Many wedding magazines, planners, and wedding shows provide a
multitude of great ideas and resources to help make your day
special. They focus on everything from hairdos and headpieces to
transportation and can be a couple's best friend as they plan their
special day.

But what really makes your day special is the ceremony. A
wonderful ceremony will make for a wonderful celebration. A
terrible ceremony may cast a shadow over the remainder of your
day. So being prepared and taking care of the small details, before
your ceremony begins, can reward you with fun and pleasure for
the remainder of your momentous day.

Carolyn Burke - Wedding Liaison  specializes in ceremony planning.
Below are a few suggestions; lessons I have learned to help you have a stress free ceremony.

Arrive to the ceremony location early; 1 to 1 ½ hours early if you plan on taking pre-ceremony photographs.
This will provide begins a few minutes late. This is acceptable and often unavoidable as it usually takes a few
minutes to coordinate the 'start up'. Beginning your ceremony reasonably close to the invitation start up
time is a small way in expressing gratitude for your guest's presence and will assure a stress free ceremony.

Some believe that it is 'fashionable' for the bride to be late. The truth of the matter is that it creates a lot of
stress on the bride, the wedding party, the guests, and others involved in your day. The ceremony may not
go according to plan and many of the scheduled events following the ceremony are often rushed.

Most of the guests do arrive early and on time. However, the second potential cause of stress is when your
ceremony is delayed because guests arrive late! For some strange reason this 'phenomena' is almost sure to
happen. People either are notoriously late or may be late for legitimate reasons. Occasionally 'late arrivals'
may even enter during the 'processional' with the bridal party
.  Carolyn Burke - Wedding Liaison  knows how
to handle this situation. I direct late arrivals to step aside or not be seated until the appropriate time.

It is prudent for the Officiant and the Wedding Liaison to be in charge of the 'start up' of the ceremony. This
keeps the bridal party from coming down the aisle without the officiant and groom in their places. Or walking
down the aisle with the wrong music playing or being cued. Young Children love to take part in your
ceremony, but have a contingency plan in place to prevent potential incident. Have their parent sit in the
aisle seat towards the front so they can sit during the ceremony, if need be.

Finally! Most of the ceremonies I direct run smoothly from beginning to end. Realize that sometimes it is the
'unexpected' that adds life and laughter into a great ceremony. It is great when things go as planned.
However, there can be an 'awkward' moment. Some of these moments were due to unforeseen
circumstances. They could not have been prevented. Many were not even noticed. Leave the stress to the
wedding professionals - that's what you hired them for! Happy Wedding Planning!

Resource: © Dr. Phil.com
Stress Free Wedding Ceremony
Copyright © 2009  Carolyn Burke - Wedding Liaison
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