With couples feeling more empowered to plan the perfect wedding and fewer weddings being strictly church-only, the wedding ceremony has itself evolved. There are more opportunities than ever to infuse your own creative touches, from the subtle to the silly.

Here are seven categories just waiting for your ideas, with some examples from the hundreds of real couples we’ve met.

Rework the Venue

Whether you’re getting married in a church or a nightclub, you don’t want your guests to feel like they’re in just any old place waiting for you to show up. By decorating the doors and entryways, your guests will feel embraced as soon as they arrive at the site.

Line the path to the entrance with small topiaries, luminaries or even ivy — whatever fits your theme. The doors themselves can become a canvas, too. Wrap them in your theme colors, hang a wreath that accents your floral designs, display a large print of the two of you (black and white shots always look great) or even post a calligraphic scroll that says “Welcome to our wedding!” with your names and the date.

Pump Up the Program

Intercultural ceremonies often include elements from both the bride and groom’s sides — and the program is a smart place to explain each ritual. The smashing of the glass may seem foreign to the Christians at your wedding; the binding of the hands may seem strange to college friends who’ve never seen that practice. Letting guests read about your traditions in the program helps them fully appreciate the sweetness of your ceremony.

The program also is a place where you can dedicate portions of the ceremony to a loved one who has passed away. One bride we know wrote that a certain type of flower in her bouquet was a tribute to a good friend who’d died unexpectedly.

Kick Up the Media

Most couples today meet, date and bond over pieces of pop culture. With wedding ceremonies aimed at celebrating just what makes you two a unique pair, plenty of couples incorporate some of these same modern book, movie and TV references into less formal events. We’ve seen weddings feature readings from Dr. Seuss books, “The Princess Bride” and even The WB’s hit series, “One Tree Hill.” Another fun way to show your tastes is through the music you choose for your walk down the aisle as a new couple. The recessional is a fun moment, so make your soundtrack match: Couples have exited to songs by The Beatles and Coldplay as well as to “The Imperial March” from “Star Wars.”

Redo the Ring Bearer

By nature, ring bearers are hard to control, so if there’s no little human in your life you’d like to add to your wedding party, you can add a furry friend with just as unpredictable results. Just give your little guy a handler — the role of “ring bearer walker” is another fun way to include someone special into your wedding party. Several of our couples used their pets to help them propose — tying an engagement ring onto a pet’s collar _ and many of them also included their pup in the processional. You can buy formalwear for your pet (DivaPaws.com sells veils, wedding trains, and tails your dog can wear; ThePuppyShop.com has a classic black and white tux), or just add a decorative touch in your wedding’s theme colors (a ribbon-tied flower is chic and sophisticated). Note: Consider using fake rings on your pet’s collar, just in case.

Update the Unity Candle

The unity candle is one of the most classic wedding symbols, but it’s easy to get the same message across in a more personally meaningful way. Any ritual in which you take two different elements (usually differentiated by color) and combine them represents the process of two souls becoming one in marriage. We’ve seen couples sprinkle vials of dyed sand at beach weddings, pour waters into a clear bowl, burn two types of incense to create a unique fragrance or scatter different shades of rose petals into a container.

Perfect the Processional

Though certain religions have different traditions about how wedding parties head down the aisle, there are actually no hard-and-fast rules. Consider your processional an opportunity to demonstrate your appreciation for those most special to you, and include whoever you want, however you want. Some brides have both parents escort them down the aisle; many moms with kids have their children give them away. One bride who was close to her siblings had a relay of sorts, in which each of her three brothers took a turn walking her partway down the aisle. In one wedding where the bridesmaids outnumbered the groomsmen by one, a groomsman walked with a girl on each arm — and a huge grin on his face.

The High-tech Telegram

Telegrams are so 1950s, but wanting friends and relatives who can’t be there with you is timeless. These special loved ones can still shine at your ceremony. Hook a cell phone up to your sound system and coordinate with Grandpa to give a blessing from the comfort of his own living room. You can then pass the cell phone to one of the best men to subtly hold during the ceremony so your missing guest can listen in from across the miles. If absent friends can get access to a computer and broadband (sometimes a challenge overseas or with older relatives to whom the computer seems foreign) you can even have your videographer stream your ceremony in real time to the Web.