A topic we don’t cover enough here in the Celebrant Institute membership is ceremony presentation and style. It’s such a personal topic and each of us has our own style.
But today we thought we’d lift the cover and show you all how Sarah and I both present a ceremony. Presented below are two videos, full recordings of a recent ceremony we have both presented recently.
We’d ask you to stay kind and respectful in the comments, whilst also sharing some of your instant reactions to each one.
How did each ceremony make you feel?
How do you think the couple felt?
How do you think the crowd felt?
What are things you saw that you would like to replicate?
Josh’s ceremony
Notes: I wouldn’t normally play the music, but it turned out I was from my phone … and the audio is straight from my handheld microphone into my camera, so at the start when the music is playing, it’s just being picked up by my mic.
Sarah’s ceremony
How did we get these videos?
Josh: I offer a video recording of the ceremony as part of my package, it’s recorded on a Sony A6400 with kit 18-55mm lens, and the audio is received straight onto the camera via the Sennheiser wireless receiver attached to the camera. This receiver is tuned into the same channel as my microphone, in the same way the receiver on my PA system is. I also give a receiver to a videographer if there is one.
Sarah: Whenever there’s a videographer present I email asking if I can pay them to edit together the full ceremony for them. They normally charge $80-$100. (Josh: Genius! I’ve never thought of doing this!)
I would like to note my ceremony is not particularly recent – it’s from Feb 2018, not long after marriage equality became a thing (you’ll see what I mean when I get to the monitum), and also before I realised “Ladies and gentlemen” was not an inclusive way to greet a group of people. Now I use “Family and friends” as standard. It also features the UGLIEST groom and groomsmen’s outfits I’ve ever seen – actually WORST FITTING is probably a better descriptor. This couple didn’t do personal vows so you can’t see how I manage those – we might do another video another time! Otherwise it’s pretty similar to how I work these days!
So cool to see you both in action!!!
Thank you for sharing ????
Sarah how exciting to say those words hey?
Josh is that our famous SA wedding tree?
So exciting!
That’s that tree 🙂
This is really helpful you two, thanks for sharing it! Loved watching the different styles, and more than just watching you two, watching the couple and the guests and how they interacted throughout. So good!
Sarah brilliant idea asking the videography to put that together! I’d never thought of that! And for only $100 is perfect. Josh, I’ve actually tried the same as a free add on (without actually telling couples) the past few years. I was using an Insta360 One X, which I bought mostly to give me some fun, interesting Insta Story content but then I recorded a few ceremonies to watch myself in action and thought I’d just give a copy to the couple as well. Turned out to be a bit of a headache since the files are enormous and it had playback issues on certain machines. Anyway, love it. I know you’ve mentioned your content can vary greatly from ceremony to ceremony, but have you ever had a couple upload & share your ceremony? And would that bother you?
I started with a 360 camera but found most people didn’t get it, and it was a lot of work. I’ve never seen a couple upload one of my ceremonies, but I’m going to ask Alex and Laura if I can upload theirs.
Well as a newish celebrant I thank you for sharing! I will work on upping the ante with the crowd a little more and relax a tad more but I also think, importantly, it shows me that I’m doing OK! Cheers
Thank you both for yet again being so incredibly generous! I absolutely love seeing both styles of ceremonies. It reassures me of the importance to find my own style. Once again, thank you!
Thanks for sharing – I learned alot from both. Regards.
Thankyou to you both for uploading those beautiful ceremonies.
You are both so natural and lovely to watch.
I’m a newbie and found both very resourceful.
My greatest wish is to deliver a fun, light memorable ceremony with humour and interaction with the guests.
I definitely took something from both so Thankyou again.