How long should a wedding ceremony be?
A wedding ceremony is all about balance and relevance
It’s the first question couples ask me as they begin their wedding ceremony planning. I’m pretty sure you’ve all witnessed wedding ceremonies that feel like they go on forever!
And ceremonies are over and done in a flash. Perhaps not because it lasted for 5 minutes in total, but because the ceremony was interesting, relaxed, fun, sincere and a perfect reflection of the couple. As a guest, you felt engaged and connected to the ceremony. And this, my friends, is the key.
A wedding ceremony is all about balance and relevance. The fabulous thing about a symbolic wedding ceremony is that, you can include whatever you wish. There are no rules. If you want to let your family know all about your cute baby and how much joy he brings to your lives, go for it!
Want to involve some of your friends and family members, let’s sit down and figure out how it can be done.
There’s no point bringing in every detail of your relationship
- Firstly, there is absolutely no reason to bring content into your ceremony that has no meaning for you as a couple.
- Secondly, there’s no reason to bring in readings into your ceremony to make it longer.
- Thirdly, there’s no reason to have a symbolic ritual just to be different, unless it has relevance to you both.
There’s no point bringing in every detail of your relationship story from beginning to now if most of your guests have been with you every step of the way and already know your story back to front.
So in conclusion, it’s perfectly OK for a wedding ceremony to go for 20 minutes or for 45 minutes if the content has been chosen by you because it is meaningful to you. A celebrant’s role is to listen to a couple’s thoughts and wishes in the early planning stage. Often, couples don’t know what to include or where to start.
The wedding celebrant tells your story
Sure, they know they will exchange wedding vows and rings, the wedding certificate needs to be signed, and there’s a big kiss at the end. But, what else…..? A great celebrant will provide heaps of inspiration, resources and information for couples to make good decisions about what works for them, and they feel completely comfortable with their ceremony content.
Celebrants should work in collaboration with the couple. Edits and drafts may be exchanged in the lead-up to your wedding day to ensure that the wedding ceremony is just right – for you. Perhaps you want to bring in a second language! Read more about bringing in a second language to your wedding in this blog post.
And of course, all of this is dependent on you – the very exciting couple preparing for your wedding. A wedding ceremony can only be as fabulous as the quality of information you provide to your celebrant. So feeling really comfortable with your celebrant is incredibly important to enable openly sharing information all about you.
Feel free to think outside the square, embrace non-tradition, incorporate some traditions, and ensure your personalities and love shine through in your wedding ceremony.
Feel free to think outside the box
And of course, all of this is dependent on you – the very exciting couple preparing for your wedding. A wedding ceremony can only be as fabulous as the quality of information you provide to your celebrant.
So feeling really comfortable with your celebrant is incredibly important to enable openly sharing information all about you.
Feel free to think outside the box, embrace non-tradition, incorporate some traditions, and ensure your personalities and love shine through in your wedding ceremony.