Articles

Where to Find the Right Words
By Jan Littlejohn

The marriage ceremony is much more than just saying “ I Do”, The perfect ceremony is a carefully chosen balance between words and music that are meaningful to the bride and groom and memorable for all the guests

Organising a wedding is a whirlwind of arrangements decisions and spending money. The thin that often slips to the bottom of the list of priorities is the ceremony, which is actually the whole point of getting married in the first place, so is crucial to the success of the whole event.

You don’t have to say much at all to become legally married. Basically the bride and groom giving consent to marry in front of an officiant, but surely this isn’t what all the waiting and anticipation has been about.

Agreeing to become man and wife is a big commitment a public declaration of your love and fidelity in front of family and friends and what you say to one another really does matter. The words and music that you include in your order of service whether it is a religious or civil wedding need to be carefully considered and it all deserve more than a few minutes of your time.

The vows of marriage
The words you say to one another during the marriage ceremony should be heartfelt regardless of whether you are having a religious or a civil ceremony. This is the big moment of commitment when you legally become husband and wife. Getting married is much more that wearing a gorgeous dress and enjoying a great party, you are agreeing to be legally bound in marriage to another person and this shouldn’t be entered into lightly.

All wedding vows are promises and you must not underestimate the power of the moment that you commit your future to another person. Whether you are having a religious or a civil ceremony spend some time reading samples of traditional vows so that you are comfortable with what you will be saying when it comes to your big moment.

The religious ceremony
Each faith has a slightly different marriage ceremony and you should talk through the wording with your officiant beforehand. This is your chance to think about what you want to say and if you would prefer to word thins a little differently…a religious ceremony doesn’t offer as much scope as a civil ceremony for changing the wording but some ministers or priests are happy to consider minor revisions.

The civil ceremony
You can choose a register office or a civil celebrant ceremony either case the process is the same….Firstly you need to contact your officiant -legal required time for lodging you notice of intention to marry is min. one month and one day.

In a civil ceremony you have more scope to personalise proceeding even going as far as writing your own vows.

Just remember that this is still a legal ceremony and anything you want to include should reflect the solemnity of the occasion. Keep anything too personal for a private moment between the two of you.