Ceremony Programs

CEREMONY PROGRAMS

If you are going to have printed wedding programs, generally the following information is included:

• Program Title
• Order of Service
• Acknowledgement of Participants
• Messages and Notations

Program Title

This section is generally positioned at the top of the inside left-hand page for programs with full cover designs and usually includes the following:

DESCRIPTIVE PHRASE
BRIDE'S NAME
GROOM'S NAME
Day and Date
Time
Ceremony Location
City and State

Some suggestions for the descriptive phrase are:

THE WEDDING CEREMONY
OF
THE SACRAMENT OF
HOLY MATRIMONY
UNITING

WELCOME TO
THE MARRIAGE SERVICE

WELCOME TO
THE WEDDING CELEBRATION UNITING

THE CELEBRATION AND BLESSING
OF THE MARRIAGE UNITING

THE MARRIAGE CELEBRATION
OF
THE WORSHIP SERVICE
UNITING IN MARRIAGE

THE WEDDING MASS
UNITING

THE WEDDING SERVICE
UNITING

Order of Service

The Order of Service outlines the individual service segments – Prelude, Processional, Solo, Invocation, Scripture Reading, Marriage Ceremony, Lighting of Unity Candle, Benediction, Recessional, etc. Depending on faith, the customs and liturgical terminology will vary. It is best to consult with your clergy/officiant regarding the service.

A Sample Order of Service:

Prelude: Can be Solo [parents, grandparents ushered in]
Bridesmaids Processional: "Cannon" by Pachelbel
Bridal Processional: "Bridal Chorus" by Wagner
Welcome and Prayer by Officiant [Call to Worship in religious ceremony - see WELS Ceremony]
Reading by friend, family member, or officiant, etc. See Readings.
Solo: "Only God Could Love You More" by Niles Borop & Dwight Liles
Wedding Message by Officiant
Marriage Rite (vows, exchange of rings, declaration of marriage)
Lighting of the Unity Candle by Bride/Groom
Solo: "your choice of music" [can be sung while lighting candle]
Wedding Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Blessing of the Marriage/Benediction
Recessional: "Wedding March" by Mendelssohn or "Trumpet Voluntary -D" by H. Purcell

Other items to include are music titles with composers and/or performers, book and poem titles with authors and/or readers, scripture passages with readers, hymn titles with hymnal page numbers, words for short congregational prayers, and any special notations. Generally, there is not enough room to include entire songs or readings. If these items are not available in church hymnals or prayer books, they could be printed on the back side of the program. Permission to reprint copyrighted material must be gotten from the respective publisher.

Participants

Participants can be grouped and sequenced using titled headers to separate the groupings, or everyone can be listed in a logical sequence under the single heading, "Wedding Participants." Be consistent with respect to naming individuals. Names should be preceded with titles such as Mrs., Ms., or Miss. Given names should be used, instead of nicknames.

Example One:

 	The Wedding Participants 		 Parents				Mrs. Carol Smith 				Mr. Philip Smith 				Mrs. Mary Jones 				Dr. Ralph Jones 					 Grandparents			Mr. Russell Martin 				Mrs. Alice Larsen 					 Matron of Honor			Mrs. Alicia Bright 					Friend of Bride 					 Bridesmaids			Miss Kari Kraemer 					Friend of Bride 				Ms. Debbie Smith 					Sister of Bride 					 Best Man			Mr. Craig Rosenberg 					Friend of Groom  Groomsmen			Mr. Joeseph Casselli 					Friend of Groom 				Mr. Mark Carter 					Cousin of Groom 					 Flower Girl			Miss Shellee Turner 					Niece of Bride  Ring Bearer			Mr. Brian Martinson 					Nephew of Groom  Ushers				Mr. Harry Tilson 					Friend of Groom 				Mr. Chris Fisher 					Friend of Groom  Pastor				Rev. Mathew Edwardman  Organist			Mrs. Janet Meier 					Friend of Bride 	 Soloist				Mr. Martin Anderson 					Friend of Couple 

Example Two:

 		The Wedding Party 	 Officiate			The Honorable Judge Mark Johnson  Matron on Honor			Pamela Shueler - Friend of Bride  Best Man			Louis Praster - Friend of Groom  Reader				Sharon Mitchel - Cousin of Bride  Ushers				Thomas Shueler - Friend of Bride & Groom  Personal Attendant		Jodi Johnson - Friend of Bride  Parents				Michael Cruzes 				Susan Cruzes 					 				Paul & Karen Jordan  Music by			The Baroque Trio  

Message and Notation Section

This section can be positioned at the bottom of the right-hand page or on the program's backside if blank. Short personal messages or expressions of thanks to the guests from the bride and groom are very appropriate and make for a lasting keepsake. As an alternative to the personal message, a special prayer, poem or short quotation might nicely express your feelings. Notations regarding the reception, picture-taking restriction, viewing of gifts, new home address or other information necessary for guests should be at the bottom of the page.

Following are some samples of personal messages or expressions of thanks you may want to have printed on your wedding programs, or spoken during the ceremony.

"Thank you for sharing this happy day with us." "Thank you for sharing this service with us. You have added to our joy by being with us on our wedding day." "We are honored you can share these sacred and joyous moments with us today. May God bless each one of you." "Special thanks to everyone for sharing in this joy of ours today." "Thank you for sharing this service with us on our wedding day." "We have waited with much anticipation for this day to arrive and give thanks to God for creating both of us to be with one another. We are also very thankful that our families and friends could be here to share this blessed experience with us. We are grateful for the distances that many have traveled to be here with us today. The love of everyone here warms our hearts and fills us with cherished memories." "Thank you for sharing these precious moments with us and for witnessing our vows to each other. You are invited to the home of the groom at ____________, where the gifts may be seen following the reception." "We would like to express our gratitude to our parents for their love and guidance. We also would like to thank our relatives and friends for coming today to share our joy. We ask God's blessing and your prayers upon our marriage." "Especially for our parents – Thank you for bringing us to this day. We have learned love from you and hope in our marriage to always return it to you." "To our parents, who have been so patient and understanding and have given us so much love and encouragement, thank you. On this very special day in our lives, we want you to know WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!" "We would also like to express our gratitude to the many others who have freely given of their ideas, support and labor to make this day possible." "Thank you for sharing this special day with us. That so many of our friends and family, especially those who came from such great distances, could be here to help us celebrate our marriage means a great deal to us. We pray that God will grant you a safe journey to your homes when the festivities have ended. May He always bless and enrich your lives with joy and love as much as you have enriched our with your friendship and generosity." "It means a great deal to us to have each of you here today. Thank you for witnessing our expression of love for each other through the vows that begin our new life together. We feel that our love stems from our capacity to love deeply, enjoy simply, and to think freely. Our special wish is that each of you will continue to be a part of our lives. Without friends, family and parents, we have very little." "As our hearts are joined and we begin our new life together, we pause to look at everyone here on our special day. We find it difficult to put into words our feelings to those who share our love and happiness. Words seldom go quite deep enough when thanks should be expressed. We would like at this time to thank those who wish us well. We would especially like to thank our parents and our brothers and sisters who not only wish us well, but who are always there when we need them. May God bless you always." "To our families and friends – We are honored that you are here to help us celebrate this very important day in our lives. On this day, we shall vow our love and commitment to one another before God and you. It is our prayer that God be glorified in this service and each of you receive His blessing." "WELCOME TO OUR WEDDING CEREMONY – We, the bride and groom, are honored to have you as our guests today. We want you to share these happy and sacred moments with us. May the blessing of the Lord be on all of us as we worship together. It is our desire that Christ shall be honored, not only in this ceremony, but in the years to come. We want him to be the head of our home and the Lord of our lives." "We would like to express our sincerest thanks to all of you for helping us make this day a joyous celebration – especially our parents who gave us life; our families who shared our life; our relatives and friends who helped us grow up to this special day." "TO OUR WEDDING GUESTS – Your presence here adds greatly to our joy and happiness on this day which marks the beginning of our lives together. We stand before you now, declaring before God and this congregation, our love for each other and for our intent to be joined in marriage; to share with each other without reservation our lives, fortunes and future. We hope that you will continue to wish us well in our new life as you have done in the past, and will pray for our continued happiness and success."