Wedding Ceremony Order...HELP!

Our minister was really helpful planning the ceremony with us, and even gave us a worksheet to choose readings for each part of the ceremony. Here's how ours is laid out:

opening words

presentation (who gives this woman...)

statement of intent

special reading

vows

exchange of rings

unity candle or sand ceremony

blessing

introduction as new family

Hope this helps a tad

Here is the site I found that has sample ceremonies and the order of things. http://weddings.about.com/od/yourweddingceremony/a/SampleCeremony.htm

We're having a traditional Catholic ceremony. This is our order (more details here: http://www.catholicweddinghelp.com/topics/order-wedding-outside-mass.htm):

Processional

Welcome and opening prayer

Liturgy of the Word (one reading each from the Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament, and the Gospels)

Homily (like a sermon)

Statement of intent

Consent and exchange of vows

Blessing and exchange of rings

General Intercessions (aka Prayers of the Faithful)

Nuptial blessing

Lord's Prayer

Closing blessing

Dismissal

Recessional

I'd ask your officiant; we all do things differently, and each officiant will have different parts that you can customize, change or eliminate all together.

^Agreed. You are paying them to write the ceremony, not just officiate the ceremony and sign the license.

I agree that you should ask your officiant.

Thanks for all the input so far. I agree that the officiant will be writing the words for the ceremony but my questions were more about placement for poems, songs, and readings etc. I'm trying to create a lovely program ;0)

This probably doesn't help much but this is my ceremony.

MOH walks down aisle.

KarateChick walks down aisle, most likely escorted by dad.

Dad kisses cheek and sits down (no one is "giving" me away because I belong to myself...sorry, there are my feminist ideals)

Minister marries us with as few words as possible, and we say "I Do."

KarateChick and KarateDude walk down aisle and invite everyone to step inside and party.

My FI is athiest, so we aren't doing any religious readings or anything. We want the ceremony to be a quicky ceremony so everyone can enjoy the reception and get out of the heat.

I would ask your officient, but remember, if you want to change the plan, you can. It's your wedding after all.

As stated check w/ your Officiant, here area few

1. The Statement - of the proper names of the persons who have come to be married, so we know we have the right

people. ("We are gathered here for the wedding of [name] and [name]")

2. The Intention - "Are you, [name] here of your own free will, and do you intend to marry [name]. This is the "I do" that

you answer individually, in front of witnesses, either 1 or 1000 of them.

3. The Vow: "I [name] take you [name] to be my lawfully wedded husband/wife". You are speaking to your intended

spouse, not to the officiant, and not to the witnesses, as in step 2. You have turned to face each other, and this is your

promise to become each other's legal partner. You may say this in your own words, and there are many variants.

4. The Signing: The officiant and the witness/es sign the license and date it (sometimes to the second, in a state where

you have a waiting period). The Bride and Groom may sign as well, depending upon the license. They have already

signed when they applied for the license.

5. The Proclamation: "In front of these witnesses, this couple has declared their intention to join their lives in marriage..

and we now accept them as husband and wife".

My FH wrote a poem for me which is also my tattoo on my side and i told her that i wanted to use it so she is using that as our opening, and then from there we're going to do our memorials and then vows, and then the vow with all our guests, then the kiss, and then annoucing that we are married

Your officiant will also be able to give you the order of ceremony for the programs and he/she would be the only one to know all the specifics of their writing. I give this to couples all the time.

PS. Rarely is the signing of the license a part of the program layout or ceremony. I have only had two that requested that, because it was something they do in their home country.