One of the things we do with all of our couple’s is offer our help in writing their ceremony.  While some couples may hire a professional wedding officiant who will take care of this for them, there are a lot of couples who ask a family member or friend to officiate, and they come with little to no wedding experience.  

The other thing we do with all of our couple’s is work with them on their wedding day timeline from the start of their day to the end of it. Ceremony times set the premise for the rest of your evening, so it’s good to have it clocked out in advance. Knowing when your ceremony will end will allow you to start your cocktail hour, dinner and remaining reception on time.

Here is the basic outline of a traditional civil ceremony (15-25 minutes) :
Processional
·         Welcome
·         Intention
·         Vows
·         Rings
·         Proclamation/Kiss
Recessional

If you wanted to add anything else the order would usually resemble the following (25-40 minutes):
Processional
·         Welcome
·         Reading(s)
·         Intention
·         Vows 
·         Rings
·         Unity Candle or other type of unity ceremony
·         Proclamation/Kiss
Recessional

Of course there are a lot of religious/cultural/ethnic traditions that can be included based on the preferences of our couples and their families.  These types of ceremonies are ones that we build out individually to make sure everything is planned right and all of the pieces are set up in the correct order.  The more formalities that are added, the more time the ceremony will take.  But with our years of experience and deep knowledge base we are able to help our couples not only draft a personal ceremony but also feel confident knowing that the timing is mapped out for everything to come together perfectly on wedding day.

We LOVE a good plan lol.

Xoxo,
The WPP Team

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