How to Plan a Personalised Wedding Ceremony in the UK – A Celebrant’s Guide

When you choose to have a wedding that’s super personalised to you, everyone’s a winner. Both of you, of course, because you’ll feel great having a wedding that reflects your love; but also your guests, because they’re going to have an incredible day basking in your brilliance.

So it’s fair to say that you’ve obviously made the right choice in having a personalised wedding ceremony in the UK (and really, a pat on the back for you); the next step is just to, err, plan it. No biggy!

Below are the 7 steps that go into planning a wedding ceremony that could only ever have been for you, with a blog post linked to each to help you get the most out of it.

How to plan a personalised wedding ceremony in the UK

Step 1: Choose the Right UK Wedding Celebrant

Credit: Chelsea Shoesmith Photography

Choosing the right celebrant for your personalised wedding ceremony is incredibly important, because they’re the ones who will help set the tone.

Not only will they be delivering the ceremony on the day, but they’ll be working with you in the lead-up to create it, too. This is why I always advise couples to find a celebrant they’ll enjoy getting to know, and someone you can imagine inviting to your wedding – because ultimately, they’ll be there!

And look, if it helps, I know a guy…

…and that guy is me, Meg Senior.

Here’s more of my award-winning advice* for finding the best wedding celebrant for your day.

*from me, to me, but I have excellently discerning taste

Step 2: Tell Your Story

Of course, a personalised wedding ceremony is all about your personalities and your likes and your favourite things: but it’s also about your love story.

This doesn’t mean you have to have a heroic, Romeo and Juliet-style epic tale of twists and turns (in fact, if your story strongly mirrors Romeo and Juliet, I’m not sure how you’re currently reading this blog post…) It means you tell your story, from uni nights out to nights in on the sofa.

I can promise you that your wedding celebrant won’t find it boring – and it’ll all help to create a totally unique wedding ceremony that perfectly reflects you.

Read more about how to get the most out of your celebrant wedding.

Step 3: Select the Tone and Style

When you imagine your wedding ceremony, what do you imagine the atmosphere to be: sentimental? Romantic? Relaxed? Formal? Fun?

Part of your wedding celebrant’s process will be chatting about exactly this, to make sure it hits the right spot for you. Don’t be afraid to feedback your real thoughts, too, when you receive your draft ceremony script: the words need to reflect you!

And don’t think your wedding ceremony has to be lovely-dovey and gushy, if that’s not your vibe. If you’re still on the fence, here’s my advice for couples who are wondering “Is a wedding celebrant for us?”

Step 4: Choose Rituals or Traditions

Another one of the joys of having a personalised wedding ceremony is that you can choose your own rituals or traditions to incorporate.

These can be a twist on more classic wedding ceremony rituals like handfasting or ringwarming, or you can invent your own completely. I’ve had couples who’ve done shots, and couples who’ve played a special game of “Guess who died”, in reference to a years-long-inside-joke!

I’ve delved into 10 alternative wedding rituals you can personalise to get you started.

Step 5: Pick the Perfect Location

Your personalised wedding ceremony might set the scene for the day metaphorically, but your venue does it literally, so you want to make sure you pick the right place that feels like your wedding’s home.

If you're in England or Wales specifically, it's worth knowing that celebrant weddings are currently not legally binding so you don’t have to stick to a licensed venue, either.

(If, like me, you have a connection to Sheffield I’ve rounded up my favourites if you’re looking for a Sheffield wedding venue. I work with couples all over the UK and internationally but I do particularly bang the drum for personalised wedding ceremonies in Sheffield – because it's my adopted hometown.)

Step 6: Write your vows (if you’d like to!)

Whilst your celebrant writes your personalised wedding ceremony, you can write your vows. These don’t have to be traditional in the slightest (unless you want them to be); they can be whatever you want. Here’s my tips to get over the blank page panic and start vowwriting.

Alternatively if the idea of writing your own vows is an Absolutely Not, Never Going To Happen, No Way, you don’t have to. Here’s some alternative creative ceremony ideas that have no vows, thankyaverymuch.

Step 7: Make It Yours

This is kind of the last step, kind of the first step, and also kind of every step in between too, because it’s what the whole thing is ultimately about: a personalised wedding ceremony that feels like you.

Whether you want to make an entrance, pick some personal readings, or involve your dog, there are loads of ways that you could (and should) make it your own. Talk to your celebrant about any ideas you have and how you could incorporate them; they most likely have some ideas that you love, too.

Love from, a UK wedding celebrant who wants you to have your perfect wedding day, rather than the perfect day xxx

Hopefully this has given you a good idea of how to plan your personalised wedding ceremony and what it entails, because I genuinely believe everyone deserves it.

If you’re looking for a totally unique wedding ceremony anywhere in the world (but particularly in Blighty, as that's where I'm based) I’d love to chat to you about it, so that I can be by your side every step of the way… all 7 steps of the way in fact!

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The couple you see on this page are the gorgeous Fjolla and Tristan. Thank you F+T for sharing your beautifully personal wedding images.