Image by We Are Twine. Officiant Brisbane City Celebrants. 

Your wedding ceremony is arguably the most important part of a wedding. It’s a heartfelt ceremony where you’re officially recognized as a legally married couple. While there is a traditional outline and script many will want to follow, we understand that’s not the case for all. In fact, couples are encouraged to add their own flavor with hand-written vows and decor. But don’t underestimate the power your script has on personalizing your ceremony, too.

Drafting your script might seem a bit daunting, but don’t sweat it. With the help of Junebug vendors and officiants Jamie and Cara, Tuscan Pledges, Camelia-Lambru-Officiant, and Forever Together, we’re bringing you some tips and wedding ceremony script ideas that’ll help couples create a ceremony that’s authentically them. 

Wedding Ceremony Script Outline 

A ceremony script is a written outline that details the sequence of events during this portion of your wedding. The script should authentically reflect your unique personalities and beliefs. But before you can write a ceremony script, it’s important to know what’s traditionally included. A typical ceremony script may include the following components:

• Processional of notable guests, the wedding party, and the couple
• Officiants opening remarks welcoming guests and acknowledge the significance of why everyone is gathered 
• Exchanging vows and expressing their love and promises for the future
• Exchanging rings as a symbol of commitment 
• Unity ceremony
• Readings like a poem, religious reading, or just a thoughtful story about the couple 
• Blessing or prayer for those having a religious wedding ceremony
• The first kiss and pronouncement declaring the couple officially married
• Closing remarks from the officiant congratulating the couple and directing guests on what comes next 
• Recessional of the couple, the wedding party, and notable family members 

This ceremony script outline is a starting point for crafting your unique ceremony. It’s a guide that’s customizable to fit your specific preferences. You can include elements that resonate with you and skip those that don’t. Overall, just make it your own. 

Recommended Reading: Wedding Ceremony Timeline and Tips for Personalizing the Script

Image by David Bastianoni. See more of this real wedding here.

Wedding Ceremony Script Tips 

Junebug vendors Jamie and Cara from Brisbane City Celebrants are specialists in creating happy, enjoyable, seamless wedding ceremonies tailored to each individual couple. Here are their top tips to help you craft a memorable ceremony script.

1. Incorporate Pre-Wedding Announcements to Set Expectations

Your wedding ceremony doesn’t necessarily need to start with the processional. Remember, it’s your wedding, your rules. Your officiant can welcome guests with pre-wedding announcements to set expectations like these. 

• Unplugged or Unleashed: Your Celebrant can let your guests know if you prefer a “technology-free” ceremony (unplugged) or if they are welcome to capture special moments (unleashed). They can also let them know whether they can immediately share photos of your wedding on social media or if they should wait until you’ve shared the professional photos first.

• The Grand Exit: Planning a petal toss? Include it in the announcements to let guests know when they will be prompted that this will take place and the best way to throw the petals for a stunning send-off and beautiful photos!

• Post-Ceremony Flow: Give your guests a heads-up on the next steps. Will there be a group photo/ some family photos? Will drinks and food be served? Do they need to move to another location for the reception?

2. Proofread and Edit Your Script to Reduce Nerves

• Your Ceremony, Your Words: Whether your Celebrant is crafting your script or not, ensure you have the opportunity to proof and edit it beforehand. This ensures everything is to your liking, in the tone you had in mind (be it heartfelt and meaningful or a fun ceremony with a few giggles). You can also confirm the important bits like names being correct and crucial information (e.g., who the ring bearer is and who the official witnesses are). Having the peace of mind that your ceremony script is exactly what you envisioned can significantly reduce any wedding day nerves.
• Eliminate Surprises: Proofreading not only allows you to address any potential mistakes, like incorrect names or information. It also helps avoid any awkward surprises during the ceremony.

3. Personalize Your Script

Make the ceremony uniquely yours by incorporating your love story together–from the first date to the proposal to your shared plans for the future. Collaborating with your officiant to add detailed anecdotes is one of the best ways to make your ceremony truly yours. Heartfelt Ceremonies states that the best ceremonies are the ones that are personalized! The more it feels like you, the better the experience will be.

“Having the officiant, whether it’s a friend or a professional, add a section dedicated to your “love story” is an easy way to do just that. Some love story highlights could include: a recap of your dating life, falling in love & how you knew this was “the one”, the proposal story, highlighting any funny moments together, and details on what you love about each other/what you’re grateful for in your relationship.”

Image by Laura Dean.

Junebug vendors Tuscan Pledges have experience creating personalized ceremonies for couples regardless of their gender, religious, secular, or nondenominational background. They too have shared their tips for creating a celebration that’s authentically yours. 

4. Don’t Have Friends or Family Officiant 

While it has become increasingly popular to have loved ones officiant your wedding, it’s not always a good idea. Friends and families should be invited to your wedding only as guests, to enjoy the ceremony and should not be given the responsibility to perform a service that only a professional has been trained to offer. Professional celebrants have been trained to create a personalized ceremony just the way you want it, balancing every moment, including the right element at the right time so that everything runs smoothly. They will help you decide where to place the poems, the music pieces, the vows, and will offer you all the advice their training has provided them with.

Professional celebrants are trained to speak in public, are not embarrassed to be before all those people; they may find the moment very moving, but will do that tactfully. They know how to address the couple and their guests and will coordinate with the musicians, to make sure words and music do not overlap and that there are no awkward silences in the ceremony. 

Wedding Ceremony Script Examples

1. Religious Wedding Ceremony Script Example

Processional:

[Wedding party enters, followed by the bride]

Opening Remarks:

Officiant: Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join [Couple’s Name] in holy matrimony. Today marks a significant milestone in their journey together.

Exchange of Vows:

Officiant: [Couple’s Names], please share your vows with each other.

[Couple exchanges vows]

Declaration of Intent:

Do you [Name] take this [woman/man/person] to be your lawfully wedded [husband/wife], to live together in matrimony, to love [pronoun], comfort [pronoun], honor and keep [pronoun], in sickness and in health, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?

[“I do”] 

Exchange of Rings:

Officiant: [Name], as you place this ring on [Name]’s finger, please repeat after me.

With this ring I, [Name], take you, [Name], to be no other than yourself. I promise to support you through times of trouble and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to respect your integrity and have faith in your abiding love for me for as long as we both shall live.

These rings are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love and commitment. As you place these rings upon each other’s fingers, may they remind you of the promises you have made here today.

Readings:

[Selected readings, poems, or personal anecdotes are shared]

Unity Ceremony: 

[Optional unity ceremony, such as lighting a unity candle or blending of sand]

Prayer: 

Officiant: Let us take a moment to offer a blessing or prayer for [Couple’s Names] as they embark on this journey together.

Pronouncement of Marriage:

Officiant: By the power vested in me by the state of [State], I now pronounce you [husband/wife and wife/husband]. You may kiss the bride/groom!

[Couple shares a kiss]

Recessional:

[Wedding party exits]

Image by Sriwijaya Story.

2. Non-Religious Wedding Ceremony Script Example 

Processional:

[Wedding party enters, followed by the bride]

Opening Remarks:

Officiant: Welcome, everyone. Friends and loved ones, we gather here today to celebrate the love and commitment of [Couple’s Names]. Today, we witness the joining of their lives in marriage, a union built on respect, trust, and shared values. This is not the beginning of a new relationship but an acknowledgment of the next chapter in their lives together. And they have invited us to share in this special moment as they declare their love and dedication to one another.

[Personal annecdotes are shared]

Exchange of Vows:

Officiant: [Couple’s Names], please share your vows with each other.

[Couple exchanges vows]

Declaration of Intent:

Officiant: [Couple’s Names], do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage? 

[Couple: “We do”]

Do you [Name], take this [woman/man/person] to be your lawfully wedded [husband/wife], to live together in matrimony, to love [pronoun], comfort [pronoun], honor and keep [pronoun], in sickness and in health, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?

[“I do”] 

Exchange of Rings:

Officiant: These rings are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love and commitment. As you place these rings upon each other’s fingers, may they remind you of the promises you have made here today.

Officiant: [Name], as you place this ring on [Name]’s finger, please repeat after me.

With this ring I, [Name], take you, [Name], to be no other than yourself. I promise to support you through times of trouble and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to stand by your side no matter what life throws our way for as long as we both shall live.

[Couple exchanges rings]

Pronouncement of Marriage:

Officiant: By the power vested in me by the state of [State], I now pronounce you [husband/wife and wife/husband]. You may kiss the bride/groom!

[Couple shares a kiss]

Recessional:

[Wedding party exits]

Image by Oscar Lucas.

3. Personalized Wedding Script Ideas from Camelia-Lambru-Officiant

Processional:

[Wedding party enters, followed by the bride]

Opening Remarks:

You have come here from far away to offer your love and support to their union, and to allow [Couple’s names] to start their married life together surrounded by the people who are most important to them.

This is an opportunity for us to share not only in the joy of [Couple’s names]’s love but also to reaffirm and appreciate the love and the friendship we experience in our own lives. May we all celebrate by being fully present during our short time together.

Since ancient time, people have performed ceremonies to mark a transition, a change of status, and a wedding is a rite of passage, a  transition from one life status (single) to another (married).

The processional can be seen as separation — moving away from one point of life into another. The vows are transitional — standing upon the threshold. And the declaration of marriage is incorporation — taking the new status into the everyday life.

You are promising, in front of all these people you love, that you want to be with each other for the rest of your lives, and that you will do everything in your power to honor the promises you are making here today.

For their part, the people who love you will also do everything in their power to try to help you and support you. We’re here to dream with you, to support you, to be proud of you, and to remind you that love isn’t happily ever after, love is the experience of writing your story. It’s not one moment — not even this moment. It’s every moment.

Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between two human beings; the construction of their love and trust into a single growing energy of spiritual life.

Let us all give our blessing and love to  [Couple’s names] during this ceremony as they pledge their love to one another.

Exchange of Vows:

 [Couple’s names] please join hands and look at one another, remember this moment in time and may the promise you make this day.. live always in your hearts. I remind you that marriage is a precious gift, a lifelong dedication to love and a daily challenge to love one another more fully and freely. 

[Couple’s names], by coming here today, you have reached a crossroads in your lives.

You’re turning away from your yesterdays and looking ahead to your tomorrows.

Your past is a distant memory.

Your future a waiting adventure.

It is a new dawn, a new commitment, a new life.

Exchange of Rings:

Your marriage begins with the vows and promises you speak to one another today.

Do you, [Partner #1] take [Partner #2], in the presence of God your family and friends as witnesses, to be your wife, your partner in life and travel the rest of life’s road with her?

(I DO)

Do you promise to accept her just as she is, sharing with her and supporting her through the experiences of your lives,  and will you love, honor and cherish her in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?

(I WILL) 

Do you [Partner #2] take [Partner #1], in the presence of God, your family and friends as witnesses , to be your husband,  your partner in life and travel the rest of life’s road with him?

Do you promise to accept him just as he is, sharing with him and supporting him through the experiences of your lives,  and will you love, honor and cherish him in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?

(I DO)

Exchange of Vows:

(Now that you have declared your intentions, I invite you to share your vows with one another)

Exchange of Rings:

May I have the rings, please? 

Rings are a symbol of the never-ending circle that symbolize the eternal quality of God, unending strength, and unending love!   

Rings serve as a reminder of your wedding vows to each other, and your commitment to live in unity, love and happiness. These rings have no beginning and no end. They will represent the love and trust that [Couple’s names] promise to each other this day.

[Couple’s names] you have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings and this is a pledge between two people who agree that they will commit themselves to one another throughout their lives. 

Pronouncement of Marriage:

[Couple’s names], In my presence and in the presence of your family and friends, you have exchanged vows and made promises. You have opened your hearts to one another, declared your love and friendship, and have united yourself with the exchanging of rings. You have kissed a thousand times, maybe more.

But today the feeling is new.

It is my pleasure to now pronounce you husband and wife.

You may now kiss the bride!

Recessional:

[Wedding party exits]

4. Ceremony Script for Those Planning a Spanish-Speaking Ceremony from Better, Together

Junebug vendor and officiant Better, Together has provided a ceremony scrip idea for those planning a Spanish, bilingual celebration.

Processional:

[Wedding party enters, followed by the bride]

La Bienvenida:

Queridos amigos, nos hemos reunido hoy aquí / para celebrar la unión en matrimonio / de Novio y Novia. Estamos aquí para dar testimonio / de este compromiso que hacen hoy, asi como para darles / nuestro apoyo en su nueva aventura  conjunta / como esposo y esposa.

El Acuerdo:

Y Novia, quieres unir tu vida con Novio como su esposa?  Quieres vivir junto con él en matrimonio, serle fiel, amarle, honrarle, reconfortarle y cuidarle / durante todas las temporadas de sus vidas juntos? Si es así, por favor, decir , “Sí, lo quiero.”

Promesas De Los Testigos:

¿Queridos amigos y familia, prometen apoyar a Novio y Novia / como ellos comienzan este viaje juntos, ayudándoles y apoyándoles en los tiempos buenos y los malos, y siempre reconociendo que pertenecen el uno al otro?

Las Lecturas:

Cuando por fin / se encuentran dos almas, Que durante tanto tiempo / se han buscado una a otra entre el gentío, Que se comprenden y corresponden, En una palabra, que son semejantes, surge entonces para siempre / una unión vehemente y pura / como ellas mismas, una unión que comienza en la tierra / y perdura para siempre. Cuando advierten que son parejas.

Esa unión es amor auténtico, como en verdad muy pocos pueden concebir, amor que es una religion / cuya vida emana
Del fervor y de la pasión / y para el que los sacrificios
Más grandes / son los gozos más dulces.

Estamos aqui para confirmar su pasión / y le propusimos firmemente en el camino / de sacrificio y alegría /  para el resto de sus vidas.

Las Promesas:

En este momento, Novio y Novia hacer promesas / a los demás. Como ya lo hemos oído sus palabras, recordemos los compromisos que debemos hacer / para dar apoyo y atención / a las personas quien amamos.

Y Novia, por favor, repita después de mi: 

Yo, Novia, te elegí a ti, Novio, como mi esposo. Te voy a respetar, cuidar, y amar, en tiempos buenos y difíciles, como tu amiga, compañera, y esposa, ofreciendo todo lo mejor de mi, para tener una vida plena juntos.

Ya habiendo hecho promesas de amar y cuidar, uno por el otro, Novio y Novia quieren ofrecer / un anillo como símbolo de su amor.

Y Novia, por favor repita despues de mi:
Novio, te doy este anillo / como un símbolo de mi amor / para hoy, mañana y siempre.

La Declaración: 

En este día, han hecho promesas el uno al otro y han aceptado unirse en matrimonio. Por lo tanto, es con gran alegria / que os declaro / marido y mujer!

Novio, puede besar a la novia.

Damas y Caballeros, es mi honor a presentarles, por primera vez, Señor y Señora [couple’s last name].

key to a heartfelt and personalized ceremony script is a trusted officiant. When you hire a wedding professional who invests time in getting to know you, they can incorporate your unique story and values into the script. Not sure where to find a reliable and passionate officiation? Start your search in our vendor directory, packed with Junebug-approved officiants from all across the globe. 

Image by Elle Reaux.