Your ceremony should be an active place for guests, not a passive experience. Think beyond the standard, asking a friend to read a poem (side note here: if you have to pause and think of either the friend, or the poem, you don’t actually want either, do something else). This year, I’ve surprised couples with guest experiences, such as asking them, pre-ceremony, to hold up cards with their dearest wishes for the couple’s futures to show them how loved they are. I’ve hidden wedding rings under chairs to create secret ringbearers and make stars of friends. One of the nicest ways to surround yourself with shared love for you is to ask your guests to make commitments to you, too. Yelling out ‘we will’ in happy unison is much preferable to mumbling a hymn nobody really knows, it seems.
Away from your ceremony, you can help people bond by creating a seating plan that shows folks what they have in common, encouraging connection. If you’re having a weekend wedding, hand-create bespoke agendas that give people the ‘why’, not just a timeline to show up for. Ensure people know why they are there and why you have included the details you have.
Back at Earnshill House, Katie at Milkshed has some ideas:
