But even more important than your song choices are their strategic placement at key precise moments, as well as the manipulation of each respective song track. This is known in the industry as a “track editing” (see illustration below).

Together, these 3 factors are sure to evoke inspired moments your audience will never forget!

1. Music Choice: Choose the songs that are right for you and your fiancé.
2. Music Placement: Place these songs at key points within your ceremony.
3. Music Edits: Customize the song track to achieve the desired effect.
   
   

It was an extremely powerful moment in which Elphaba experiences an epiphany about her own life and subsequently refuses to be exploited by The Wizard (or anyone else) ever again. Then, at the perfect moment, she vows to make her own way in life even if doing so feels like she’s “Defying Gravity”.

This musical number carried with it a powerful message and a highly charged emotional energy that was transmitted directly into the hearts of each audience member.

I was so moved that I was compelled out of my seat to cheer Elphaba on, as were most members of the audience! I remember it perfectly and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house by the time we were excused for intermission. These were not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy and shared adulation for Elphaba's breakthrough. 

Let me illustrate my point...

You see both Terry and Jim were active military (and I believe Terry still is today). She was stationed in El Paso, TX and Jim had just come home after a long deployment overseas.

By the time their wedding day arrived, neither of them had spent any quality time with their closest friends or family members. As a matter of fact, they had not seen most of them in several years. Therefore this particular destination wedding fulfilled another clear purpose; a long-deserved and overdue reunion. 

I was over-the moon- about this opportunity! I knew instantly that we could take advantage of this “double-whammy” celebration by incorporating the 3 key tactics mentioned earlier to create a magical moment for everyone involved.

My team and I decided to hone-in on the Bridal March and treat it as a “Big Reveal” because we knew that the anticipation to see Terry would be at an all time high. Needless to say it was a bit challenging to keep Terry concealed before the wedding because she was just as excited to see her friends and family as they were to see her.

But the payoff was totally worth it! All the guests were seated and the ceremony commenced. The anticipation in the courtyard grew into something palpable. You could feel it in the air!

And then it happened...

The processional started and the wedding party walked through the double doors and down the aisle on cue. They each took their mark near the wedding officiant and the double doors closed. As this was happening, the music level slowly faded and everyone stood up in unison.

Several seconds passed. All eyeballs were fixated on the double doors. Then the music swelled into this beautiful crescendo as the doors parted open once again. Terry stood there at the threshold, luminescent and absolutely stunning in her wedding dress! You could hear an audible collective gasp from the audience! Everyone was tingly and in awe. 

Most guests were clutching their hearts as Terry floated down the aisle. It was all timed perfectly and the magic, music, and emotion filled the air. Everyone felt goose-pimples when the bride made her appearance and marched down the aisle with her father at her side.

Terry later described this moment as a “surreal experience” where she felt like she was “...living through a fairytale moment”.

Now there were other memorable moments that night, but this one moment definitely stood out. It was one of my proudest moments as someone who worked really hard to make this moment happen. The good news is you can create moments like this one too! All you need is a bit of guidance to get you started.

Here is what you can do...

Just ask yourself, which emotions do you want to evoke? What about ambience and around visual style? Which moments do you really want to hone into and highlight? Keep these in mind as you review your music choices. Once you have determined "the what," you can collaborate with both your wedding planner and DJ to have them carry out "the how".

I have compiled this list over the years and they have been categorized into sections for easy reference. These include music recommendations for your:

I have included several song titles I have used at several of my own weddings, as well as those used for Jim and Terry's wedding ceremony below. This will serve as the perfect springboard to get your creative juices flowing. The price of the Ceremony Music Catalog is $14.95 and you can download it instantly!

Another webinar "in the can" as they say.... I had a terrific experience early this afternoon after spending some quality time with three amazing guests. I cannot rave about them enough.

All of this has to happen while remaining actively involved with the conversation that is taking place. It really isn't easy, but I loved the challenge!

It's really a test of super-charging and synchronizing several parts of your brain at the same time. It's an enormous coordination of motor skills.

It's like delivering a speech while riding a bicycle. Your audience is behind you, following on their own bikes, and you have to make sure everyone is keeping up (or you're keeping ahead of them) and everyone is safe as you're delivering quality content. 

Okay, that is definitely an overstatement, but it sure felt that way. Yes, there were several little gremlins that I had to deal with along the way but I was incredibly fortunate to be joined by an amazing panel of professional wedding officiants.

Tip #1: Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

I cannot emphasize this enough. You cannot just “wing it” and assume that all will go perfectly as planned on your Big Day. There are too many variables that could go awry and unforeseen mistakes will always occur… you can bet on it.

Rehearsal is the time and place to make mistakes and get them out of the way. Rehearsing the Formal Introduction with your wedding party should take no more than 30-40 minutes and will prove time well spent in making sure everything runs smoothly.

Running through the Formal Introduction a few times is ideal; however, if practicing once is all you have time for, be assured that once is infinitely better than not practicing at all.

Tip #2: Rehearse in reverse. 

What I mean by this is to start by placing each person at their final destination (professionally known as their “mark”). This may be their respective seat at the head table or their position on the dance floor. This way everyone will know where to go and where to stand (or sit) after their name is called.

Once everyone is on the same page, and they know their respective mark, rehearse the introduction a second time. Make sure to watch closely that each member is hitting their mark without additional coaching. If not, you may want to run through it again (if time permits).

Tip #3: Announce everyone’s full and legal name, rank and title:

• Mr. Williams & Dr. Rhonda Smith
• Lt. Colonel & Mrs. David Johnson
• The Honorable & Mrs. Samuel Longman
• Reverend & Mrs. Benjamen O’Rourke

Try to avoid using abbreviated names like Dick, Bill, or Andy. Also avoid using nicknames when possible. Remember, this is a formal introduction and historically a ceremony unto itself.

It is ideal to uphold this standard for the sake of tradition and out of respect to those who you are announcing. Of course exceptions should be made if a person in the wedding party feels strongly about using an alternative to their full and legal name.

Just provide that person with the reason why you are following this protocol, and assure them it will be the only time where their full legal name will be used.

You can revert to their preferred name after the Formal Introduction. If you receive any pushback, remain flexible and use the name they prefer.

And don't forget to ask permission directly from the couple to announce their names in the traditional "male first, male dominant" format. It has become increasingly less mainstream to refer to the woman in a relationship as "Mrs. Samuel Longman". 

Using the example above, "The Honorable & Mrs. Samuel Longman," may also be announced as, "The Honorable Samuel Longman, and his wife, Mrs. Tricia Longman". Yes, it may be a bit awkward to articulate the last name twice, but if this is how the couple prefers it, do it. 

Tip #4: Make sure to pronounce everyone's name correctly:

It is best practice to check the pronunciation of each person’s name directly with the person to whom the name belongs.

Don't be afraid to enunciate their name back to them, and listen closely to how they correct you. You'd be surprised at how appreciative that person may be for taking the time to sound out their name correctly. You've just made an ally.

Don't assume that they will correct you at the rehearsal either. There are certain cultures where “saving face” is the norm and it is considered disrespectful to disagree or to correct the person in charge. Also, be aware of the other person's personal space. This can vary greatly from culture to culture.

​

Tip #5: Include their relationship to the newlyweds:

How are the Best Man, Matron of Honor, the bridesmaids and flower girls related to the newlyweds? Don't assume your audience already knows. Context is everything.

You can also include the ages of the ring bearer and flower girls when appropriate. This information will go a long way toward informing and engaging your guests.

Tip #6: Include the parents and grandparents of both newlyweds when possible:

This is a family affair after all, and the matriarchal & patriarchal heads of both families should be included. If your parents are remarried and their respective spouse is present, it is appropriate to include them as well. Remember, context is everything. 

Separate these couples within the lineup, and if needed, gently remind them that this is a celebration of family unity and a time to focus on the future, not the past. If one of the parents or grandparents is lacking a partner, you can always couple them with a sibling or other close member of the family.

Tip #7: Make sure the wedding party is queued up and ready to go in advance:

This may seem obvious, but this is a common novice mistake. Never assume the wedding party is ready simply because it is time to do so. I typically start by welcoming the guests to the reception, introducing myself and my role, and then inform them that the Grand Entrance is about to take place. 

Making this initial announcement prior to the Grand Entrance will provide enough buffer for your guests to take their seats, and will also cue the wedding party to meet you or your assistant outside in the hallway.

It would also be helpful to make sure that the wedding party is out of sight from the audience while forming the line outside the reception hall. Use your Best Man and Honor Attendant to help you gather the wedding party. 

Tip #8: Use music to add to the excitement and sparkle of the moment:

Music will go a long way toward building anticipation for the newlywed’s big reveal moment. Be creative with your musical choices. For example, each couple can have their own unique song that matches their personality.

For the flower girls and ring bearer who are between toddler to 8 years old, I will sometimes play the theme song to Sesame Street or Charlie Brown. For the parents and grandparents I will use something a bit more regal or distinguished like the theme song to the Olympics.

Just make sure that the music compliments the announcer’s voice, and does not compete with it. You don’t want the music to drown out the announcer. There is nothing more irritating than trying to listen through the music to hear what is being said.

There are few techniques to prevent this from happening. First, fade the volume of the music track as the announcer is speaking, and immediately adjust the volume accordingly at the moment the announcer speaks the name of the couple.

Second, make sure that the announcer speaks over the instrumental part of the song, and not over the lyrics. Radio station DJ’s will typically speak over the intro of a song, and will end the announcement at the precise moment the recording artists starts to sing.

This is known in the industry as a "talk-over", and speaking over the song’s lyrics is a known as a "walk-over" (the second biggest sin in radio).

To add a final flourish, use a timpani drum roll immediately preceding the announcement of the newlyweds to add a final flourish. This not only raises the level of anticipation in the room, it also serves as a subliminal cue for the guests to stand.

One of my favorite movies of all time is My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)*.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259446/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

The premise of the movie is when Toula, a 30 year old Greek woman, falls in love with and eventually marries Ian Miller, a fun-loving but non-religious Caucasian guy. The movie explores how Toula struggles to get her family to accept Ian while she comes to terms with her own heritage and cultural identity. If you have not seen the movie yet, you’re in for a huge surprise. The movie was incredibly popular as bi-cultural and bi-racial relationships were only then emerging to become part of the American mainstream.

Multicultural weddings have been on a rise in the United States. A recent study

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/02/16/the-rise-of-intermarriage/

reports that 1 out of every 10 weddings in the U.S. is an inter-racial or bi-cultural marriage. Personally speaking, it feels that I have taken part in more multi-cultural weddings in the last few years, than I have in the near 3 decades I’ve been in the wedding industry. Although these types of weddings are more common these days, they can still pose a few challenging dilemmas in terms of how to construct a wedding celebration that honors both sides of the engaged couples’ families. Balancing multiple traditions is a complex affair. For this reason, I have assembled a few ideas you can use when trying to create a unique, multi-cultural and traditional wedding celebration. The following recommendations derive from an online article titled, "21 Ideas for a Multicultural Wedding" (you can find the original article here.)**

http://www.alifewithsubtitles.com/2014/09/21-ideas-for-multicultural-wedding.html

Local Flowers
Choose floral arrangements that give a nod to your heritage. Rina

http://www.findingdutchland.com/about/

is Filipino-American and her husband is Dutch. To honor the groom’s country or origin, they used tulips throughout the wedding and reception that they had flown in from Dutch florists. No national flower you want to use? Colors can also be meaningful in certain cultures. Chinese weddings weddings typically use red and gold hybrid daisies

http://pre02.deviantart.net/36dd/th/pre/i/2013/223/0/f/red_and_yellow_daisies___fire_flowers_by_jeepfanatic-d6hnp4z.jpg

as a means of symbolizing themes of fortune and success.

Bridal Attire
Wear culturally traditional wedding attire or find ways to incorporate elements from multiple cultures in your dress. For example, in a recent American-Moroccan wedding, Amanda

http://marocmama.com/about

wore an American-style wedding gown, and donned Moroccan slippers to go with it.

Bridesmaids
Consider adding cultural pieces or choosing traditional dress for your bridal party. Here’s a beautiful example

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/easy-party-ideas/party-tips-ideas/multicultural-wedding-tips/6/

of a bride who decided on a white dress for herself and a silk kimono for her bridesmaid. Stunning.

Recite Vows in Your First Language
The wedding I recently attended chose this approach, and I loved it! I wish I’d thought of it for our own ceremony. There’s something so special about making your promises to the one you love in your heart language.

Recite Vows in Your Partner’s First Language
One of my friends is American and her husband is from Slovakia. She learned her vows in Slovak and shared her promises to her husband in his first language. I love it! She speaks Slovak and was living there, but she still said it was a little nerve-wracking.

Traditions
Cultural traditions like jumping the broom or the wedding lasso can be lovely elements of a multicultural wedding. I asked Billy about Guatemalan traditions, and his only suggestion was my father break a piñata of rice over my head during the reception. Um… we did not do that. I loved this post about a German-Latvian wedding

http://www.letthejourneybegin.eu/german-latvian-wedding/

that included the Latvian tradition of challenges for the couple to prove their compatibility.

Table Decorations
Consider ways to create centerpieces that reflect your cultural heritage. Here’s an example where the bride and groom named each table an attribute of a strong marriage in both English and Chinese.

Fusion Cuisine
Fusion food is amazing. In Atlanta, my favorite food truck is The Blaxican, which serves Mexican Soul Food. Superb. Go for mixed cuisine at your reception. In her Finnish-French wedding, Annika attests that they “joyously mixed the two culinary cultures” with positive results.

Toasts
You can go with bilingual toasts or include traditions from other cultures. One of my favorite parts of our wedding was the toasts. Rather than a few select people offering public toasts, Guatemalan weddings allow for the couple to visit each table independently. In a more private moment, just the one table offers a toast to the couple while the other guests continue dining and talking.

Here are a few more tips for planning your multicultural wedding that I found on HereComesTheGuide.com:

http://www.herecomestheguide.com/wedding-party-ideas/detail/12-tips-for-planning-a-multicultural-wedding/

Consider getting pre-marital counseling. It may be the differences that first attracted you to each other, but for a multicultural marriage to stand the test of time important topics like faith, finances, and childrearing should be discussed in detail before you walk down the aisle. Talking over the big stuff with counselors like Drs. Michelle and Patrick Gannon of Marriage Prep 101 can clarify expectations and help you avoid trouble down the line.

Don’t feel you have to put all your cultural eggs in one basket. If your backgrounds present too sharp a contrast to be equally represented during the ceremony, there are other opportunities to give each family its due. For example, reserve the ceremony for the bride’s heritage and turn the rehearsal dinner into a celebration of the groom’s. It’s the perfect occasion to explore the African custom of “Tasting the Spices,” or introduce guests to o-shaku, the Japanese sake pouring ritual that reaffirms the bond between friends. If you or your groom is South Asian, why not host a mehndi party for your bachelorette gathering? All the female relatives will enjoy expressing their inner artist through decorative henna designs.

Help your guests understand any special wedding rituals. If you’re including unusual elements in your wedding, such as the Hispanic custom of wrapping the couple in a lasso, provide brief explanations of their significance in your wedding program so that your guests can appreciate their symbolism. Alternatively, your officiant can clue everyone in.

Take advantage of ethnic traditions that do double-duty. Did you know that the breaking of a wine glass after the “I dos' ' is not only a Jewish custom, but an Italian one as well? And the canopy covering an Indian ceremony, called a mandap, looks just like a souped-up Jewish chuppah!

You can find the above article posted in its entirety by clicking here.

http://www.herecomestheguide.com/wedding-party-ideas/detail/12-tips-for-planning-a-multicultural-wedding/

Finally here’s one last article I enjoyed immensely by Lisa Edd, where she talks about her own mulit-cultural wedding. The name of the article is “My Big Fat Multicultural Wedding“.

http://www.herecomestheguide.com/wedding-party-ideas/detail/my-big-fat-multicultural-wedding/

* Special Note: Since this original posting, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3760922/

has come out, and I encourage you to see it. The sequel is just as fantastic as the original! Seriously, go see it! It was recently released on HBO,

http://www.hbo.com/movies/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-2

but you can also view it on Redbox.

http://www.redbox.com/movies/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-2

** Special Note: I have taken the liberty of augmenting and abbreviating passages from this article for the purpose of this entry.

Make sure to get a head start by starting early:

Don’t leave writing your vows until the day before the wedding! Give them the time and thought they deserve, and save your future self the stress and pressure of trying to be super thoughtful at the 11th hour.

Most likely, you’ll be in a million different places on the eve of your wedding, which is not the proper brain space. 

Work on your vows in that pocket of time after you’ve set up all your major vendors and before you have to start thinking about the details.

If that’s still too far in advance, then give yourself at least a month, so you can try and write from a more relaxed, not rushed, frame of mind.

A few loose deadlines: try to get a first draft together about three weeks before the wedding, and have your final version completed at least two days out. (And note: if you’re eloping or getting married on short notice, just rock it out the day before. It’ll be awesome.)

Decide on a structure for your vows:

If you and your fiancé have decided that you will not see each other’s vows before the ceremony, it’s not a bad idea to make sure both of you are going to be vowing somewhat similar things.

You don’t want to be promising to care for someone on their deathbed, while they’re promising to always DVR Grey’s Anatomy for you.

Having a structure will also help you keep your word limit, and help your vows match your partner’s. Once you have a working draft completed, feel free to use your wedding planner, or Master of Ceremonies to help both of you to stay in alignment with one another. 

Write down and record everything:

Make sure to write down and record everything you can think of. If you have a moment of inspiration, capture it right then and there! Don't let your fleeting thoughts evaporate.

If you capture your thoughts as they come to you, you'll be thankful later when creating your vows. If you can't write something down at the moment you think of it, then use Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant to transcribe your thoughts for you. 

This is especially helpful when I'm bicycling, driving, or even in the shower. Smart technology can be your best friend in these instances. 

Practice, Practice, Practice!:

Memorization is optional, practicing is not. Practice looking up while you read so you can actually look at your partner as you say your vows, and so you can be confident in speaking clearly.

It's common to mumble or speak softly when reading, so practice so your family and friends will actually hear you. You may feel like you're shouting your vows to your partner, but it's better to be too loud than not heard. 

Remember, these are words meant to be heard by an audience, so check how they sound when spoken. Read your vows out loud to make sure they flow easily. Watch out for tongue twisters and run on sentences—you don’t want to run out of breath or stumble over your words.

What follows are just a few pointers to get the creative-juices flowing. You will find a link to some wedding vow springboards (templates) below.

Click Here for some vow templates... Springboards to get you started

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xb6tQJfkk0jhZeEN5-gIRcKx-Zjukb9R/view?usp=sharing

* Excerpts above taken from online article, "Tips for (Successfully) Writing Your Wedding Vows A (mostly) comprehensive guide".

http://apracticalwedding.com/2014/05/write-wedding-vows/

Apracticalwedding.com.

http://apracticalwedding.com

Here is an article written by professional writer Jen Girlish.

http://www.jengirdish.com

She speaks at length about writing her own vows for her now husband, Michael. You can find the article in its entirety at: http://apracticalwedding.com/2011/07/how-to-write-wedding-vows/.

It was never a question that Michael and I were going to write our own vows. We started our relationship by wooing each other over Gchat and long email chains about how much Friday Night Lights made us cry. We love to talk about how we feel about each other. We love to compare it, categorize it, and Tweet about it. Deciding to write our own wedding vows was a no-brainer.

I also have an MFA in creative nonfiction; writing about relationships is the closest thing I have to a skill. Vow writing should’ve been up my alley.

But it wasn’t. Vow writing was the hardest thing about the wedding planning process. I often made myself sit down at the computer to really, I mean really, start writing my vows this time, and nothing came out. I felt pressure because I was a writer. I felt pressure because whatever I wrote, I’d have to remember for a very long time. Nothing I wrote seemed important enough. I felt pressure for other, incredibly dumb but seemingly big-deal reasons. I kept thinking, What if my vows aren’t cute enough?

Another dumb reason: I didn’t have any great examples to work from. My favorite stories, essays, songs, films—the stuff that feels so true—are all about love that doesn’t last. That makes it incredibly hard to write about promising to love someone forever. Even if you really, really, really mean it.

I went through all most every book in my library for inspiration. Then, one day we decided on a reading from a Ruth Krauss/Maurice Sendak children’s book called “I’ll Be You and You Be Me.” I realized that everything I love about children’s books—the ability to communicate complicated emotions in simple sentences—was perfect. No need for perfect, overly-articulate compound sentences.

Obviously, that’s just what worked for me. There is no right way to do this—what you promise to your partner is personal and unique. However, when it’s the night before the wedding, and you’re obsessing over whether or not your fiancé’s grandmother is going to boo your promises to her grandson because you referenced backgammon, it’s nice to have a few suggestions and reassurances. So here they are: some ideas for the nuts and bolts of writing your own “non-traditional” vows. I’ve also included our vows, because there aren’t many examples around, and I also like oversharing.

Decide if you want to write them together. Either way you decide is the right way. My husband and I like to surprise each other—we’re also a little too competitive—so the surprise element was fun. It felt like wrapping a gift for him. However, a friend of mine got upset because he didn’t think his vows were as good as his wife’s. It’s a good idea to consider what kind of people you and your partner are and whether or not the element of surprise would actually be fun, or another stress point.

If you don’t write them together, consider picking a structure that you both can use as a jumping off point. It’s not a bad idea to make sure that you and your partner are going to be vowing somewhat similar things. Michael and I decided to use the phrase “I promise to” as an overall structure, and to end with “thank you for marrying me.” It gave us a good place to start, and still let us write from our own voices.

Decide on a word-count maximum. It’s nice to have a constraint sometimes, especially if your husband-elect is threatening to put on a scuba suit and perform the vows as an hour-long, aquatic-love-metaphor themed rap. We settled on a 150-word maximum. It gave me peace of mind that we weren’t going to make our guests sit through thirty minutes of vowing.

Details, details. Every creative writing workshop will tell you that good writing is in the details—specifics that speak to a larger, universal truth. It’s not a crazy idea to apply this to your vows.I focused on a few things that I thought symbolized our relationship and (eventually) wrote my vows from that. Think of it as a writing prompt. A few (commonsense) places to start: What are the little things that your partner appreciates that you do? How does that symbolize your overall relationship? And the biggy: Is there something that you can work on to build an even better, healthier relationship? I promised Michael that I would participate in our relationship no matter how hard it might seem, because my general tendency is to shut down during conflict, and I wanted to promise in front of our community to work on that. I also promised to roll my eyes with him and not at him—because let’s be honest, I’m never going to stop rolling my eyes.

Remember that the vows are ultimately just for you and your partner. If you are a silly person, I’m here to tell you that it is okay if your vows are a little silly, or funny. Or if you’d rather just write one simple line: DO IT. If you want to rap them while wearing a scuba suit? Go ahead—if your partner doesn’t mind. Your vows don’t even have to sound like vows; you could write an essay, a sonnet, or a smooth love jam. Vows should sound like you, especially when you’re making promises to your partner. Of all days, you wouldn’t want them to sound like someone else.

And if you start to think, what if my vows aren’t good enough? I give you permission to slap yourself.

Jen’s Vows
I promise to curate a faithful and fantastic marriage with you. I promise to treat you with kindness, respect, appreciation and silliness. I promise to participate in our relationship, even when it might be hard. I promise to let you know when you are getting too arrogant at backgammon. I promise to roll my eyes with you, and not at you. I promise to make laughter an integral part of our family. I promise to love you until I am extinct. Thank you for marrying me.

Michael’s Vows
Jen, for the rest of our very, very long lives: I promise to love you with all of my heart, honor you with all of my actions, and treasure you like actual treasure. I promise to keep you warm when you get cold, and to stand in the way of the sun when it gets hot. No matter how many books you get, or how many times we move, I promise to always carry them all. Every time. And wherever we go, I promise to be there, holding your hand and telling you, “I love you.” You’re my best friend, and you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Let’s get really, really, really old together. Thank you for marrying me.