Ceremony Script!

We are having my cousin do it! She gave us examples but they are way to long, and i like the idea of personalizing it!

Our officiant is writing ours.

Our officiant wrote ours, and then he emailed me a copy so that we could go over it and add or change anything.

This is why you hire a pro instead of asking your cousin

And 30 minutes is too long.

I did ours! Here is a quick snapshot!

Hire a pro and let them do it

You are writing the script or do you mean the outline? The script is written by the officiate, otherwise I think it would be like you are talking to yourselves lol

And the statement of intent should be at the beginning. It literally establishes why you're there.

But hey, it's personal, right?

I wrote mine. I'd be happy to share if you have an email.

Our officiant is doing ours, but 20- 30 minutes from entrance to exit is about right.

We're having 2 readings by the bridal party, writing our own vows plus traditional vows, exchange rings. Putting letters in a box to open on our anniversary. Officiant is telling our love story, present mom's with roses. (Not in that order)

There are examples on my website, plus a video of a ceremony I did. I also work with non-professional and internet ordained ministers so they also know how to run your ceremony as well as help you write it or write it for you.

I organized mine based on our Book of Worship, because a seminarian can never be satisfied with the norm! Here's what we did:

Processional

Declaration of Intent

Presentation of the Bride

Blessing from the Families

Scripture readings

Sermon

Vows

Exchange of Rings

Declaration of Marriage

Blessing of the Couple

Communion

Presentation of the Couple (and kiss)

Recessional

If you aren't having a church wedding, 30 minutes is too long, unless you're counting the processional and recessional as part of that time. Ours was closer to an hour, but it was important to us that our first act as husband and wife was serving others at the communion table.

@Carissa Brittney, did you officiant look at that? You're calling secular readings "liturgy" (which should only refer to sacred readings - they're part of the liturgical setting of a church's rites) and like Celia said (because she's a pro), your Declaration of Intent goes first since it establishes why you're there.

You can literally do an internet search for Cermony Scripts. I wad originally looking because a friend is officiating but doesn't want to work on the script but realized I was way over my head..... so fortunately, I have a good Jesuit friend who is helping me with it. And he's known me for decades..... but he also has experience doing these sorts of things. Sometimes officiants offer consultation services for a fee. You can try that too.

I sat down with my officiant and we went over every detail together. I suggest doing this if you are able to.

I wrote my ceremony script. Lots of research. But I started with finding an outline and then filling in the blanks so to speak. It was a process but I am completely happy with it! It is our own and not just a basic traditional piece. Good luck!

Yup. I actually found a lot of resources/ was pointed in the right direction through some threads on Reddit . Google search and check out : unboring officiant, and/ or officiant Eric

We wrote ours with the help of our officiant!

I thought Offbeat Bride had some good resources. It wasn't too hard to write, though we're still tweaking.

Our Officiant did ours with a template and we got to choose or make our own.

30 minutes seem really long.

Your ceremony script (which is only part of the process.....) should be 18-20 minutes long. This allows for 7-8 minutes of processional and recessional which puts you at exactly the amount of time your venue is hoping for.

The biggest complaint from all my venues (besides people who can't organize a processional at all) are ceremonies that are too short or too long.