Let’s Be Honest… Most People Hear “Ceremony” and Think “I'll Be Bored Stiff”

If the word “ceremony” feels too formal or traditional, this honest reflection explores how today’s ceremonies can be deeply personal, meaningful, and centred entirely around you.

The word seh·ruh·muh·nee can feel a little… heavy, can’t it?

Formal. Structured. A bit well … stiff.

Almost like something you have to sit through bored stiff, rather than something you get to experience.

For some, it even brings to mind something ritualistic… scripted… a little impersonal.

And I understand why.

Because for a long time, that’s what many ceremonies have been.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way?

What if a “ceremony” wasn’t about formality at all…but about feeling?

Because the truth is… what I create doesn’t really fit neatly into that word.

Yes, we call it a ceremony. But what it actually is… is something far more personal.

It’s your story, spoken out loud.

It’s the things you feel… but don’t always know how to say.

It’s the moments, the memories, the meaning …given space to be seen, heard, and felt.

And there is no one way it has to look.

You don’t have to follow a script. You don’t have to include anything that doesn’t feel like you.

You don’t have to stand in a certain way, say certain words, or fit into a particular mould.

You have freedom.

Freedom to shape your day in a way that reflects who you are…and what truly matters to you.

Sometimes that looks like laughter woven through parts.

Sometimes it’s quiet, reflective, deeply moving.

Sometimes it’s a mix of both… because that’s what real life looks like.

But at the heart of it…it’s always about connection.

And this is the part that really matters to me.

Because so often in life… we wait.

 We wait for the “right moment”.

We assume people already know how we feel.W e keep things in our hearts, thinking there will always be time.

And yet… when someone is no longer here…those are the very words we wish we had said.

We speak them at funerals. We write them in tributes. We share the impact someone had on our lives… once they’re gone.

The little things. The meaningful things. The things that truly mattered.

But what if we didn’t wait?

What if we said those things now…while people are here to hear them?

To feel them. To be held by them.

That to me, is what “ceremonies” really are.

They are moments where you get to pause…and say, this matters.

You matter. This relationship matters. This chapter… this moment… this life we are living… matters.

Whether it’s a wedding, a vow renewal, a farewell, or something entirely your own…

It isn’t about formality.

It isn’t about performance.

And it certainly isn’t about fitting into a traditional idea of what a “ceremony” should be.

It’s about expression.

It’s about meaning.

It’s about creating a moment that feels so true to you…that you carry it with you long after the day itself has passed.

So yes… we might still call it a ceremony.

But don’t let the word fool you.

Because what you’ll experience…and what those around you will feel…

is something far more real than that.

If you’ve been unsure whether a “ceremony” is for you…maybe it’s not the experience you’re questioning…

just the word.