Make it your own...

I was reading my color coordinating Martha Stewart rag in bed last night and there a very interesting section about ceremonies and how brides tend to overlook them. No, that's not the word I want. It isn't that as brides we overlook the importance of the ceremony or what it means to us to proclaim our unyielding devotion to our misters, it's that commercialism and stylizing all seems to center around the reception.

While the reception is beau coup important, the focal point of the planning and the most important people to keep in mind while planning the awesome party are your guests. (Yes, your guests) Remember, the reception is a place to receive and interact with the people you love as a general celebration and thank you for coming to witness your ceremony. The ceremony? Well, honeys - that is all about you and your honey.

I have to confess, I can play the guilty bride when it comes to neglecting my ceremony. When Jane asked me about ceremony decor, I offered her a blank stare and sweet smile in return. I want to step up and say: never again and thank you Martha! More importantly, thank you for smacking me across the face while I still have a year. Here are some things I know about my ceremony: it will be outside and I don't want any biblical readings. Hopefully, Steve's grandfather will be marrying us and we will have written our own vows.

I have known these things for a while but I haven't done an inch of legwork. Well, let's change that. I am going to start looking into readings. Right now, I have a few authors (Marquez, Tolstoy, Mann, Rilke) that I have always imagined could be read on my wedding day, but now it is time to start to hone in on quotes that are not only about love but can serve as a reflection on who Steve and I are and what we're about not as individuals but as a whole. There are so many wise poets out there and I have such a love for words that although this is a wonderful and reflective task, it is going to be overwhelming. Oh, well, ich suche mit den Hoffnung.

Then there are the processional and recessional, I'm at a loss for this as well. The only thing I do know about this, is that Cannon in D is not coming anywhere near my ceremony. Back in grad school I did a dance to this song and every time I hear it, I can't think of anything else besides the choreography. Anyway I want more contemporary music during the ceremony. Maybe something off of Sufjan Stevens' Seven Swans or Jimmy Eat World's Clarity. While Steve is the music guru and he has insisted on having an electric guitars over a string quartet (I condeded) I don't really want Built to Spill to be played during the ceremony. While typing this, I just realized that somehow, the music is going to be more complex than trying to perfect the readings. Isn't that a little backwards?