15 Unique Ceremony Ideas

There’s no better time than a wedding to get creative. And sometimes that means breaking with tradition.
Although there are many accepted (and expected) traditions that surround weddings, who says you can’t buck convention and create your own traditions?
Don’t want to wear a white dress? Wear any color you want. Want a ‘no aisle’ ceremony? Go for it.
Here are a few unconventional ceremony ideas to take you down the aisle less traveled.
1. Let your guests mingle over cocktails before the ceremony. (Ideal if you are not having a church wedding.)
2. Greet guests as they arrive at the ceremony site.
3. Face your guests during your wedding vows..
4. Have your guests sit or stand in a circle around you during your vows.
5. Have both parents walk you down the aisle.
6. Have your husband-to-be escort you to the altar.
7. Don’t have bridesmaids.
8. Have an uneven number of attendants. (Maybe you just want a maid of honor, but he wants three groomsmen.)
9. Have a “man of honor” instead of a maid of honor. (Your brother? A good male friend?)
10. Have the groom choose a “best woman.” (His sister? A good female friend?)
11. Don’t wear a veil.
12. Have bridesmaids carry candles instead of bouquets as they walk down the aisle.
13. Write your own vows.
14. Have a ring warming. (What’s a ring warming you ask? There are different versions of this, but generally the rings are placed in a small bag and are passed around to each guest prior to the ring exchange. Each guest blesses the rings or says a prayer.)
15. Choose unconventional processional and/or recessional music. (Love U2? Use a favorite U2
song. Love Leonard Cohen
? Choose one of his songs. You don’t have to stick with Pachelbel’s Canon or Ode to Joy.)
Photo: Ralph Heinze Photography
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March 5th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
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April 2nd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
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April 15th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
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[...] whole ceremony was beautiful! The weather was sunny, with a light breeze, everything green and perfect. The [...]
August 19th, 2009 at 7:23 am
[...] We began by planning a traditional wedding, but it didn’t take long for us to realize that we had lost sight of our above-mentioned goals. It was then that we refocused and decided that it would be best for us to have a private ceremony. [...]
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:19 pm
[...] and we timed it perfectly before the sunset. Our Justice of the Peace had also helped us compile a personalized ceremony that said everything we wanted to say. I still can’t help smiling when I think about [...]
August 26th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
[...] because they were not invited, but it was in a public place. They hid in a tall gazebo near the ceremony, and saw us later in the day when we were taking pictures- it was really nice that they came, it is [...]
September 4th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
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September 26th, 2009 at 11:07 am
[...] and gave me the most beautiful speech a daddy’s girl could ask for. The other part of the ceremony, and one reason why we wanted to get married as soon as possible, was the fact that Kevin’s [...]
November 24th, 2009 at 11:08 am
[...] understand. My great-grandmother was still confused about us actually being married after our ceremony because Whitman’s family wasn’t there. She was very concerned that we needed to rent [...]
March 4th, 2010 at 6:21 am
[...] There were some questions about inviting more extended family, but we were firm with our intentions from the start. We were clear about why we wanted an intimate wedding, and addressed issues directly and right away. We approached the planning as ‘our day’. Our guests were there for us, to share in our celebration, not for our families. It helped that neither of our parents had lists of people that they believed should be invited (either for personal or business reasons). They were very supportive of us and our desire to have a small ceremony. [...]