Your Ceremony

Components of a Ceremony

While there are some legal elements that are required to legalise a marriage, many elements and rituals are optional and I’ll work with you to help you decide which ones you would like to include as part of your ceremony.

A ceremony is usually made up of the below components. The items that are in bold below are legally required but all others are optional.

• Acknowledgement of country (where I’ll acknowledge the traditional owners of the land) and/or Welcome to Country (where Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Traditional Owners welcome others to the land of their ancestors)
• General housekeeping before the ceremony (recommended): this is where I’ll announce your phone/photo policy and give people any extra info they may need.
• Processional (or Bridal March). The Bridesmaids enter, followed by the Bride/s and the person who is giving her/them away (if that’s what you choose to do – we can find other ways of acknowledging people that are important to you throughout the ceremony as well)
• Some words about your story: what marriage means to you, why everyone is gathered together to celebrate your union.
• Reading/s (verses or poetry)
• Monitum (from the Marriage Act and said by the Celebrant in accordance with the Marriage Act.)
• Legal Vows
• Vows (in addition to the legal vows – these are the fun ones that you write yourselves, I can help with this too)
• The asking (the “I Do” part)
• Ring exchange
• The pronouncing (eg: “I now pronounce you….”)
• Signing of the register
• Any rituals you may like to do
• Conclusion
• Congratulations and the announcement of the newly married couple
• Recessional / all over!

Script + Style

There are lots of elements that go into the script for a wedding ceremony. Here are some key things to think about and discuss:

• Acknowledging relevant people (eg: those who have travelled a long way to be there, those who were instrumental in you two meeting or who have been instrumental in your relationship, you may also wish to acknowledge any deceased people who you wish were there, as well as anyone who couldn’t make it but who you feel are still an important inclusion in your ceremony)
• The ‘Giving Away’. Think about if and how you’d like to do this. For some, this is an important and traditional part of a ceremony, others may wish to present themselves or be given away by their community. If your Dad really wants to walk you down the aisle and give you away, but you’d like to do something more progressive – I can work with you on how else we can acknowledge your parents or those who raised you in the ceremony.
• Words about marriage. Marriage means different things to different people, you may like to include some words about this as part of the ceremony.
• Ring exchange. Think about how you’d like to do this, will you both be wearing rings?
• Your vows – it’s a good idea to talk to each other about the tone of your vows even if you’ll be keeping them secret until the ceremony as you may want the tone to be similar (you also may not – it’s up to you!)
• The ‘Asking’. For most, this is the biggest moment of the ceremony (even though it isn’t a legal requirement). This is the “I DO” part (and the part where the audience will either cry or cheer). What do you want to accept here? It’s completely up to you but I can suggest some options for you (we can do way better than that old “love, honour and obey” thing). 
• Final presentation – please think about how you would like to be presented to the crowd at the end (eg: husband and wife, wife and wife, husband and husband, spouse and partner, Mr and Mrs, we can also just announce you as MARRIED if you like – there are no rules… well there are some rules, but this isn’t one.)