Getting involved

When I was working on the ceremony for my first wedding with my very dear friends, they were struggling with how to involve a close friend. He was a good friend of both the Bride and the Groom and they already had Bridal parties full with people they’d known for a very long time.

At one point they talked about having him walk the Bride down the aisle but as they didn’t have their fathers at the wedding and they’d been a very independent couple for a long time that would have felt wrong. They’d talked from the start about walking down the aisle together. So I suggested that he deliver her to the start of the aisle, to the groom and from there they come down together.

There are a thousand ways to involve your important people on your wedding day. As a celebrant I’m starting to compile a list of suggestions because people are asking me for advice. As I’ve said in other blog posts, it is important to have the wedding you want and not the wedding others expect.

At a recent wedding ceremony I performed, both the Bride and Groom each had an aunt do a reading during the ceremony. In the photo above, the Bride had her two children from a previous marriage as her attendants and the children and the couple also performed a beautiful sand ceremony to symbolise the blending of the family.

I have read a story of one wedding where instead of the father “giving away” his daughter, the celebrant asked Who gives this woman?” To which the entire gathering stood and said “We do!”

Now that we are in an era where weddings are taking so many varied forms, if you need to involve family or friends think outside the box and get creative!