Wedding ceremony order
A blend wedding ceremony order: every part, minute by minute
A blended wedding ceremony runs about 28 minutes and has 11 parts, from the processional to the recessional. 9 of them are the ones that make it a wedding; the rest are yours to keep or cut.
Two traditions in one room, given equal weight and named out loud.
The running order
Times are clocked from a 4:00 PM start — slide the whole column to match yours.
Processional
The wedding party and then the couple come in.
Welcome
You greet everyone and name both families.
Honoring both traditions
You say plainly what each family brings to this.
Readingoptional
One from each tradition, or one chosen together.
How they met
Their story.
Ritualoptional
A ritual from one or both traditions.
Declaration of intent
The consent, asked and answered.
Vows
Their promises to each other.
Ring exchange
The rings.
Pronouncement
You pronounce them married.
Recessional
You present them and they walk back out.
Questions
How long is a blended wedding ceremony?
A blended wedding ceremony runs about 28 minutes and has 11 parts, from the processional to the recessional: processional 4, welcome 3, honoring both traditions 3, reading 3, how they met 3, ritual 3, declaration of intent 2, vows 3, ring exchange 2, pronouncement 1, recessional 1 — minutes per part, worked out at a spoken pace of roughly 130 words a minute plus the movement around each one. These are the same figures the run-sheet uses.
What comes first in a blended wedding ceremony?
Processional. The wedding party and then the couple come in. It runs about 4 minutes, and it is what the clock starts on — 4:00 PM in the example below.
What can be left out of a blended wedding ceremony?
Reading, Ritual — none of these is required, and cutting them is how you get the service back inside the time you were given. The rest carry the shape.
This is the shape. The words are the other half.
Answer some questions about the couple and get this running order filled in with a full word-for-word script, cue cards for each part, a rehearsal checklist, and your state’s license duties.