The Guide to your Traditional Wedding Ceremony Order

Whether you’ve been to or been in a few weddings, you may have noticed how the ceremony runs smoothly from walking down the aisle to the first kiss. Depending on the culture and religion, the bride and groom can devise their bizarre wedding ceremony order of the events to make their big day more memorable. We breakdown eight parts of a traditional wedding ceremony order that could inspire you to make yours!

The Processional

A typical wedding ceremony begins with the marching of the wedding party in the aisle, where the bride would walk lasts. The usual wedding processional order comes in this arrangement:

· The priest, groom, and the best man walk first then, wait to the altar.

· Groomsmen

· Mothers of the couple and father of the groom

· Bridesmaids (with or without a partner)

· Maid of Honor (alone)

· The ring bearer and the flower girl

· The bride escorted by her father (or a father figure)

While most modern couples opt to deviate from the norm and make their processional orders more modern + classy on their ways. Check here to find out how you could turn the old-school “walking moment” to a new trend!

Words of Wisdom

After the grand entrance of the bride, your officiant can now officially start the wedding ceremony with some words of wisdom to welcome your family members and your wedding guests to your celebration.

If you’ve been to a wedding of a friend or a loved one, you may have heard the officiant or minister starts the ceremony with this:

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."

 “Friends and family..."

Opening Remarks and Introduction

Your officiant would address you as a couple and would discuss the point of the exchange of your vows. Sometimes, they would also give you a glimpse of the duty and roles expected from you as newly declared husband and wife.

Exchanging of vows

Here comes the most dramatic (sometimes funny too!) yet romantic part of the ceremony events! Traditionally, there are three main ways to structure your vows:

“I Do” Vows - Answering questions from your officiant with an “I Do,” “I Promise,” or “I Will”

Repetitive Vows - Repeating vows after your officiant with "for richer and for poorer," "till death do us part," etc.

Original Vows – Writing and reciting your unique vows, specific to you and your partner.

Remember that this is the part where you should express your love + promises to your partner. But, one or two minutes would never be enough to tell your partner your overwhelming feelings to them, especially when wedding jitters usually get into the scene. If you are planning to pen a modern + one of the kind wedding vows, check our Six Ultimate Tricks to Writing Your Wedding Vows.

Rings Exchange

It’s now time to upgrade that engagement ring to a more solid proof of your love and commitment to each other. After you deliver your pledges to one another, the officiant will then proceed to lead you on your exchanging of rings. The couple usually accompanies the exchanging of their wedding bands with the phrase, “with this ring, I thee wed."

The kiss

After the exchanging of vows and rings, it is now the time to seal your marriage with a sweet + deep smooch (aawww). Your officiant will say “you may now kiss the bride (or each other).” Make sure to savor your first kiss as husband and wife. Plus, don’t forget to give time to your photographer to take a remarkable shot for this once-in-lifetime moment of your big day.

The Signing

While you might be soaring in cloud nine, don’t forget to sign your marriage license to make your marriage legal! Adding it to your ceremony events would make sure that you have all the signatories in one place. After the signing, head off to the reception party!

The Recessional

After the kiss and the official declaration of your marriage, you will now lead your family and friends to the reception area. Of course, have some time to take pictures to add to your wedding album!

OPTIONALS:

If you want to spice up your ceremony, add these events to your wedding.

Readings- some of your loved ones would read a poem, sonnet, or Bible verse to describe your relationship.

Final Blessings- For a religious wedding, this is when you have to offer a concluding prayer to thank the Lord for your union.

Unity Ceremony- This is a wedding ritual that represents the union of the two families and/or your lives. Typically done with a unity candle. 

Closing Remarks- Your officiant will wrap up the ceremony with few words about your celebration.