Planning the wedding ceremony can be one of the most rewarding parts out of all the other wedding planning to-dos. There’s so much room for creativity and personalization. You get to choose your officiant, the readings, music, florals, backdrops, and so much more! All of this to create the most perfect and true ceremony that authentically represents you and your partner’s love.

If you’re wondering how to plan a wedding ceremony that’s unique to your relationship, here are some of my suggestions:

Tip: The timing of your ceremony is a VERY important factor in the planning process. The sweet spot for a ceremony length is 20–30 minutes long. So, keep that in mind when planning out all of your activities!

Find an Officiant You Connect To 

The officiant plays a huge role in your ceremony, so it should be someone who is close to your or means something to you. Usually, people pick the pastor from the church they attend, but if you aren’t religious consider asking a friend or family member if they would like to play that special role for you. All they would have to do is get an officiant license online. No need to overthink this one!

Pick Out Your Decor for Wedding Ceremony

Planning your wedding decor can be one of the most fun parts of your ceremony, but it can also be stressful. If decorating isn’t your thing, then this might be a task you outsource to a professional.

Something to note when planning your wedding decor, keep location and season in mind. Not only for aesthetic purposes, but it will be helpful for budgeting as well. Flowers that are in season at the time of your wedding will be less expensive than out-of-season flowers.

Some suggestions that you can decorate your ceremony with:

• Flowers
• Seating
• Signage
• Programs
• Arbors

Pick Who You Want To Include

First let me just tell you that it is you and your partner’s wedding, no one else’s. That means that you can include or not include whoever you want. Here is a suggested list of people that you can include in your ceremony:

• Officiant
• Parents/Guardians
• Grandparents/Great Grandparents 
• Maid of Honor and Best Man
• Bridesmaids and Groomsmen
• Flower Girl and Ring Bearer
• Other roles:
  • Ushers
  • Junior bridesmaids and groomsmen
  • Live musician to play music during a part of the ceremony

Decide How To Do Your Vows For Wedding

Vows are a very important part of any ceremony. They are the representation of the love you have for one another and the lifelong commitment you’re making to your soulmate.

The most popular way you can choose to do your wedding vows are:

• Recite the traditional vows by repeating them after your officiant
• Write your own vows and read them to each other at the altar.
• Do a “Private Read” before the ceremony where you read your own personal vows alone to each other.
• You can also choose to do both, #1 and #2.

And remember, your vows don’t have to be super cheesy or romantic if you don’t want them to be. You can put your own twist on them by adding in something funny or personal.

Choose Music That Is Special To You 

Here is another great way to customize your wedding ceremony to fit both you and your partner’s style perfectly. There’s not one set song that the bride has to walk down to or anything like that, don’t feel pressured to use any of the traditional music if you don’t want.

To help you plan your music, here are a few key moments that are usually highlighted with music:

• Parents and Grandparents’ entrances
• Groom’s entrance
• Wedding Party’s entrance
• Bride’s entrance
• Unity Ceremony
• Recessional

Include A Unity Ritual for Wedding Ceremony

For those of you that might not know what this is, a unity wedding ceremony serves as a visual representation of the couple joining their separate lives into one, it usually takes place after the couple has exchanged vows. This is not required at any weddings but definitely can add a special touch to your ceremony.

Here are just a few options you can choose from, but there are so many more!

• Butterfly release
• Group prayer
• Tie the knot
• Blend sands or wine
• Handfasting
• Cleanse with water

Plan A Fun Exit

There’s no better way to end the ceremony and begin the party than with an unforgettable exit!

Again, there are so many different ideas you can choose from for this, but just to name a few:

• Bubbles
• Flower petals
• Confetti
• Sparklers
• Ribbons
• A dance

Once you have the wedding ceremony of your dreams planned, you can move on to the reception! The reception and other celebrations play a huge role in your overall wedding day, but the ceremony still stands as the most important part of it all. This is the time you get to truly express your love and loyalty to your partner, surrounded by everyone who supports you both. Just remember, after all the hard work and planning, don’t forget to slow down and really enjoy your day!