Letters from loved ones

I love a good letter. I love reading them and I love writing them. It’s like a good card. I always feel like they are worth the effort and they are something that I hold on to. I’m sentimental with that sort of thing and even started writing to my children even before they were born. I write them a letter at every birthday and have been putting them away to give to them when they are older.  I’m not sure what prompted me to start doing these things but it’s something that I would have loved to have had myself. Every birthday I sit and write them a letter about the year, the things they have done to make me laugh and that make me proud. A reminder to them that they can be themselves, and no matter what that looks like, they will be loved.

At my wedding I wrote a letter for my best friend, my bridesmaid. I gave my husband a card but didn’t know too much about weddings back then and in hindsight, could have written him a letter and had someone else read it out as part of our ceremony.

Recently, I have had a few people who have had guests who were unable to attend their ceremony. I mentioned that it might be a nice thing to do to have their loved ones write them a letter. They can have it read out, or not. I personally think it would be lovely to have it read by someone else before the couple read it themselves. Just be sure to have someone check the length of it and make sure there were no huge surprises in it!

You could ask them to include advice for your marriage, or well wishes for your future together. They could include memories of their weddings, memories of when you met as a couple or it could be as simple as just them choosing a poem, a blessing or if you are religious, a prayer.
I think that it is a wonderful way to include family that may be unable to travel to the wedding. Especially if they are very close to you. If your Grandparent has played a huge role in your life and is unable to travel, or if your best friend lives overseas and simply cannot afford to be at your wedding. It would be a lovely way to include them on your wedding day.

Thank you to Kirralee for the use of her images on this blog, check out more of her work here or find her facebook page by clicking here.

 

 

Readings in your Ceremony

Readings in your ceremony are a great way to included people important to you. They are also a wonderful way to express some more of your individuality and tell your guests a bit about you and the love that you share. It is especially a great way to let someone close to you say something about you as a couple in your wedding.

There are so many things that you can choose to have as readings in your ceremony. Some people choose their favourite childhood storybook, some people choose a song to be read out. Some people like to have readings, or a funny antidote or analogy that relate to their interests or professions.

Readings are a great way for the bride and groom to break up what they need or want to say during the ceremony too. If you are the kind of person who doesn’t feel comfortable with all of the attention that your wedding day brings or you are really nervous about public speaking, you can put a reading between your vows and ring exchange so that you don’t feel so overwhelmed by all of the speaking at once.

Readings are a great way to keep the peace too. For example, if one part of your family is quite religious and were wanting you to be married in a church but you and your partner had your hearts set on a little chapel and are comfortable with religion in your ceremony, it would be lovely for a family member to read a bible reading or a prayer during your ceremony.

Some of the weddings that I have conducted have had some wonderful readings in them. A couple that stick out in my mind was at Trudy and Ross’s wedding. They had a fantastic reading called ‘All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarden’, a lovely and funny reading that really fit into the ceremony as Trudy is a primary school teacher. Heidi and Alex had Dr Suess’ ‘Oh, the places you will go!’ Krissy and Glen had ‘the Owl and the Pussy cat’. They all just fit really well and suited the style and personality of the couples.

Have you been to a wedding that has had a funny or unusual reading during their ceremony?

Thanks to Kirralee for the photos on this weeks blog. I am really looking forward to working with Kirralee on an upcoming wedding in November, check out her blog here and her facebook page here.