celebrating pride
in your wedding ceremony
As we reach the end of PRIDE month (though PRIDE should be all year round right!), we thought it would be the ideal opportunity to welcome Rachael from Electric Joy Ceremonies to talk all about inclusive wedding ceremonies.
Here at Unconventional Wedding, our core values are defined around inclusivity and diversity. We love sharing alternative wedding ceremonies that share the love. So over to you Rachael!
The celebrant – magical creature and rarest of wedding industry suppliers… well maybe the magical creature part but I’m here to de-bust the myths surrounding celebrants but also in the spirit of pride month (and of course every day of the year) it seemed apt to shine a light on what we do and how we can champion inclusivity and diversity in our craft.
As a celebrant, two of my core values are inclusivity and diversity meaning that I want anyone who I work with to feel safe, valued and heard. As a celebrant there is so much, we can do to provide a space that feels welcoming to all, this can be things such as using inclusive language by avoiding phrases like ‘bride and groom’ for example or just simply knowing which pronouns a person uses.
For any couples who are wanting to celebrate pride in their wedding ceremony and hold an inclusive wedding ceremony, here are a few ideas to get you started:
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Choose an LGBTQIA friendly celebrant – this is an absolute must!
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Gender neutral vows are one of the ways that you could choose to express your identity.
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A unity ceremony using pride coloured sand or candles to show a joining of two individuals to become one.
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Your new surname being a combination of both individuals previous surnames to demonstrate two people starting a new chapter as equals.
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Handfasting ribbons in the colour of the pride flag or specific flags
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Pride coloured smoke or confetti canons. Or how about Pride music and poems.
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Rainbow coloured cocktails or shots mid-way through the ceremony
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Your guests being introduced with inclusive language for example ‘friends and family’ rather than the traditional route of ‘ladies and gentlemen.’
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Create your own symbolic ritual or ceremony – because why the hell not!?
Celebrants are not just found in the wedding industry but across all milestones that life brings us. We celebrate love, life, death, new beginnings, and everything in-between. As a wedding celebrant myself I specialise in matters of the heart and create and deliver unique, non-traditional, alternative wedding ceremonies. In England currently celebrants cannot legally marry a couple, but in countries like Australia and New Zealand couples have this option and even in Scotland, Humanist ceremonies are legally recognised.
When I talk about crafting an inclusive wedding ceremony, we get to know our nearly weds really well so that we can share their love story with their nearest and dearest. Fancy a shot of JD whilst rocking out to Metallica? Your ceremony on a beach during sunset? Your best bride’s person singing the song that you heard on your first date? With a celebrant led wedding there are no restrictions on the time, location, content etc of your ceremony and the only thing limiting you is your imagination!
However, you choose to celebrate your identity in your ceremony (or not!) do it unapologetically your way! Couples spend so much time (and money) making every part of their day completely personalised, so why should your ceremony be any different? It should reflect you in all of your wonderful ways. Be proud and share love, always!
Rachael is a wedding celebrant who specialises inclusive wedding ceremonies. You can find more about Rachael here.
