Personalizing Your Ceremony

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Many couples are personalizing their wedding ceremony by writing their own vows. You may want to pick up a book about wedding vows to help you get started. Read over a large selection of vows and pick out words and phrases that "feel right" and incorporate them into your own vows. One good rule - keep your vows short, simple and from the heart.

If you’re having a religious ceremony, check with your Officiant first to see if you are allowed to deviate from the traditional wedding vows.
You can choose to memorize your wedding vows and recite them to each other. A word of caution - you’re likely to be a little nervous before and during the ceremony, so you may not want the added pressure of trying to remember your vows.

An Alternative: write out your vows and bring them with you. You can hide them in your glove or hold them with your bouquet.

If you do choose to recite them from memory, make sure that either you or the Officiant has a copy - just in case!

Lighting the unity candle symbolizes the union of two lives into one. To include others into your ceremony, you could ask the mothers, grandmothers or other guests to go to the altar to light the two candles that you and the groom use to light your unity candle.
Have a candlelit service. The bride and groom light their candles and then the ushers walk down and light the candles of everyone sitting at the end of the pews and then those guests turn and light the candle of the person sitting next to them and so on. Next, the lights are dimmed and the entire church is lit by candle light and the most warm and romantic glow transcends over the church.

Many churches have restrictions about candlelit services due to the potential fire hazard, so be sure to check with your Officiant, before you start buying any candles!

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