Humour – a light hearted approach to your ceremony
My Wedding Magazine • October 07, 2014
Whilst getting married is a serious undertaking, the couples I officiate for often ask me to encourage fun and to inject humour into the ceremony. There are many ways that this can be achieved. Music is a great way to get a laugh from your audience. Whether your entrance song is the Muppets theme tune: “It’s time to put on makeup, it’s time to dress up right”, or the recessional song is: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m yours”, music can add humour and a touch of frivolity without being tacky.
Couples sometimes choose to add to humour to proceedings by having the bride make a statement entrance, which could involve her and her bridesmaids performing a funky dance routine down the aisle.
A great icebreaker within the ceremony is to include the crowd in offering support to the marriage. The officiant could address those gathered as “those whom the couple has especially chosen to stand beside them on this special day to witness and celebrate their marriage”. The question could then be asked: “Do you all promise to give your continual friendship and support to this marriage.” To which they would hopefully reply with – “We do”
If you have a big bridal party it is quite entertaining to introduce each of them early on in the ceremony and explain how they fit into the couple’s lives in a colloquial way. For example: “The best man is Jason, friend and flatmate of the groom. Jason has known the groom for ten years and feels very grateful today that the bride has tamed the groom’s wild ways and that the responsibility of the groom is officially out of his hands.” Descriptions on this type will have guests laughing in minutes, setting the scene for the ceremony.
Another way to add humor is having a close friend imparting details of the couple’s first meeting, courtship or proposal. It’s a way to tell your story , encapsulate you as a couple and engage the audience in the proceedings. Friends and family love it when, before or after the official vows, personal promises and declarations of love are recited by the couple. Declarations of love can be anecdotal and light hearted.
However you decide to include it, humour can be an integral part of your wedding ceremony. It is important to make your ceremony about who you are as a couple and adding fun, humour and warmth throughout will only make your day more memorable.
