I Roared

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Have you ever witnessed a wedding officiant roar like a dinosaur during the ceremony? In one of my most memorable weddings, that's exactly what happened - and it wasn't even planned! I share the delightful story of arriving at what appeared to be a traditional wedding only to discover everything from the centerpieces to the place cards featured elegant rose gold dinosaurs, inspiring an impromptu prehistoric declaration of love during the vows.

This episode dives deep into the art of wedding personalization and finding that sweet spot between honoring the sanctity of marriage while authentically representing each couple's unique personality. I explore different levels of customization - from subtle "sprinklings" to going "whole hog" - and why the most impactful personal touches often happen organically in the moment. You'll hear why I embrace the "yes, and" philosophy from improvisation, supporting couples who want to incorporate their own special elements without compromising the ceremony's integrity.

My greatest reward comes when guests say, "That ceremony was them" rather than just complimenting my performance. A truly successful wedding ceremony gives attendees insight into why the couple loves each other while foreshadowing their marriage journey ahead. Whether it's changing lyrics to "The Ratlin' Bog" during a ring exchange or adding dinosaur references for paleontology enthusiasts, these personalized moments create ceremonies that feel authentic rather than formulaic. What unique elements would you include in your perfect ceremony? Subscribe for more stories, tips, and inspiration for creating wedding moments that roar with personality!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to the WeddingWare with officiating by
Amanda.
The WeddingWare by Ward.
The wedding where I roared Yep,you heard me right on that one,

(00:41):
I roared like a dinosaur.
So we've talked a little bitabout themed weddings before and
we're're gonna dive a littlebit more into them today.
But more so uniquepersonalization and how I don't
shy away from it I work witheach couple to kind of get
through our sprinklingscattering, whole hogness and be

(01:02):
open for the opportunities thatcould really let us lean in.
Before kind of diving in withthe story, I want to know what
is the most unique theme oraspect you've seen at a wedding

(01:22):
and did you kind of have aninkling it was coming?
Was it like on invites?
Is it really crystal clear towho the couple is, or did you
just walk in and it's a wholedifferent ballpark?
So this wedding that I roaredat, I didn't really plan it.

(01:44):
It was an ad lib within thevows because I know the couple.
I knew them from college andthey're quirky, they're fun.
They are definitely quirkypeople, though, so I wouldn't
have put anything like this pastthem, but I didn't necessarily

(02:05):
say I bet it's going to be this.
So even with working with themon the wedding, I knew that
there was going to be somethingthat if I left a minute or so
open in my brain withinscripting, yeah, situationally
put it in, let it live.
We got the invites to theirwedding.
No hints of dinosaur, none.

(02:28):
That is very important to knowbecause, upon showing up at the
wedding, everything was rosegold and pretty significantly
dinosaur themed.
3d printed dinosaur skulls werethe centerpieces with the table

(02:51):
number in them, and everyone'splace card was on little tiny
pink, like triceratops andbrontosauruses and just gosh.
I'm having flashbacks toplaying with my brother growing
up and having to remember allthe names of these dinosaurs.
But, yes, beautifully done.
I mean, everything was in rosegold.
It looked very nice and puttogether it was certainly not.

(03:15):
We ran out of ideas and we wentto michael's and grabbed a
whole bunch of the dinofigurines and spray painted.
No, like this was done withcare, done with attention and
surprising a little bit to me.
But the second I saw it I wasreminded of a oh gosh.

(03:38):
Back on MySpace and Facebookthey used to have these bumper
stickers not real or your car oranything, but just little memes
, quotes, puns, things like thatthat you could put them on your
friend's wall or you tagsomebody in it.
And I remember seeing one thatsaid roar means I love you in

(04:00):
dinosaur.
And then other people commentlike no, it means I want to eat
you.
But as soon as I saw the dinosI'm like aha.
I figured out what my tie-in wasgoing to be.
How I was going to subtly mixthis in Was never asked of me to
, but yeah, why not?

(04:22):
So we are within the script andI have a really great reading
that I do that I pretty much acopy paste edit, dismantle,
rearrange every single weddingand take about three to five
lines from it and work to makeit really personal to the couple
.
I'll probably have to cover itin an episode, but it's a lot of

(04:46):
the things that make up amarriage Striving to be a better
partner, it's acknowledgingthat life together.
Lots of sentences, marriages,love is Marriages.
So that was where I'm likegreat, this is going to be where
I put it in and I got to committo it.

(05:07):
I can't just say roar, like Igot to give it a little oomph,
we got to play in here.
So I ended up saying the line75% through the ceremony, you
acknowledge that roar means Ilove you in dinosaur and the

(05:31):
couple was pleasantly shocked.
They laughed.
It was great.
I do a lot of what I do for agood laughter.
The guests who knew the couplenodded their head, chuckled a, a
little like yep, we get it.
We are now surrounded by thesedinosaur touches and pieces and
it would seem very unfittingthat there's not a piece of

(05:53):
dinosaur also in the wedding.
So I put it in and I really Ilike when I can find
personalization moments on thespot and weave them in instead
of kind of pre-planning them.
I think that they come out alittle more organically.
Four I had been graciouslyinvited to and the couple shared

(06:23):
that.
They had the song the Ratlin'Bog stuck in their head and so I
needed a little bit more tofill in the ring exchange and I
changed the lyrics to theRatlin' Bog and it was
absolutely hysterical.
When I work to get the couple on, I'll share it then.

(06:44):
I don't want to pre-share tootoo much, but just being able to
be open, be adjustable, insertlittle things without making it
the whole theme without makingit.
You know it's a give or takekind of thing and if it landed
awesome, don't revisit that.
Well, you got what you wantedout of it, it's done.

(07:05):
And if it landed, awesome,don't revisit that.
Well, you got what you wantedout of it, it's done.
And if it didn't land, okay, ohwell.
Who's going to remember 15seconds of the wedding?
Though I am sure if the roarhad not landed, people would
have remembered that about myofficiating, but I was the

(07:25):
minister who roared.
I work with other officiants,either newer ones or ones that
are in my network or justhelping to service other couples
around, and, yes, and withinreason, especially within the
ceremony In my world, as long asit doesn't add time,

(07:50):
significant lengths of time, toadd it in, yes, let's do it.
You want to say something funnywhen you hand me the rings?
Yes, and you are hoping for,you know, sneak in an extra
little surprise, something thatyour bride doesn't know about,

(08:11):
but it's going to take 30seconds.
Okay, let me know where you'replanning it, let me know how I
can help you, assist you.
Yes, and.

(08:36):
And in my work with couples,definitely a balance between
humor and sincerity.
We have to remember that awedding is uniting two
individuals in marriage, andmarriage is a big commitment.
There's a sanctity to it.
Again, not every couple, though, is the most serious of the
serious and I don't want themput into something that they
don't feel like fits for them.
So, finding that balance tohonor the ceremony but also

(09:01):
reflect the couple and if theyare jokesters, let them joke,
and you know, if they don't wantto say anything on their end,
want to be participants, I'llsay it.
On my end, I will gladly injectin uniqueness that is them and
things that make sense for them,and that's what I love to do.

(09:24):
Nothing makes me happier thanbeing told you did a great job
and that ceremony was them, itfit them, it made sense.
That's the biggest compliment Icould have, instead of just oh,
that was really good, or Ireally bonded with this.
Well, that's great, but Ididn't do it to really impact

(09:47):
you as the listener or theaudience member.
I did it for the couple, sothat you could get glimpses of
who they are, why they're doingthis, why they love each other.
So you walking away knowing alittle bit more about yourself
really great plot twist.
But I would rather you say thatyou walked away feeling you

(10:10):
knew the couple better, feelingthat you got a sense of what
this was and just almostforeshadowing to how the rest of
the night's going to go and howthe rest of the marriage is
going to go.
So we have a few more bonuses Ihave to start preparing for.
Please let me know in thecomments and emails and chats

(10:32):
and Facebook and skywritinganything at all what you might
want to hear.
I can go over the storiesbehind clauses to the contract,
or I could do a POV video andpretend like you were a couple
on a consult call with me andwhat questions I ask and how I

(10:52):
typically work them through.
Let me know what you arethinking of and until next time,
this has been Amanda.
Thank you for listening to theWedding Wear with Officiating by
Amanda.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode and found some
inspiration or insight for yourown special day.
This podcast is hosted onBuzzsprout and can be found on

(11:14):
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If you haven't already, pleasesubscribe, like, comment and
share to help us reach even morelisteners who might laugh a
little at the wedding wear.
For the links referenced in theshow, visit Linktree at
Officiating by Amanda.
You can also follow thebusiness on Facebook,
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(11:34):
on.
If you have a question you'dlike me to answer on the podcast
, just send an email totheweddingwirepodcast at
gmailcom, and if you're ready toinquire about officiating
services for your own big day,you can reach me at
officiatingbyamanda at gmailcom.
Thank you so much for tuning inand until next time.
This has been Amanda.