Make your ceremony personal with wedding planner Bernadette Smith’s must-read tips
Do you both want to walk up the aisle?
Consider having two for you to walk up at the same time, says Bernadette Smith.
Many couples focus on the wedding reception details, but it’s the ceremony that joins you together. Remember the whole point of the wedding is to celebrate your marriage. There are flower arrangements to select and vows to write but Bernadette Smith, owner of the nation’s first gay wedding planning firm 14 Stories and author of Gay Wedding Confidential, says there are a number of creative ways you can add your personal stamp on your ceremony:
1. Put some thought, care and personality into your ceremony script. Your legal right to marry is rare—don’t take it for granted by making the ceremony an afterthought. It is, after all, the reason everyone has gathered together—to witness and support the two of you getting married!
2. Greet your wedding guests with a pre-ceremony champagne. Most of your guests are probably straight and many have never attended a LGBT wedding before. Some may be nervous so take the edge off by offering a cocktail.
3. To avoid the awkwardness of the last person down the aisle—i.e., “who’s the bride?”—design your ceremony space so there are two aisles to walk down. The parallel aisles or processional spaces are a great metaphor of “two becoming one” when you meet your sweetie at the altar. Plus, the uniqueness of this arrangement will really impress your guests.
4. Switch up the music. If you don’t like Wagner, don’t include the Bridal March. Hire live musicians to play your favorite pop songs, instrumental or not, as a way to make the ceremony even more personal.
5. There should be a focal point to frame the ceremony space. This can be a chuppah, arch, pillars with flowers or a beautiful view. The background and surrounding area where you say “I do” will be in your wedding photos, so choose the décor for your ceremony venue wisely.
14 Stories is a full-service wedding planning business with offices in
Photo: Closed Circle Photography
