Wedding Ceremony
Wedding Ceremony Scripts
Whether you’re planning your own wedding or preparing to officiate one, you might be wondering: what goes into a wedding ceremony script? Should it be long or short? What part should you say, and when?
These are essential questions, and the ULC is here to answer them. As the internet’s largest nondenominational church we’ve helped millions of people get ordained to perform wedding ceremonies, and we want to help you next!
Please allow the resources on this page to guide you in how to create the best wedding officiant script for your upcoming ceremony. Not yet ordained? Become a minister online instantly!
Why the Script Matters
- A well-written wedding script sets the tone for the ceremony, evokes a feeling of love and support, and connects the wedding guests with the couple to celebrate their union.
- As a wedding officiant or a couple planning the wedding, decisions about the script will affect how you incorporate readings, vows, music, acts of unity, and the length of your ceremony.
- Working from a template or an example script can help you create a meaningful ceremony that aligns with the couple’s values while also incorporating any state legal requirements for a marriage ceremony.
How to Customize Your Ceremony
There are many ways to make your wedding ceremony unique with script elements that reflect the couple’s story of how they met, their personalities, their religious beliefs, and their expectations for their marriage.
- Welcome examples
- Reading examples (quotes, verses, songs)
- Sermon examples
- Unity ceremony examples
Below, you'll find our innovative wedding script generator tool – which can create helpful wedding script templates, as well as generate custom ceremonies. And don’t forget to check out our extensive collection of sample wedding ceremony scripts, available to download for free!
When the officiant works together with the couple on their selected script to customize it to align with everyone’s hopes and expectations, you are practically guaranteed to craft a ceremony that will stay with everyone for years to come.
Finally, if you are a couple searching for a minister who can perform your dream wedding ceremony, feel free to use our Find a Minister tool to search for a ULC minister near you who could be a good fit!
Wedding Script Generator
As you come to understand what you want in a wedding script, consider letting us do the heavy lifting for you with our advanced Wedding Script Generator. This helpful tool will allow you to plug in specific information about the couple and their preferences to craft a wedding minister script that is perfectly catered to meet the moment. Click the image below to try it now!
Create Your Custom Wedding Script
With our script generator, you can build a unique plan for the wedding while still including all of the requirements for a legally-binding ceremony. Your customized script will include recommended phrasing for the following parts of the ceremony:
- Welcome statement
- Family Blessing
- Wedding Sermon
- Consecration
- Vows
- Declaration of Intent
- Ring Exchange
- Pronouncement
- Kiss
- Presentation
Wedding Script Generator
CREATE A CUSTOM WEDDING SCRIPT CATERED TO YOUR NEEDS
Wedding Script GeneratorHow It Works
Once you input your preferences, our system will generate a completely unique wedding script within moments. Download it to your device, print it out, and practice it. You'll be delivering an amazing wedding officiant speech in no time!
Example Wedding Ceremony Scripts
The ULC team has been supporting wedding officiants (and performing weddings ourselves) for decades now. In that time, we’ve come to understand what can turn a good wedding script into a great one. With that in mind, we’ve assembled a library of sample wedding scripts spanning a wide variety of ceremony types. These carefully-crafted officiant wedding script templates should provide a helpful example of how you might structure a ceremony for each theme.
As you browse the collection of sample scripts below, don't hesitate to borrow any sections that stand out. You can even print off an entire script for free and use it as-is! We're confident these tools will help you in helping craft the perfect wedding ceremony script, and best of luck!
Tips for Officiants
Here are a few tips for officiants before and while they are drafting a wedding script:
- Ask the couple about their ideal ceremony style and length, as well as if they want to include a unity ceremony, before you begin drafting your script.
- Don’t feel pressured to review too many scripts. We’ve collected most of our favorites elements here to include in the script generator and examples that should spark ideas for you.
Crafting a Memorable Ceremony
- Setting the tone for the ceremony with a positive welcome statement
- Sharing the wedding script with the couple
- Sharing the wedding script with the wedding planner
Legal Considerations
One important note to keep in mind as you write your wedding ceremony script: to ensure the ceremony is legally-binding, your script must include certain legal language. Play around with the format as much as you like, but be sure not to remove that content!
Remember, you’ve been asked to officiate the wedding for a reason. The couple trusts you to incorporate their wishes, speak from your heart, and engage their friends and family with a thoughtful message. You don’t need to over-complicate the script.
We know that working from these script examples will give you the confidence to perform a memorable wedding.
Additional Wedding Resources
Now that your personalized wedding script is generated, and you have examples to reference, you can move on to other parts or your checklist to perform a wedding. If you haven't already, we would strongly recommend that you review these instructions on how to perform a wedding in your area.
You will also find guidance to other particular parts of the marriage ceremony, including the preparation for the wedding and the legal process of how to fill out an file a marriage license in the comprehensive Wedding Training section of our site.
Finding a Wedding Officiant
If you have used these resources to plan your script, yet you’re looking for a Wedding Officiant to perform your wedding, we recommend using our Find a Minister tool on Get Ordained™