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Key Takeaways
- Make your wedding ceremony unique by offering pre-ceremony cocktails and transforming your programs into creative keepsakes.
- Consider alternative processional music that speaks to you as a couple, like your favorite song or childhood favorite.
- Surprise guests by ending the ceremony with a toast and leading a parade-style walk to the reception.
Who says your reception is the only fun part of your wedding day? There’s no reason why your ceremony shouldn’t be as exciting, meaningful, and inventive as your wedding reception, right? We think yes, and that’s why we enlisted the help of planners from around the country to talk about the wedding ceremony—and specifically, how to personalize it. We’ve picked their brains on everything from cocktails to vows to the final applause.
Start by visualizing yourself in your guests’ shoes. “Oftentimes you’ll go to a wedding that feels strangely similar to the last wedding you attended, kind of like ‘insert couple here.’ It’s not often that you get to have your closest friends and family all together at the same time,” says Jennifer Taylor, founder of A Taylored Affair. “It’s so important that guests leave the wedding thinking ‘Wow! That ceremony was so them!'”
Meet the Expert
Jennifer Taylor, the founder of A Taylored Affair, specializes in distinctive weddings and events while encouraging her clients to stand out from the rest and let their personalities shine.
Keep reading to see 25 tried-and-true ideas for personalizing your wedding ceremony. It’s time to decide what you like, talk to your partner about it, and start planning the best (and most personal) half-hour of your life. “I always tell clients that my favorite part of the process is to hone in on their weird. I want to know what makes them funny, what makes them unique, what makes them them. Then we play with that,” says Taylor.
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