11 expert tips on how to perform and officiate your first wedding
Congratulations, you’ve been asked to officiate a wedding ceremony for a loved one! Preparing to officiate your first wedding can be daunting, but we’ve got expert tips covering “What do you say as a wedding officiant?” to “What do I even wear?” Let’s get your ready to perform and officiate your first wedding!
How to officiate a wedding for a friend
For many of us who are tapped to officiate a wedding for a couple of dear friends, it is our first experience designing a ritual, not to mention one so important. We take to the trusty Internet for answers, but find little. We can’t look to previous generations for wisdom, as most of them were either married by a religious figure by choice or obliged by their parents. To help fill in the gap, here are a few of the practices I’ve picked up along the way or created whole cloth.
Non-possessive ring exchange wording and wedding vow promises
“We’ve both had reservations about marriage: it’s often associated with sexism, it implies that relationships should be permanent even though they often aren’t. Still, we wanted to make our commitment official in a public way — but we wanted our wedding to reflect our ideas about marriage.”
9 nonreligious wedding poems to make your guests cry
Nonreligious wedding poems are such an interesting balancing act… You want something emotional and heartfelt, but also a little not too heavy. You want a dash of funny, and a hint of modern — I mean, not that Robert Fulghum and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin aren’t great, but it’s nice to introduce your guests to something they haven’t heard before
A Viking Halloween wedding ceremony script with a weapons exchange
This Viking Halloween wedding ceremony script has it all: a medieval weapons exchange, Dungeons and Dragons, and a whole lot of love. Whether you’re having a spooky-themed wedding or a Viking wedding, this Halloween wedding ceremony script will cover all your bases.
20 alternative wedding pronouncement examples to go WAY beyond “I now pronounce you…”
Want something more creative and inclusive than “I now pronounce you bla bla bla”? These 20 alternative wedding pronouncement examples will give you ideas for how to end your ceremony with a beautiful bang!