So you’re determined that your wedding be “one of kind” and extraordinary. You’re even thinking about adding a bit of whimsy to your ceremony to capture the spirit that makes the two of you such a signature couple.
But how do you strike the right tone? Let’s face it, your wedding day is supposed to be a solemn occasion. You’ll be entering into a serious life commitment. You don’t want to come across as silly or disrespectful.
Yet, a little humor can go a long way towards lightening up the tension and encouraging appreciative smiles among your wedding guests. With the proper balance of dignified and light-hearted prose in your ceremony, a touch of wit can be just what a love-filled (and laugh-filled) wedding needs.
Adventurous couples these days often elect to spice up the standard “dearly beloved” fare of their wedding ceremony by adapting some of the words to the quirks and peculiarities of their professions, interests, and hobbies. If he’s a nurse, the JP might advise him to give his wedding his “best shot” and to avoid having a “mid-wife crisis” in 20 years. If she’s a software engineer, the JP might encourage her to “stay with the program.” If he’s a lawyer, she might caution him not to “lose his appeal.”
After all, in the humor department, puns are the elite – the elegant, sophisticated tongue in cheek play-on-words that can infuse anyone’s nuptials with zest.
Consider, for example, how Norwalk JP Beth Siegelbaum wrapped up a ceremony with puns of advice during a 2011 wedding. At the request of the bride, she fashioned a closing paragraph to surprise the sailor bridegroom. Beth was able to cleverly lace her reflections on tying the knot with sea-faring idioms. (Who knew all these phrases originated with sailing?)
Don’t be taken aback by this garbled paragraph. I’ve been pressed into service to include it. Your days of being footloose may have gone by the board, but a long and happy life together is in the offing. Your future will be chock-a-block with love, joy and starry nights though sometimes you will have to toe the line or give each other leeway. Don’t be overwhelmed. Just pipe down and things will be first rate. It may take a while to know the ropes, but don’t cut and run. Be above board and by and large, life will be clear sailing to the bitter end.
When humor is not mean-spirited, it can be a delightful element to any wedding ceremony. Go ahead, have fun with it. Your JP may not be a maestro of the pun like Beth Siegelbaum, but Google is her friend (and yours)! What’s most important – and what is all-too-often forgotten amidst the hubbub of planning a wedding – is that the two of you enjoy your wedding day! Anyway, doesn’t a pun-filled marriage ceremony have a nice ring to it? (Oh come on: you knew it was coming!)
Find your perfect JP at findaJP.com