When a couple gets married, as much as it’s about them, their relationship and their future, it’s also the coming together of two families.
There are customary or traditional roles for the parents of the couple in a wedding ceremony and including siblings is becoming more common as well.
But when the couple getting married already have children, either from a previous relationship or before they get married, it stands to reason that they’re included and recognised during the wedding ceremony too.
While the sand ceremony or ritual is wonderfully inclusive and symbolic, it has been DONE (and done and done again!).
So we need some new, relevant and maybe less kitch (?) ways to include children (and sometimes other family members too) in a wedding ceremony and I think these 8 ideas are unique and fun.
An 'unplugged wedding' happens when a couple getting married have made a decision that they would prefer that their wedding guests don't take photos and/or upload them to social media.
There are many variations on this, from having an unplugged ceremony only, when guests are encouraged to put their phones and cameras away until after the marriage certificate has been signed, to a strict 'no photo policy' for the entire wedding celebration, to a complete 'social media blackout' until the following day or when the bride or groom have a chance to announce their marriage themselves.
Some brides and grooms shriek with dismay when I let them know that, for their 100 guests to actually hear them, they will need to speak into a mic during their ceremony; "oh, I HATE the sound of my voice!"
Apart from having a mildly sadistic streak (haha!), there are 3 other excellent reasons why making the effort to use a mic will make your ceremony so much more enjoyable for everyone involved.
