The 5 Most Common Mistakes in a Wedding Ceremony

What are the most common mistakes and problems that occur in a wedding ceremony. What we hear from other professionals are the following comments.

1. The ceremony is too short! Your ceremony should reflect your love and values. A 4-minute-long ceremony can’t do that. Your guests barely get seated and the photographer get their camera focused and the ceremony is over.

2. The ceremony is too long! Your officiant has started talking and doe not know how to quit! They are not working from a script and have no idea how long they have gone on and on and on. Or, they are working from a script and have no idea how many words per minute they are speaking so they go on and on and on. Your appetizers are getting cold!

3. It is just like everyone other ceremony your guests have attended. Unless you are getting married in a faith community that has a liturgical requirement for wedding ceremonies, you will want your ceremony to be uniquely yours. You do not want your ceremony to be a cut and paste from the internet and not represent your love and commitment.

4. It is not a legally binding ceremony. Your friend/family member officiant is ordained online. This is not legally clear in North Carolina. There have been many court cases where a couple has been deemed not legally married due to the officiant being ordained online and not part of a recognized church.

5. The guests not hearing the words spoken. Your officiant can’t project to the guests and does not have a sound system to support them. This means your guests can’t hear the beautiful words you are sharing.

So, how can you avoid these mistakes?The easiest way is to hire a professional officiant to work with you to be sure you have a ceremony that is exactly what you want, reflects your values and beliefs and keeps your guests engaged in your story.

If you really want a friend/family member to do your ceremony, discuss with a professional how they can work together.We often work with the family/friend to engage them in the ceremony through the reading of scripture, assisting with handfasting cords, offering prayers etc.

Contact us to see how we can make your ceremony exactly what you want it to be.

We bring a combined experience of over 10 years of leading wedding ceremonies. With over 600 weddings performed, we know what to expect and what works in a wedding. There are very few things that can happen that we have not experienced. Concerns of couples are addressed up front and problems prevented!