Ready…set….plan!
By Emily Griffith
Edited by Hannah Stamey
Tips on Planning Your Perfect Ceremony!
Preparing for your wedding ceremony can seem like a daunting task. With all of the pressure to make your special day absolutely perfect, planning can turn even the most composed individual into a stressed out mess. The best way to combat the chaos is to be as organized as possible. When planning your ceremony there are four major components to be aware of.
The first thing you’ll want to do is locate your ideal ceremony site. When choosing a location you should think about whether you want a religious or civil service as well as whether you want to be indoors or outdoors. If you’re leaning more towards the outdoor option, make sure you take into account seasons, availability of electrical equipment and what you’ll do in case of inclement weather. Regardless of your preferred setting you’ll want to make sure you find a venue that meets your needs capacity wise. You certainly don’t want to invite all of your family and friends only to arrive and find there’s nowhere for grandma to sit! Once you’ve booked your wedding venue you’re one step closer to ceremony perfection!
The next item you’ll probably want to take care of is finding someone to officiate the service. It’s important to choose someone reputable or someone you know personally. Once you’ve found a potential candidate you may want to conduct an interview to find out if you feel comfortable with this person uniting you and your spouse. If they’ve officiated a wedding ceremony before, you can ask them about whether they have standard vows if you don’t want to write your own, whether they allow photography or videos, and make sure you find out if they require you to attend pre marriage counseling. When you find someone you love make sure you confirm the date, time, and location of your ceremony and don’t leave without giving them your contact information and making sure you have theirs.
YAY! You’re halfway there!
Finding the perfect band and/or music selection to play during your ceremony is one of the most important aspects of wedding planning. With the right song choices you can really tie the whole service together. You’ll probably want to select a general genre around some specific songs that are meaningful to you. When choosing a musician, make sure you ask if there is any specific equipment they will need provided for them and find out if they have someone lined up to play if for some reason they had to cancel. If they don’t, then find one! It’s always a good idea to have a backup plan.
The very last thing on the to-do list is to plan out the ceremony itself. It really helps to create a timeline of events that you can refer to in order to ensure that everything goes according to plan. You’ll need to decide where you want people to sit, stand and when you want them to enter and exit. This is when you will also want to collect all of the materials you’ll need for the ceremony itself. This includes things like tables, chairs, decorations, seat markers, and programs. Once all of this is complete you can find someone to take care of post-wedding cleanup and start notifying people about rehearsal times! (You may also want to make the people involved in your wedding copies of that handy-dandy ceremony timeline for them to use during rehearsal.)
Congratulations! You now have everything you need to ensure that your special day is absolutely perfect! Thank you for taking the time to read and good luck!
P.S. If you’re still having trouble finding the perfect venue, consider Rex Allen Events! We have five beautiful locations to choose from as well as all of the tables, chairs, and decorations you could ever need! Not to mention a wonderful staff that will get everything set up exactly how you want it!
**Photo Credit- Samantha Laffoon Photography**