Cancelled and postponed wedding ceremonies 2020. Gosh, what a truly turbulent time it has been. How has your wedding ceremony been impacted? Still hoping to have your dream 2020 wedding ceremony? Do you feel a little bit bemused and wonder what the government’s plans for the resuming of wedding ceremonies on the the 4th of July means to you and your 2020 wedding?
Well let’s walk through this together. The True to You Celebrancy Yorkshire guide to the unlocking of wedding ceremonies as it stands.
Q. What can I do in my 2020 wedding ceremony?
A.
+ Well, the good news is that you can now legally register your marriage.
+ You can do this at your chosen licenced venue and with up to 30 close family and friends as witnesses. They MUST adhere to the 1 m social distancing rules. Don’t forget that you as a pair, your wedding professional’s such as you registrars (and there will be 2 council officials at a licenced venue), photographers etc are part of your designated 30 people, though the venue staff are not.
+ The ceremonial element of exchanging of rings get special attention and this is permitted as long as you sanitise hands. Granted it’s Safe, if not a bit of a romance killer.
+ Your father, or nominated other can walk you down the aisle, but ONLY if they live with you in your household.
Q. What are the restrictions to my wedding ceremony?
A.
- Sadly, in reality there will be no ceremony per se. Essentially, the rules for weddings as of the 4th of July leave us with little more than a registration. I say this because the guidance is very clear. The service must be as short as possible and be as limited to the legal elements of registering the marriage as is possible.
One thing I always like to clear up, is that ceremony is not legally binding. The registering of your legal marriage is not ceremony. It is a beautiful and very important part of getting married in its own right, and it is often combined with your ceremony, but they are two stand alone elements.
- ceremony is the sharing of your story, of your hopes and your beliefs. It is a journey and a celebration. It has sharing of intimate words and gestures, it is the joining of hearts and minds with all those chosen to be present to share the day, at a place of your choosing, registered or not, and with your choice of wording, music and ceremonial elements. It is to reflect you, your story, your meaning, and not the law of the land.
The wedding ceremony of Paul and Louise. Photo credit Merfox Photography.
- Ceremonial rituals. There is a whole other blogpost about these, but for the purposes of this blog, aside from the exchanging of rings as detailed above, beautiful, personalised, meaningful rituals such as handfastings, the loving cup / quaich, wine blending, or vodka ceremonies for example are all excluded.
The beautiful wedding and wine blending ceremony of Fran and Ben, Hornington Manor. Personalised glasses made by True to You Celebrancy
Photo credit: Mark Hillyer, True North Photography
- Singing, readings, live music, the things that shout your love from the roof tops are not permitted.
- Being human to some extent is also curtailed. Ceremony is what we do world wide to celebrate important transitions in life such as births, death, marriages. It connects us, it celebrates meaningful, spiritual, and culturally significant elements of our lives. Ceremony is meaning. It is YOUR meaning. If this is your priority, then a wedding ‘ceremony’ right now may not be the right decision.
The beautiful wedding ceremony of Fran and Ben, Hornington Manor. Personalised glasses made by True to You Celebrancy
Photo credit: Mark Hillyer, True North Photography
But – lets end on a high. Opportunity knocks. Lock down love.
The True to You top tips on how to rock your 2020 wedding ceremony
· Spotlight YOU. Small and intimate micro weddings can be powerful. It’s all about you!! This who are in attendance will be those closest and most important to you. Great Aunt Maude 3 times removed doesn’t make the cut regardless of who else thinks she should come.
· Let’s go outdoors! COVID safer option, but no compromise here. The beauty of an outdoor wedding ceremony – and if you are in Gods Own County Yorkshire too……get out there in the beautiful countryside.
· Do a Megan. Be a thoroughly modern bride and walk yourself down the aisle.
· Walk each other down the aisle. Bride and groom, bride and bride, groom and groom entrances are no less fabulous than the father of the bride/groom entrances.
· Zoom – oh yes. We all love a zoom. BUT really. Trust me. Mark your day with a celebratory zoom ceremony and register your marriage when you can.
The Zoom 'should be wed' ceremony
For Liam and
Danielle. It was AMAZING
· But most of all, you have each other. Do what feels like the right thing for YOU! You are already living your vows. Just look at what you have come through together. You rock. You will get there.
Give me call or message me via the True to You website for a totally no obligation chat about your options for a 2020 wedding ceremony or totally bespoke wedding ceremonies beyond this.