Overall, our wedding ceremony is going to have a blend of Christian traditions with some modern twists. What makes it even better is that Gerber Daisy Dude’s aunt is a minister and she is performing our ceremony. So we have a lot of flexibility and have her to work with to create just the right about of balance.

When we think about our ceremony, we certainly want it to be about us, but we also want to have some level of entertainment so that it keeps everyone’s energy level up so we can roll right into the cocktail hour and reception. We have the luxury of having everything at one location to help make this possible.

Here are a few of the ‘non-traditional’ components to our ceremony:

1. Prelude & Processional

Prelude: “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” by Alicia Keys (this is also the song that plays when our guests view our wedding website)

Processional: “Stop This World” by Ne-Yo

We will also dance our first dance to this song. We love it!

2. Readings

There will be two readings during our wedding ceremony. The first is “What is REAL?” from The Velveteen Rabbit.

The second is actually something that Gerber Daisy Dude and I are writing. It’s our way of personalizing the ceremony without the pressure of writing our own vows. The basic premise of the reading is that we’ve already learned all we need to know about marriage by watching television and movies. We make references to shows like Sesame Street, Transformers and some modern-day shows then put a ‘lesson learned’ that applies to marriage. It’s been really fun to write. A good friend of ours is delivering this reading and he has just the right charisma and delivery-style to make it really funny and something we hope our guests will laugh at and enjoy.

Funny enough, I bought Gerber Daisy Dude a similar T-shirt with that saying “I was raised on the streets”. The graphic is a bit different. (I was inspired after watching a post-game interview in the Patriots locker room and one of the players, Ellis Hobbs, was wearing the shirt).

3. Candle Lighting Ceremony

This is a little bit more than having a Unity Candle. We are having the two friends that are responsible for Gerber Daisy Dude and I meeting to come up and light a center candle. Gerber Daisy Dude and I will then take the light from the center candle and light 7 smaller candles that will be placed around the center candle. Each smaller candle represents seven vows that represent nourishment, strength and health, spirituality, happiness, longevity, friendship and fidelity. This was an idea that was inspired from a Hindu ceremony tradition called the Seven Steps, or Saptha Padhi. We did change some of the language but really like the meaning behind it all.

4. Closing Reading

Gerber Daisy Dude’s aunt (also his God Mother) will be reading a passage from Dr. Seuss’ “Oh the Places You’ll Go!”.

5. Recessional

Now comes the fun part! We were so inspired after watching Hitch (for the millionth time!) awhile ago. If you don’t remember the ending, check it out!

Gerber Daisy Dude and I are going to groove on down the aisle immediately after the ceremony ends and then we’re getting our bridal party to do the same and have all of our guests follow. The exact wording on our Ceremony Programs is “Mystery Song – be sure to follow our lead!” We’ll play the same song by Heavy D and the Boyz (Now That We Found Love) This way we won’t need to pair up bridesmaids with groomsmen, we can avoid a receiving line, get the energy up after sitting down for 30+ minutes, and more importantly, watch people make fools of themselves!

Hopefully nobody will rip their pants!!

What are some fun/creative/’non-tradition’ components to your ceremony??