Tips for Your Civil Wedding Ceremony
In less than a year from now, you will be tying the knot with your long-time fiancé. There’s still enough time for you to plan what kind of wedding you will have. If you and the groom-to-be are not religious or you belong to different religious backgrounds and you don’t want your matrimonial ceremony to be held in a particular church, you may opt for a civil wedding.
A civil ceremony is conducted by officiants who are legally allowed to do so. Once you have decided to formalize your love with a civil wedding, careful planning follows.
- Select the kind of wedding you want to have and look for an appropriate officiant who will conduct the ceremony. You may also hire the services of an independent wedding officiant who is flexible when it comes to giving ceremonies.
- Identify what kinds of ambience or feeling you want to impart on your guests and to yourselves. Is it joyous? Profound? Introspective? Light-hearted or solemn? Make sure to set the tone of your wedding properly. Sit with your partner and discuss some ideas about this.
- Determine what kind of vows you and your groom want to make. Are these vows of renewal or acknowledgment of the years you have already spent together? Since these vows articulate your feelings and commitment to one another, you need to decide which vows to make.
- Identify whether you want to have guests participate in the entire ceremony or you want them to just witness your civil union. Decide if you want them to be called upon and bless the union or get involved in choral readings. You may also incorporate some secular scriptures for the guests to read. A wedding officiant can help you in decision-making and he can make a few suggestions on the readings that fit well with the mood of the ceremony.
- Consider the type of music that will be played during your wedding ceremony and reception. For the ceremony, you might want to opt for something classic, romantic, solemn or light-hearted, depending on your taste. On the other hand, the music at the reception could be something more fun, energetic and interesting. You may want to hire the services of a DJ to play traditional or non-traditional music.
- Make sure to integrate some wedding traditions in your civil union. Some elements are great such as sand ceremonies, unity candles, hand and wine ceremonies symbolically to join you and your groom in a non-religious rite. You can also have some religious or cultural beliefs incorporated as long as your partner also wants these. Also, make sure that the wedding officiant agrees.
Civil weddings are great opportunities to express love for partners by reflecting the characteristics of each person and showing what they become when they’re together. Complete the civil union ceremonies with personalized wedding favours for the guests. In a civil wedding, you can be as creative as you want. After all, it’s your big day and you have all the rights to make it perfect and memorable.
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