Wedding Ceremony Ideas

Last year I went to a wedding trend conference and one panelist was reporting that couples were starting to do away with their ceremony altogether. I nearly fell out of my chair. What is a wedding without a ceremony? Any other elaborate party. Maybe they just needed to see some new wedding ceremony ideas. 

Can I tell you a secret? My favorite song on a wedding day is the recessional. Grab my current favorites when you share your email below

Your ceremony is what spreads the love in the room, lifts peoples’ spirits and moves them to hit the dance floor. It’s a crazy world out there. You’re going to be dealt some hard times in your marriage, everyone is. That is why a ceremony is so special. Your loved ones who have been married before you get to watch you make the same leap of faith. They get to see your love at its purest and be reminded just how special that is. That fills people up in a way they can’t help but celebrate.

wedding ceremony ideas

Be creative with your seating

Bring in benches. Setup the seating in the round. Use lounge seating to create a cocktail hour/ceremony hybrid space. We’ve even used fabric-covered hay barrels for seating.

If you plan to reserve seats for your VIPs make sure they know you’d like them to sit up front. Otherwise, you might end up with an empty first row.

Planner Tip – Set extra ceremony chairs. This way family and friends can sit together

line the aisle with something that makes you smile

One of our grooms proposed with origami cranes (super sweet right?) so we hung them along their aisle.

Planner Tip – As you think about your ceremony decor explore elements from your reception you may be able to repurpose. Here the large arrangements around the “alter” are actually centerpieces that will later be used on dining tables.

Think through your ceremony musicians

Music transports people to a different time and place. Take them somewhere unforgettable and plan for a killer recessional song you want to dance down the aisle to.

Recessional Songs are surprisingly one of my favorite things about a wedding. There is just so much joy in that single moment, it needs a song to go with it. Enter your email address above to see my current top 10.

Planner Tip: Have fun with the instrumentation. We’ve done everything from a ukulele to a full choir 

Ask family members to offer a blessing or toast during the ceremony

Your family knows and loves you more than anyone, what they have to say on your wedding day is pure magic.

Planner Tip: Re-write what a wedding “reading” is. We’ve heard everything from toasts to song lyrics to Supreme Court Rulings. Make your ceremony your own and spread the love.

One of my favorite, short sweet and modern “readings” is from Bob Dylan’s Forever Young.

“May your hand always be busy

May your feet always be swift

May the winds of change shift

May your heart always be joyful

And may your song always be sung

May you stay forever young.”

Include a note to loved ones

Those who can’t be with you in person will be there in spirit.

my current favorite poem is:

Those we love don’t go away.

They walk beside us every day.

Unseen, but always near.

Still loved, still missed and very dear.

Incorporate a meaningful blessing or ritual

One of my favorite blessings is one that honors mothers. The couple gifts their soon-to-be mother in-law flowers during the ceremony as a thank you for raising the person they love.

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