A sample wedding ceremony timeline provided by an experienced professional wedding officiant. Photo by Banter Snaps on Unsplash
Are you curious about the order of things when it comes to your wedding ceremony? Who walks down first? Should the bride’s mother be ushered in if she’s not walking with her daughter? Shouldn’t someone really important usher her in? Do your exchange vows and then the rings or the other way around?
When you really get into the details of the ceremony, it can be very overwhelming. I’m here to help! First I’m going to overwhelm you you and then I’m going to help you figure it out.
Anything Goes But Make it Legal
You can do whatever you want, anything goes! Yikes, that’s too overwhelming! But seriously, there are only three things you need to make your Maine wedding ceremony legal:
a) Each person getting married must agree to marry the other person;
b) The officiant must declare you married; and
c) You need to people to witness your marriage license.
That’s it! And even the language you use to “agree to marry each other” is completely open for interpretation, it doesn’t have to be “I do!” although many couples choose that language for their vow exchange. Read on to see a sample wedding ceremony outline.
Sample Ceremony Order
It can be very overwhelming to create a ceremony script from scratch, so here’s an outline of a traditional ceremony:
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Processional including Groom’s Processional with processional music
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Opening words of welcome by your wedding officiant
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Expression of intent – this is where you agree to marry your mate
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Exchange of rings
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Closing words
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Pronouncement of marriage
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The KISS!
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Introduction of wedding couple
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Recessional
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Signing of marriage license
Now that I’ve shared a traditional wedding ceremony timeline with you, I want to remind you that you’re not confined to this structure. Work with your officiant to come up with just the right wedding ceremony for you and your honey.
