A Vow or John Cooper Clarke’s very funny and touching I Wanna Be Yours. But the most moving of all could be something that the person reading has written themselves. A reading gives you, the couple, a chance to enjoy a few moments out of the limelight to catch your breath and take it all in.

3. Personalise your wedding vows

You have the option to write your own vows and there’s often a touch of humour and a chance to laugh at this point. Last season after a couple had said their formal vows, they added their own promises; the groom promised to stop being grumpy when he was hungry and the bride promised to stop leaving her make-up bag on the stairs!

One couple brought their shared passion for Marvel and Superheroes to their vows in the ceremony. Most couples are happy with the vows which we give them – ‘I do’s’ and repeating the words after me for the rings exchange – but it’s always an added bonus if you speak your own words of love.

4. How to choose your ceremony music

Finding the right music is another way to make the ceremony completely individual to you. Generally you will need three pieces. The first, the Processional is the piece that the bride will walk in to with her bridesmaids. You want something that’s happy but not too uptempo and something that will work with your walking pace. Some notable songs from last year were Song bird by Eva Cassidy, an instrumental version of Colourblind by Counting Crows and the theme from the Detectorists by Johnny Flynn. Make sure the song is long enough to get you and your entourage down the aisle! After you have exchanged your vows and rings, there’s a chance to sign a wedding certificate with your witnesses. For this, it’s best to have a gentler piece of music to reflect the change of pace. Then, after the ceremony, it’s time for you to walk back down the aisle as a couple to something upbeat. Happy by Farrell is a true classic and another couple of favourites of mine last year were Love is on the Radio by McFly, Vance Joy’s Riptide and Jump in the Line by Harry Belafonte.

However you choose to personalise your wedding ceremony, we’re here to guide you through each step and make it truly memorable.

Contact us here to discuss your wedding ceremony in Mallorca