Personalising your ceremony
Your entrances
Entering the ceremony room is up to you. There are options to enter together or have a more traditional entrance with one of you waiting for the other.
Would you like anyone to accompany you, for example:
- parent or parents
- sibling or siblings
- bridesmaids
- groomsmen
You can tailor your ceremony to include a particular piece of music as you enter. Alternatively, you could enter to a round of applause.
The modern tradition of being 'given away' or 'escorted down the aisle' is a gesture of love and respect. Giving away is the moment during the wedding ceremony where one or both parties are presented to be married. This happens following the ceremony procession. This can be done with:
- one or both parents
- by a child
- by a sibling
- a close friend
- other family member
We are happy to start proceedings as formally or informally as you wish.
Music choices
You are free to include non-religious music whilst your guests wait for proceedings to begin, when you sign the marriage schedule and at the start and close of your ceremony. Depending on the venue of your ceremony you may also wish to include live music.
If your ceremony is taking place at a licenced venue, you will need to contact them directly to find out how you will need to supply your music for your ceremony.
If your ceremony is taking place at one of our Registration Office ceremony rooms, music must be supplied by you. All our offices have Bluetooth which is the preferred method and can be connected to a compatible phone or tablet. This will need to be operated by a nominated guest who will need to have access to your playlist. Please make sure they are comfortable to play your music.
- Before the ceremony there is the option to play music as your guests wait. Music can be live or recorded. Including current love songs, traditional wedding music or the scores of your favourite films. We recommend 30 to 15 minutes of entrance music for approved venues, and up to 15 minutes for registration offices.
- During the ceremony you can choose to include music instead of readings. You may wish for a live performance of music from a family member. This should be no more than three minutes.
- During the signing of the paperwork we recommend you choose around five minutes of music to play.This is a good opportunity for guests to take photos should you wish.
- At the End of the ceremony we recommend that you choose around five minutes of music which can be played as you exit the ceremony room.
Personal information
You are welcome to include personal touches to the ceremony in the form of specific information about you as a couple. You may wish to reflect on your memories together or include where and when you first met. Personal details are essential to creating a memorable, unique wedding experience.
Readings and poems
You are welcome to add up to two non-religious readings to your ceremony. This could be an extract from a book, quote or song lyric, or poem written especially for the day.
We recommend that each reading is about three minutes or less in length. Our registrar would be happy to present any readings for you, or you could ask one of your guests - the choice is yours.
Consider passages from literature, poetry, movies, or songs that have spoken to you over the years and have served to clarify what love, marriage, and commitment mean. These are all wonderful options for ceremony readings.
There are many resources available online which you can access for ideas and tips on selecting the perfect reading.
Exchange of rings
The exchanging of rings is a tradition that many couples continue to do today. If you choose to exchange rings you can also honour someone with the role of ring bearer, a lovely way of including someone special in your ceremony.
As this isn't a legal obligation you can choose not to exchange rings, only exchange one ring, or exchange something else entirely, the choice is yours.
Ending of the ceremony and congratulations
We will announce you out using whichever words you would like to use, this can be Mr and Mrs, Mr and Mr, Mrs and Mrs, or just your first names, the choice is yours.
You also have the option to play a final song as you exit the ceremony room, followed by your guests.