Wedding Ceremony

Parts and Typical Order of the Ceremony

The bolded items in the list are required in order for the marriage to be considered legal. All other items are optional. Any and all optional items may be included, customized, or deleted according to the couple’s wishes. This list is not all inclusive.

Seating or Positioning of the Guests

The Processional

Opening Prayer

Welcome or Gathering Words

Remembrances and Acknowledgments --  Mention of family and/or friends who are deceased, ill, or otherwise unable to attend

Readings and/or Songs

Charge for the Couple – Declaration of Intent (“Do you John, take Jane…?” “I do.”)

Publishing the Banns or Public Notice of Contract --  “…speak now or forever hold your peace”

Presentation of the Bride (or Groom)

Declaration of Support

Marriage Address

Symbolic Rituals (May also be conducted following the Ring Exchange) Examples: Celtic Handfasting, Candle Ceremony, Wine Ceremony, Sand Ceremony)

Wedding Vows

Ring Exchange

Final Blessing

Pronouncement (“I now pronounce you Husband and Wife.”)

The Kiss (Not required for legality but can you imagine a wedding or marriage without it?)

Benediction

The Recessional Think of these components as building blocks. A place to start. They can be included, deleted, modified, or substituted according to your desires. There are endless options and variations. Your ceremony is limited only by your wishes and your imagination and can be as short or long, simple or elaborate, traditional or fanciful, secular or religious as you would like. General Types of Ceremonies The following are the main types of ceremonies: Traditional - These are typically faith-based - taken from the tradition the bride and groom were born into. Non-denominational - A spiritual ceremony that includes reference to God and/or Deities, but does not adhere to any particular religious protocol. Non-religious - Usually includes no reference to spirituality or faith and typically does not mention God. Also sometimes referred to as a Humanist Ceremony. Interfaith - This is a blending of two or more faiths, by including aspects of religion or religious rituals or readings that are symbolic of each faith. Intercultural - This is a blending of cultures and cultural traditions – and yet can certainly also blend religious aspects. Basic Secular Wedding Ceremony This is an example of a short, simple, bare-bones ceremony. It contains the required parts and not much else.  The step which you are about to take is the most important into which human beings can come. It is a union of two people founded upon mutual respect and affection. Your lives will change, your responsibilities will increase, but your joy will be multiplied if you are sincere and earnest with your pledge to one another. (Groom), will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto her, for so long as you both shall live? (Bride), will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto him, so long as you both shall live? Take hands and repeat after me: I, (Groom), take you, (Bride), to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward. I, (Bride), take you, (Groom), to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward. (To the Groom) Do you have a ring for the bride?   Please place the ring on the bride's finger and say: With this ring, I thee wed. (To the Bride) Is there a ring for the groom? Please place the ring on the groom's finger and say: With this ring I thee wed. Let these rings be given and received as a token of your affection, sincerity and fidelity to one another. In as much as (Bride) and (Groom) have consented together in wedlock and have witnessed the same before this company, and pledged their vows to each other, by the authority vested in me by the State of Maryland, I now pronounce you husband and wife. I invite you to now kiss.