Best Ceremony Ever: How to Make the Serious Wedding Stuff Unique

by Christopher Shelley

Overview

Gravitas and fun get married within these pages, and we're all invited

Certified lifecycle celebrant Christopher Shelley is on a mission to revolutionize the wedding ceremony—or at least to make it as enjoyable as the reception. In Best. Ceremony. Ever., he will forever alter the way couples and wedding pros think about tying the knot. Shelley, who has officiated hundreds of weddings, walks couples and officiants through working together, from setting the atmosphere to telling an unforgettable love story. He shares questions for the couple to ask themselves before meeting with their officiant, and offers a wedding vow workshop and complete sample ceremonies.

Shelley cares about the guests as much as the couple getting married, and his friendly, entertaining guide is a treasure chest of ideas to make guests laugh, cry, and then laugh at how much they’re crying. From announcing the wedding (insert cliff-hanger) to selecting venues (consider breweries!) to choreographing processionals (dance party!) to explosive recessionals (balloon drop!), opportunities to surprise guests abound.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682682852
Publisher:	Countryman Press, The
Publication date:	12/18/2018
Series:	Best Ever
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	452,981
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Christopher Shelley is New York’s funniest certified Life-Cycle Celebrant. In addition to performing wedding ceremonies in New York and beyond, he has officiated in-studio weddings on The Rachael Ray Show and wrote and performed a memorial service for Joan Rivers’s dog on Joan Knows Best.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Act I

Chapter 1 Setting the Atmosphere 18

Chapter 2 Introduction by Wedding Officiant 25

Chapter 3 Designing an Unforgettable Processional 31

Act II

Chapter 4 Words of Welcome 54

Chapter 5 Special Thanks 58

Act III

Chapter 6 The Love Story 66

Chapter 7 Performing the Ceremony 78

Act IV

Chapter 8 The Serious Stuff: Stating Intentions and Exchanging Vows 86

Chapter 9 Exchange of Jewelry and Other Rituals 96

Act V

Chapter 10 Wedding Zen 104

Chapter 11 Pronouncement and Kiss 108

Chapter 12 Recessional 111

Sample Ceremonies 117

The (Fictional) Ceremony of Kathryn and Iggy 118

The (Fictional) Ceremony of Ben and Natalya 132

Questions for Couples 139

Wedding Vow Workshop 147

Wedopedia 151

Acknowledgments 203

Index 205

Editorial Reviews

"I would love for Chris to be my celebrant. I say that despite the fact that I know it would probably just end up as more material for another hilarious book on weddings. After reading this book, if your questions still aren’t answered about what goes down at a wedding, don’t get married."

Jordan Carlos

"If you’re looking to plan a wedding that feels like yours and not your grandmother’s, then you need this book. With warmth and humor, Christopher Shelley uses his years of experience as a celebrant to lay out everything you need to make your ceremony fun and memorable for everyone. Don’t worry, Grandma will love it, too."

Jennifer Wright

"Christopher Shelley tells it all with the panache, wit, and experience of a professional, savvy celebrant. If you are about to get married, this book delivers the all-important information you need with clarity, humor, and supreme coolness. His keen advice, direction, and examples are sure to make a wedding day the best it could ever be—for both the couple getting married and their tribe of family and friends. Shelley is one of our most skilled, talented, and debonair certified Life Cycle Celebrants®; he makes all his couples and their guests feel ‘royal.’"

Charlotte Eulette

"Shelley is the maestro of matrimony. He has been gifted with a divine power to imbue your wedding ceremony with off-the-chain joy. The kind of joy that starts your marriage off with a bang. Read this book. You’ll learn at the feet of the master and have a ball doing it."

Jen Spyra

"A funny, practical, and romantic guide to why most weddings suck and why yours doesn’t have to. My favorite work by a Shelley since Frankenstein—and ideally Chris would’ve sewn me and my wife into one person as well."

Daniel Kibblesmith