Three things your Colorado wedding officiant probably hasn’t thought of

It’s a mixed blessing that anyone can marry you in Colorado.  On the one hand you get to have someone with a meaningful history to officiate at your wedding, but on the other, it’s probably their first time officiating and they probably haven’t thought of these things that help the ceremony and the wedding photography run smoothly.

1. Ask the guests to stand when the bride comes down the aisle and sit before the ceremony begins.  People need this direction and the green light when it is ok to sit back down.
2. Talk about an exit strategy after you walk down the aisle.  When I was starting as a photographer I kept getting this terrified look and question after the ceremony from the bride and groom – “Now what do we do?”  Figure out ahead of time what you want to do.  Are you takeing 15 minutes in private, doing a receiving line, or going to a special spot for family photos?  The end of the ceremony with 200 people watching isn’t the time to figure it out.
3. The officiant should move after announcing, “You may kiss the bride”.  Otherwise, you will probably have a strange partial head in the photo looking at your first kiss as husband and wife.

I’ve seen many ceremonies performed beautifully by first timers so hopefully these recommendations will help make it go even more smoothly at your ceremony.