If you look back at the weddings you’ve attended, what you generally remember is not all the designs, flowers, centerpieces, or the dress. What you tend to recall is the emotion. The maid of honor who cried during her reading, the bride who could not stop beaming as she read her vows.

Most of the wedding media focuses on the glitz and glamor of the wedding. But, an actual wedding is not only about how great the centerpieces are, or what the design aesthetic is. It is about two people, who seem perfect for each other, making the biggest promises in the world.

Although forgotten in the drama of the spectacle, the wedding ceremony is one of the most powerful and moving parts of a wedding. A great wedding service has the potential to make your wedding ceremony a great memory for all of your guests and for you. If your wedding ceremony is an honest reflection of your feelings for each other, everyone will be so high on happiness, that they’ll fail to notice if you even bothered with centerpieces at all. Having a great ceremony is the ultimate wedding accomplishment.

Whether you’re writing a wedding ceremony months in advance or at the very last minute, these resources will help you create something that makes you feel at home. They’ll help you make a religious service your own, build a wedding service from scratch, write your vows, find traditional vows that are right for you, or just pick readings. When you look back at your big day, what you promised to your spouse is a lot more important than the food vendor you selected for the day.

Start Writing Your Own Ceremony

The first step in constructing your wedding ceremony is to pick a basic structure, which you’ll then fill in with readings, text, vows, and maybe even music (or dancing, or puppets!) Think of this structure as your outline, the framework that you’ll fill in with your own style. By focusing on the building blocks, you will be able to construct your ceremony seamlessly and effortlessly. If you want to conduct a secular ceremony, focus on avoiding religious language, and replacing it with your own sentiments or belief systems.

Browse Other People’s Ceremonies

Don’t worry about plagiarism when you’re creating your ceremony – most wedding ceremonies has the same elements as everybody else. Try mixing it up; are there famous quotes from movies that you like? Family traditions or religious observations like hand-fasting? Research your favorite ceremonies to make the best of your wedding.

Recreate a Religious Service Your Own

If you’re having a religious wedding, your options for modifying your ceremony are often limited. However, with enough ingenuity and creativity, you can reinvent your staid religious ceremony into an impactful event. The LGBTQ Episcopal service is a great example of how to make tradition personal.

Pick Secular Readings

Wedding readings set the tone for your service – they can vary from whimsy to serious. Look at your favorite poetry anthologies, or search the internet for poetry by a specific theme: poems on permanence, laughter, or commitment for instance. Or choose passages that invite transformation, that span from death to the silliness of life.

Write Your Own Wedding Vows

Writing your own wedding vows can be both exciting and daunting. However, once you decide which words you want to borrow for inspiration, search online for free-to-use wedding vows for your ceremony. Perhaps break out a bottle of wine while you’re at it, and make a night of it.

Choose Traditional Wedding Vows

Sometimes being creative can be exhausting – if you want to scrap the extra effort, try the well-worn path of generations and choose traditional wedding vows. “For better or for worse, in sickness and in health” has a nice ring to it, and can spare your wedding guests hour-long manifestos while they wait to eat. Search Google for time-tested wedding vows and lay the matter to rest.