Planning a same sex wedding is a really exciting thing and there is a lot of freedom that you will get to have with your day, and the great thing is that you can get rid of a lot of the old traditions that are associated with weddings, and make up your own rules. Planning a same sex wedding will cause the same stresses and worries as with traditional weddings, but we have put together some of our top tips to ensure that you plan a unique wedding that everyone will love.
Allocate your bridal party roles
One of the first things you will need to do when planning your special day is to decide who you want to be in your wedding party and allocate the roles to people. There is a lot more flexibility available with weddings now and with the added choice of having a celebrant, you can choose your own layout and traditions for the ceremony. This is great for a same sex wedding as you may not want to do many of the usual traditions, and also may not be able to, for example traditionally the groom waits in the ceremony room and the bride enters with the bridal party. With a same sex wedding you could choose to have both of you entering separately to walk down the aisle, or even at the same time if you wanted to.
Plan a day that reflects both of your personalities
The main thing to remember is to plan a day that reflects both of your personalities, and this is true for anyone planning a wedding. It’s easy to get carried away with all of the things that are now available, but just remember that it’s your day and you need to only plan things that you both want. The most important thing is to make sure that you stick to your allocated budget, but still include things that you both love. One way to ensure that you organise a fun wedding for everyone attending is to think about your entertainment on the day. This could be anything from a pianist during your ceremony or a singer during your wedding breakfast. During your evening entertainment you will want to either have a band or DJ that incorporates everyone’s musical tastes, or if you are on a tight budget you could just choose to have a Spotify playlist open and ask your guests to add their personal choices to it, to be played during the night.
Create your own roles
Gender shouldn’t define what roles someone plays on your day, the most important thing is to have everyone that is important next to you on your day. It’s not uncommon for a bride to have a mixture of men and women in her bridal party or a groom to have a female best friend taking on the best man role. The terms best man and maid of honour are optional as well, you could even decide to create your own names for each person.
Choose matching outfits
One of the great things about having a same sex wedding is that you could choose to co-ordinate your outfits, or even have matching outfits! You could have something made personally for you both, or again if your budget is tight you could look at options on the high street, as there are plenty of options out there for you. If you don’t want to go down the matching outfit’s route, then it’s a good idea to go shopping together and make sure that you choose outfits that will complement each other on the day, even if this is just in terms of colours.
Write your own vows
One tip that we recommend to anyone getting married is to have a go at writing your own vows. This makes it so much more personal and will give you the opportunity to really have flexibility with your ceremony and make it your own. This is something that you may need to discuss with your officiant to see what you are allowed to do at the venue, but with a celebrant led wedding you will have full flexibility to say whatever words you like.