I Roared

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!

Chapters

• 0:10 Welcome and Dinosaur Roar Introduction
• 1:05 Discovering the Dinosaur Theme
• 3:33 The Spontaneous Wedding Roar
• 5:02 Yes, And: Balancing Humor and Ceremony
• 9:21 Closing and Future Episode Ideas
• 11:00 Podcast Outro and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

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, I roared like a dinosaur. So we've talked a little bit about themed weddings before and we're're gonna dive a little bit more into them today. But more so unique personalization and how I don't shy away from it I work with each couple to kind of get through our sprinkling scattering, whole hogness and be open for the opportunities that could really let us lean in.

Speaker 1: 1:09

Before kind of diving in with the story, I want to know what is the most unique theme or aspect you've seen at a wedding and did you kind of have an inkling it was coming? Was it like on invites? Is it really crystal clear to who the couple is, or did you just walk in and it's a whole different ballpark? So this wedding that I roared at, I didn't really plan it. It was an ad lib within the vows because I know the couple. I knew them from college and they're quirky, they're fun. They are definitely quirky people, though, so I wouldn't have put anything like this past them, but I didn't necessarily say I bet it's going to be this. So even with working with them on the wedding, I knew that there was going to be something that if I left a minute or so open in my brain within scripting, yeah, situationally put it in, let it live.

Speaker 1: 2:24

We got the invites to their wedding. No hints of dinosaur, none. That is very important to know because, upon showing up at the wedding, everything was rose gold and pretty significantly dinosaur themed. 3d printed dinosaur skulls were the centerpieces with the table number in them, and everyone's place card was on little tiny pink, like triceratops and brontosauruses and just gosh. I'm having flashbacks to playing with my brother growing up and having to remember all the names of these dinosaurs. But, yes, beautifully done. I mean, everything was in rose gold. It looked very nice and put together it was certainly not. We ran out of ideas and we went to michael's and grabbed a whole bunch of the dino figurines and spray painted. No, like this was done with care, done with attention and surprising a little bit to me. But the second I saw it I was reminded of a oh gosh. Back on MySpace and Facebook they used to have these bumper stickers not real or your car or anything, but just little memes, quotes, puns, things like that that you could put them on your friend's wall or you tag somebody in it. And I remember seeing one that said roar means I love you in dinosaur. And then other people comment like no, it means I want to eat you. But as soon as I saw the dinos I'm like aha.

Speaker 1: 4:09

I figured out what my tie-in was going to be. How I was going to subtly mix this in Was never asked of me to, but yeah, why not? So we are within the script and I have a really great reading that I do that I pretty much a copy paste edit, dismantle, rearrange every single wedding and take about three to five lines from it and work to make it really personal to the couple. I'll probably have to cover it in an episode, but it's a lot of the things that make up a marriage Striving to be a better partner, it's acknowledging that life together. Lots of sentences, marriages, love is Marriages. So that was where I'm like great, this is going to be where I put it in and I got to commit to it. I can't just say roar, like I got to give it a little oomph, we got to play in here. So I ended up saying the line 75% through the ceremony, you acknowledge that roar means I love you in dinosaur and the couple was pleasantly shocked. They laughed. It was great. I do a lot of what I do for a good laughter. The guests who knew the couple nodded their head, chuckled a, a little like yep, we get it. We are now surrounded by these dinosaur touches and pieces and it would seem very unfitting that there's not a piece of dinosaur also in the wedding. So I put it in and I really I like when I can find personalization moments on the spot and weave them in instead of kind of pre-planning them. I think that they come out a little more organically. Four I had been graciously invited to and the couple shared that. They had the song the Ratlin' Bog stuck in their head and so I needed a little bit more to fill in the ring exchange and I changed the lyrics to the Ratlin' Bog and it was absolutely hysterical.

Speaker 1: 6:41

When I work to get the couple on, I'll share it then. I don't want to pre-share too too much, but just being able to be open, be adjustable, insert little things without making it the whole theme without making it. You know it's a give or take kind of thing and if it landed awesome, don't revisit that. Well, you got what you wanted out of it, it's done. And if it landed, awesome, don't revisit that. Well, you got what you wanted out of it, it's done. And if it didn't land, okay, oh well. Who's going to remember 15 seconds of the wedding? Though I am sure if the roar had not landed, people would have remembered that about my officiating, but I was the minister who roared.

Speaker 1: 7:28

I work with other officiants, either newer ones or ones that are in my network or just helping to service other couples around, and, yes, and within reason, especially within the ceremony In my world, as long as it doesn't add time, significant lengths of time, to add it in, yes, let's do it. You want to say something funny when you hand me the rings? Yes, and you are hoping for, you know, sneak in an extra little surprise, something that your bride doesn't know about, but it's going to take 30 seconds. Okay, let me know where you're planning it, let me know how I can help you, assist you. Yes, and.

Speaker 1: 8:36

And in my work with couples, definitely a balance between humor and sincerity. We have to remember that a wedding is uniting two individuals in marriage, and marriage 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 them put into something that they don't feel like fits for them. So, finding that balance to honor the ceremony but also reflect the couple and if they are jokesters, let them joke, and you know, if they don't want to say anything on their end, want to be participants, I'll say it. On my end, I will gladly inject in uniqueness that is them and things that make sense for them, and that's what I love to do.

Speaker 1: 9:24

Nothing makes me happier than being told you did a great job and that ceremony was them, it fit them, it made sense. That's the biggest compliment I could have, instead of just oh, that was really good, or I really bonded with this. Well, that's great, but I didn't do it to really impact you as the listener or the audience member. I did it for the couple, so that you could get glimpses of who they are, why they're doing this, why they love each other. So you walking away knowing a little bit more about yourself really great plot twist. But I would rather you say that you walked away feeling you knew the couple better, feeling that you got a sense of what this was and just almost foreshadowing to how the rest of the night's going to go and how the rest of the marriage is going to go. So we have a few more bonuses I have to start preparing for.

Speaker 1: 10:27

Please let me know in the comments and emails and chats and Facebook and skywriting anything at all what you might want to hear. I can go over the stories behind clauses to the contract, or I could do a POV video and pretend like you were a couple on a consult call with me and what questions I ask and how I typically work them through. Let me know what you are thinking of and until next time, this has been Amanda. Thank you for listening to the Wedding Wear with Officiating by Amanda. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and found some inspiration or insight for your own special day.

Speaker 1: 11:12

This podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout and can be found on all major platforms. If you haven't already, please subscribe, like, comment and share to help us reach even more listeners who might laugh a little at the wedding wear. For the links referenced in the show, visit Linktree at Officiating by Amanda. You can also follow the business on Facebook, weddingwire and the Knot to stay up to date on everything going on. If you have a question you'd like me to answer on the podcast, just send an email to theweddingwirepodcast at gmailcom, and if you're ready to inquire about officiating services for your own big day, you can reach me at officiatingbyamanda at gmailcom. Thank you so much for tuning in and until next time. This has been Amanda.