Personal Story

The story is by far my favourite part of any ceremony, I find it an honour when couples are happy to share their most intimate feelings about each other and it makes me all warm and fuzzy when I read the details about how they met and how they arrived at this point. 

It gives your guests an insight into some of the aspects of your relationship they may not know. I have a little giggle how often I hear a groom saying "nice to meet you" when certain guests are arriving at their ceremony, I am sure if they haven't met you, they certainly don't know the little things you love about your partner or why you're standing up there marrying them. So, I like to tell them! This aspect really sets the tone for your wedding so if you want a fun vibe, give your celebrant some funny aspects to work with, if you want a formal vibe then maybe don’t put funny aspects into your responses.

The story is usually to the start of the ceremony to get it rolling with a bit of personality and flair so no one in the audience is thinking "Oh is it over yet?" Is it over ceremonies are not my specialty...

How does it work?

I have a list of questions that I ask the couple to answer, I then create their story with their responses and most times they hear it for the first time on the day! If a couple answers the questions separately and send their responses through, it is often interesting for me to see two different perspectives on how they met and fell in love, but the best part is seeing each other's responses on what they love most about their partner. At times this is the way some deliver what they would like to say in personal vows but don't feel as though they could manage. It's a way of still of communicating them to your partner in a public way, just spoken by me instead.

What sort of questions do I ask?

How you met and fell in love, depending on your style of wedding you may want to include some funny stories about you as a couple. The questions I usually ask in order to write the personal story are totally up to you if you would like to answer them, the standard questions I ask are listed below.

How/ Where did you first meet or tell me about your first date?

Do you know if there was a moment when you knew you had fallen love?

What are 5 things you love about your partner?

Do you have an interesting proposal story that you would like to share?

Tell me a little about what your family and friends mean to you?

Have you been through any adventures or achievements as a couple?

What are your hopes and dreams for the future?

The biggest one I work with is what are 5 things you love about your partner, you might think "oh only 5?" or you might think oh I have to do "5 geez! " I put the figure on there to even the playing field. Previously I would leave it open, and I discovered the brides had a lot more to say than the grooms... I would receive 10 from brides and 2 from grooms and I didn't want the brides to feel disheartened hence the number 5. You can do more, you can do less after all its your story, and you share what you feel you would like to!

What does a personal story look like?

Well, I have now written hundreds, some short and others long, it all depends on how much content I receive with the question responses. I will usually try and include as many details as I can from what you give to me, if you feel it's important enough to give to me then it's probably important enough to include in your story. 

And last but not least, below is an example of a personal story- Personal Story Example