What Else Can I do to make the ceremony longer

Why not incorporate a customized poem by New World Greetings to add a unique touch to your ceremony and to also have it be longer.....God bless!

Aren't you having a reception afterwards?

I have a great idea for you it's something my minister suggested. What we did was tie the rings together & instead of the minister blessing the rings, he told all the guests we are going to pass the rings around for everyone here to bless, please feel free to say your blessing out loud to the bride & groom or if you are not comfortable speaking please give a silent blessing & pass the rings to the next person. I can't even begin to tell you the beautiful things people said. Believe me this will take up time & it's a beautiful personal touch!

Incorporate a sand ceremony and/or have Old and New Testament Readings....by the time you recite your vows and have a couple of songs you should go well beyond 20 minutes. How many attendants are in the wedding?

So Far there are 12 or each side and 2 flower girls

Like one poster already asked, aren't you going to have a reception afterwards? If so, then don't worry about making it longer. You haven't even stated what you have planned out yet, and you have plenty of time to create you ceremony timeline, so don't get too ahead of yourself. Its important you get get all the bigger things out of the way before you get into finer details of the wedding. Just a suggestion, I know how excited you can get and want to get everything done right away, but you may forget about other important things that need to be done now verses later.

Is it the ceremony you want to lengthen, Jasica, or the reception? Are you having a reception? The ceremony usually lasts more than 20 minutes if you have musical interludes - perhaps a harpist, a string quartet, or simply someone singing your favorite or "signature" songs. I am a wedding coordinator in Upstate NY, "Heart and Soul Events", please let me know if there is anything I can do to assist. Check out my site on Wedding Wire. Thanks, Connie

Congratulations!!!! If you're having an inside event you can have a family and couple slideshow before the ceremony starts and/or you could do the lighting of the candles for more time. Good Luck to you!!!!

Hi Jasica:

first of all, is the minister's part 20 minutes? The processional in will take about 8 minutes. If you have 2 or 3 readings at about 1-2 minutes each, 1 or 2 songs, lighting of the unity candle or have a sand ceremony, that's about another 10 minutes. That will take you to about 30-35 minutes. Your guests won't really want it to be any longer than that. If you have more than a 1/2 hour gap between the ending time of your ceremony and the start of the cocktail hour, you can have a receving line at the church. I don't recommend this unless you have that time. I'm a wedding coordinator in Baltimore and can help you with not only the timing of the ceremony, but of the entire day. Look up my website on this site - www.yourday-yourway.com

Many couples worry the ceremony may seem rushed, believe me it wont.

I had a couple this past summer that added too many things to the ceremony. the guests were fidgeting and all they could talk about after was what a long winded minister, LOL.

Add a rose ceremony or a reading and song, and that should be perfect.

Remember you will spend time on photos and family after, so allow for this and travel to the reception.

Congratulations!!!! Greetings from Maryland but a native of North Carolina.

Sometimes the shorter the ceremony is better because it will allow more time at the end of your awesome wedding ceremony to have more time with your photographer (more photos).

If you decide to add more to your ceremony, you can consider having someone read a poem that the groom has written or selected. Secondly, the bride and groom can say/read a special brief narrative to "The Parents" thanking them for being so wonderful during your wedding planning.

Here's wishing you both many years of good health and happiness!

Happy Planning (HP),

SweetEventsandPlanning.com

Congrats!... I understand your concern, but be careful not to make the Ceremony TOO long, especially if there are children present. You can always incorporate an interpretive dance, unity candle or song/poem/music selection, following your vows. You don't want to make it seem as though you're "stalling" or grasping at straws to make the time stretch.

Aside from unity candle, readings, songs, vows, etc. I had never heard of the "Cord of 3 Strands" until our minister asked if we wanted it as part of our ceremony... check it out at http://godsknot.com/CordOfThreeStrands.aspx

Congrats Jasica honestly with a bridal party of 12 on each side I dont think it will be 20minutes but I do agree do you have anyone doing music at all. I would say to have a scripture reading, I went to a wedding recently and they did the sand ceremony and it was beautiful as well. You can even do something special and maybe read something to your fiance. Are you in MD or NC

As a wedding officiant I can tell you that a typical ceremony lasts from 15 - 25 minutes. (this is from the time the minister enters followed by the wedding party to the moment the couple exit) With such a large wedding party I would not worry about making the ceremony longer. Believe me, it will be plenty long enough for you and your wedding party. Guests really don't like ceremonies that last more than 30 minutes, they grow very restless. If you still want to add something to lengthen the ceremony here are some ideas: have someone sing, have one or more readings done by family or friends, play a favorite song, add what we call a 'tradition'...blending of the sands, unity candle, rose ceremony, tying of the knot, etc. If you already have an officiant, he or she can also help you with these details. Hope this helps.

The ceremoney actually starts when the groom stands at the alter and waits for his beautiful bride. If you consider the mothers, grandmothers, 12 bridesmaids, 2 flower girls and possible ring bearer, it's going to take a good 20 minutes before you take your place next to your groom. To extend the ceremony, you can incorporate a poem, a song, jumping of the groom, lighting of the unity candle or the sand ceremony.

BlancaVon

Wedding & Event Planning Services

wwww.blancavon.com

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Discuss your concern with your officiant. Any decent officiant should be able to help you customize the length and content of your ceremony to match exactly what you wish. Some ideas besides readings and poems to add variety to your ceremony include: Bell-Ringers Announcing the Ceremony, Honor Your Mother ceremony, Hands ceremony, Rose ceremony, Unity Candle ceremony, Unity Sand ceremony, Handfasting ceremony, Laso ceremony, Jumping the Broom, Butterfly Release, White Doves Release, and many others. You will find a brief description of these at http://kissthebride.us/Wedding_Ceremonies.html. Feel free to contact me for more details.

I think doing your own vowes that way it is a meaningful and long ceremony if you pour your heart out to your other.

Your processional with 12 attendants will take up some time, the minister will say a prayer to start the ceremony, your vows, a unity candle or sand ceremony, a reading, or maybe even a solo will definitely put you at around 30-40 minutes. Also, I will suggest that you take your time walking down the aisle and enjoy every minute of it. The entire day will go by quickly.

Congratulations Jasica. I hate to say this, but sometimes shorter is better, especially if you have a large bridal party and if you're having the girlies wear high heals (my sister's ceremony went on for past 30 minutes and I was standing in High Heels with a very badly sprained ankle and let me tell you I was so antsy to get back into into my flipflops after the pictures were taken). I love the idea somone suggested of a video or picture slide show to music before the ceremony starts. That will keep your guests entertained. I'm planning on only adding a sand ceremony with my husband and son and having family members play guitar or violin (which will add time). Also walking the grandparents and mothers down the isle takes time too (just make sure if you don't have ushers and your groomsmen serve as ushers too that they come back for their bridesmaids to escort down). That will also add time (that happened at my sister's wedding. Embarassing having the father of the bride call them back