ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU My hubby-to-be and I love Christmas and want to incorporate festive nods into our ceremony. Do you have any ideas of how we could do this? There are so many ways to incorporate the festive feel into your wedding ceremony. Ceremony decor. Aisles decorated with holly and ivy, lanterns, Christmas baubles, stockings and candy canes bring a beautiful festive feel, with pinecones and festive lighting too. Not forgetting your seasonal bouquet and buttonholes. Why not have your ceremony in front of a Christmas tree or a beautiful fireplace? Decorate the mantelpiece with Christmas candles, stockings and festive florals. Some people marry in the snow... If it’s not snowing fake snow can be arranged? Walking down the aisle. There’s lots of beautiful Christmas songs to choose from. Some might come from your favourite Christmas movie. For example, The Snowman, Buddies theme from Elf, Somewhere in my memory from Home Alone. Festive ceremony words. Within the ceremony, festive words add a seasonal vibe. For example, your celebrant could start by saying “Welcome and seasons greetings to all of you gathered here today at this the most wonderful time of the year.” Within the ceremony, you can use Christmas words such as snowball, sledding, jolly, merry, bright, magical time... you get the idea! A festive ring exchange. How about a reindeer, two turtle doves or an owl to deliver your rings? The rings could be wrapped in a special Christmas cracker style package, inside a Christmas bauble, or in a special personalised little Christmas stocking. You could even have ‘Five gold rings!’ and gift three to special guests of your choice, they can be engraved too. Festive ceremony enhancements could include a tying the knot ceremony or sand ceremony with festive coloured ribbons and sand. How about a beautifully personalised festive unity candle ceremony. The candle can be inscribed with the ceremony date, names, decorations, and maybe a quote. These are kept and then lit each year on your anniversary. You could even have a symbolic ceremony where you create your Christmas signature cocktail, trust me the wording would be beautiful, and your guests can taste one afterwards. There are many Christmas themed readings, or you could combine your favourite Christmas song lyrics as a reading, or part of your vows. As an Independent Celebrant, religious content can indeed be included. So, you could include a religious reading, hymn or carol. There are also lots of non-religious festive readings and carols. Different cultural Christmas traditions can be included in your ceremony, for interfaith weddings, there’s beautiful options for inclusive Christmas content. Amanda Wheal | Amanda’s Beautiful Ceremonies www.amandasceremonies.com LET LOVE LIGHT THE WAY Is lighting something I should think about when planning the wedding or will most venues have this under control? Lighting is most certainly something that’s underestimated when it comes planning a wedding. Not only does this add to the atmosphere but choosing some mood lighting, for example, you can opt for this to either match or contrast your wedding theme. Add a little bit of sparkle with an LED backdrop or dancefloor. Or if you’ve having a rustic theme then maybe some warm fairy lighting to complement your chosen style. Giant letters are often LED lit too, so these also add extra light to your day. Additional lighting are subtle details that you’ll look back on in photos and videos grateful that you added it. Emma Mead| Aurora Pearl www.aurorapearl.co.uk www.visionsofview.co.uk 88
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0NTE=