Perform a Ceremony
For most people, weddings are a fantastic, fun, and loveable event where two different family and friends join together to celebrate the love of two individuals. For the bride, groom, and those who’s job it is to run the ceremony, it can be a bit daunting and nerve wrecking. Being a first time minister, the idea of making mistakes or saying the wrong phrase in the wrong order have definitely crossed your mind. This page is here to help ease the stress and worries and to show you how simple it is to conduct a wedding, and even show you how you can be creative and help make a couple’s special day even more special:
Before overseeing a wedding, you must:
Every state in the country has a different set of rules regarding wedding ceremonies and different requirements for the one who oversees the wedding. If you aren’t clear and have any questions, try calling the local county office where you know the wedding ceremony will be at. They can fill you in on any sort of regulations or and tell them you are a new Minister and would like to know if there are any particular tasks needed to be complete before performing a wedding in that given state’s law.
MINISTER’S OPENING
“…Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.”
This is the typical way most weddings are started, but we encourage you to be creative and come up with something thoughtful, witty, and professional.
This part of the ceremony typically involves saying something along the lines of “Who here will give this woman or man to be wed?”, “Who here will support this here couple in their marriage?” or “Who supports this woman/man in her/his marriage?” Sometimes couples leave this out entirely as it’s a bit old fashioned.
The opening reading is typically what sets teh mood of the wedding. Most ministers keep it light and fun, but can also be serious and elegant. More often than not, the reading usually has something to do with love, marriage, and or relationships. Some ministers have even told a story of the couple to illustrate such points about love and relationships. We encourage you to make it special, something heartfelt about the couple that will make the audience laugh, smile, or cry!
This is where you come into play a bit more. For this task, you will give a short brief message about marriage, typically talking it up a bit more. You also should just read up on the families coming and see whether it would be beneficial to make it a bit more serious (like with a prayer) or casual jokes. either way you have freedom to make this as awesome as possible.
This part of the wedding is where the couple will take turns reading their vows. Such examples could be “I, ____ take you ____, to be my ______, to _____________, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.
This part of the ceremony is the traditional exchange of rings and or gifts.
An example of this would be the couple saying something like “I ________ give you ________ this ( ring / gift ) as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you.”
A unity ceremony is something many couples are choosing to add to their wedding. This act ranges from pouring 2 portions of sand into a glass to symbolize two beings and all their friends, family, thoughts, and passions into one another, becoming one. This is just one of many unique examples a couple might do.
The closing of the wedding can vary between a reading from the Bible, a poem, or any sort of piece of writing that sanctions marriage. It is the final saying before the declaration and ending ceremony.
This is where you, the officiant, says those magical words that go along the lines of “By the power vested in me by the State of _______, I now pronounce you husband/wife and husband/wife. You may now kiss the bride/groom”. This is followed by the first kiss of the newly married couple.
The officiant says “I present to you Mr & Mrs. ________ “.
Lastly the couple along with you and other witnesses of the ceremony will have to fill out the wedding certificate.
