Planning Your Wedding

What's the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to weddings? The joy? The celebration? Not generally. For the bride, it's the work that comes with planning all of the elements that go into making a perfect memory. Some will opt to hire a wedding planner upon whom they can lay the work (and the blame if things go wrong). Some will depend upon a mother who may or may not be more than willing to take charge. (This works for some, but more often than not, Mother will do things her way, not your way, and this YOUR day!) aYou will need to select an officiant, a location, a photographer, a band or DJ, a florist and a gown and tux shop. And you will need to coordinate all of these people according to the date you want. Is it any surprise that more and more couples are opting for the garden wedding in the back yard?

Eventually, the planning will find its way around to your officiant. Your officiant will ask you questions about what you want in your ceremony as far as rituals (Unity Candle, Sand Ceremony, Hand Ceremony, Flower Ceremonies, etc.), if there will be special music, and special recognitions, prayers, blessings, readings, how you want to say your vows (memorize, repeat after me, or just say, "I do.") how you want to be introduced, and so forth. Don't be shy about asking for what you want, whether it is something you have imagined your entire life or whether it's something you saw at So-and-So's wedding and would like to include, or conversely, you DON'T want to include it. Your officiant is the go-to person to make your dream come true. And he or she will also have a good idea where you can find those "hard to locate" items as well.