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This module explores the elements you might need in a ceremony site—music, confetti, religious traditions, and more. Knowing this before you visit the ceremony site will held ensure that those elements you feel are important are allowed at your ceremony site.
The following article is an example of the content we have in our online wedding planning membership site HappyWeddings.ca under the heading of Ceremony Site. To learn more and get useful wedding planning tools for FREE click here!
Before you visit your ceremony site and start asking questions, you should define what your needs are. Although, once you have visited the site, you might change your mind and want something different, it is very helpful to have a good idea of what you definitely want.
If you want contemporary music in your place of worship, you may not be able to have it because some places of worship require sacred music only. Many ceremony sites do not allow confetti, rice or even flower petals.
Do you want to write your own vows or will traditional vows work for you? If you want to write your own, you need to ask to ensure that you CAN say your own vows. There are many types of ceremonies that can be added to your wedding vows like a ring ceremony, a unity candle ceremony, a sand ceremony, or a memorial candle to honour family who have passed away. Some places of worship have these available to you, and others do not.
If you are not having your ceremony in a place of worship, you need to decide how many of your religious traditions you want to include in the ceremony. Sometimes, certain religious traditions are only done in your place of worship, and not at other sites. So it is important to decide what is important to you, so you can inquire when you meet with the wedding officiant, and the ceremony site people.
The SmartBride™ Checklist on Ceremony Site Needs will give you your options, and help you define what it is you want for your ceremony. For example, a traditional religious ceremony usually takes more time than a religious vows-only ceremony. A civil ceremony is usually the fastest wedding ceremony, and can be vows only, or you can add things like a unity candle ceremony, a ring ceremony and so forth.
Having a good idea of what you want before you visit the site and speak to your officiant will help you plan your wedding ceremony. The next video will help you add in those ethnic or cultural traditions that are important to you. View that video and add your decisions into the checklist that accompanies this video.