Before you can even decide what to include in your personalized ceremony or what kind of unique wedding favors you will buy, you have to first decide where you will be married. Many opt for their place of worship, while others love the little chapel up the street. Also, many banquet halls/reception areas have specific rooms on their grounds set aside in case you choose to get married right there. Wherever you decide, every bride I have ever known wanted the ceremony and her surroundings to be an extension of her. And that is not that difficult as I will explain. Let’s discuss, personalizing the wedding ceremony.

Flowers are the first thing that comes to your mind when you decide what to have around you during the ceremony. And that isn’t a bad thing. Colorful flowers can dress up even the most drab areas. But, let’s think out of the box for a second and decide how we can make this a bit different.

First question is: what are the bride’s favorite colors? Are they going to be incorporated in the unique favors? This is probably the color used for the bridesmaid’s gowns also. Does she have a favorite flower? Does that flower come in her wedding colors? Once that is all decided, we can move on to personalizing your ceremony.

One wedding I consulted on last winter was amazing. After asking all the correct questions, I discovered that the bride loved the shape of snowflakes and loved white, which is why they were getting married in February in New York. Armed with that bit of knowledge, my mind went wild. Who says that the only thing you can use in a ceremony setting are flowers? Exactly. Why not add some beautiful unique wedding favors.

We went shopping at Michael’s Craft Store (which is just the best place in the world to find anything and everything to make your wedding personal) and found snowflakes which were both white and clear. We bought several dozen of both of them. (They were very inexpensive also, by the way). We then stopped at the local fabric store and purchased (on sale) some lightweight chiffon-like material. The bride was intrigued but had no idea what was going on in my head, but she trusted me. I explained what I was about to do and she agreed.

The day of the wedding came and I and my assistants had worked until late the night before getting the chapel ready. When the guests came in, they all gasped at the beauty of what they saw. The altar area had two large vases of white flowers (many different inexpensive kinds which the florist designed) which were accented in pale lavender, the color of her bridesmaids. One vase was on each side of the altar area. The ceiling was high, so we had to improvise. We hung transparent fish line from the ceiling and pinned it to areas of the material to create an arch over the altar area where the couple would be standing to say their vows. Along the material area after it was hung, we attached the snowflakes, hung by the fishing line. We created different levels of snowflakes to give it dimension. I rented for only $30 for the day, a professional light which had a lavender plastic film over it, to shine from the balcony area, onto the material and snowflakes. Everything glistened. Lastly, I put a couple of tables on the altar covered with the same inexpensive material and topped them with several sizes of lit candles. Voila! A personalized ceremony which expressed the bride and groom perfectly. And it was very inexpensive.

So you see, whatever you like, whatever you desire, bring it to life. Think out of the box and your wedding will express exactly who you are. Then the wedding is not ‘just another wedding’ but one that you can be so proud of and enjoy as you look back on that special time.

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