Wedding ceremonies in Australia can be fantastic as the only words that are required to be said by law are those that appear in purple and the rest of the ceremony can be made up to suit the couples individual circumstances or desires.

Whilst for many couples designing your own personal wedding ceremony can be an exciting and memorable occasion, it is normally best to just tweak the Standard Ceremony wording a little and add in one or two readings/poems to suite your own particular individual desires.

The standard ceremony has been used for years; it flows nicely and is well received by guests. It lasts for about 15 minutes and the balance of the time is then made up of your chosen reading/s and the signing of the Certificates of Marriage.

When readings/poems are added to the ceremony and read by family members or guests this has always been a winner. Background music, maybe a single violin or the like, playing whilst the ceremony takes place can also be a winner. You can also add a theme like a Rose Ceremony etc. It is very nice where the couple design their own wedding vows and read them themselves (not repeating after me).

When considering your ceremony options, bare in mind how long you want your ceremony to last for. The best way to check the length is to open a new word page and then cut and paste sections into it, under the headers that have been set out below in the Standard Ceremony. Read it back to yourself slowly whilst timing it. Remember to repeat the vows, as they will be repeated by you in the ceremony, and remember to allow time for the exchanging of ring/s. The signing the Certificates of Marriage after the ceremony can last 5-10 minutes (as guests take photographs) so if you want your ceremony to last for say 25 minutes in total, you would put together wording that lasts for about 15-20 minutes.

If you want to make changes to the Standard Wedding Ceremony, please e-mail me your final wedding ceremony wording, as a word document, at least 10 days before the date of your wedding. If I do not receive it by then I will use the Standard Ceremony, plus a couple of readings of my choice.

Right, so now youre ready to get started below is the Standard Ceremony

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Tim Addison

TIMS STANDARD WEDDING CEREMONY

WELCOME

Family and Friends, on behalf of GROOM and BRIDE I would like to welcome you all here today and I call upon you to be fellow witnesses with me in their marriage.

We are not here to only witness their commitment to each other, but also to wish them well and every happiness in their life together.

My name is Tim Addison and I am authorized by law to solemnize marriages according to law.

GROOM and BRIDE believe that marriage is founded on the sort of sincerity and understanding, that leads to tolerance, confidence and trust.

They also believe that those qualities that have attracted them to each other can best be developed during a life spent together.

We celebrate with them the love they have discovered in each other, and we support their decision to commit themselves to one another for the rest of their lives.

A happy marriage will enable them to establish a home where there will be love and stability, where you, their family and their friends, will find welcome, peace and support, and which will be a base from which the influence of their life can extend.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

GROOM and BRIDE have asked me to make a special mention of thanks to who have Insert details of people who have assisted with putting the wedding together, travelled long distances to attend, etc. You may also want to mention loved ones who could not make it to the wedding or who have passed on.

MARRIAGE DECLARATION

Now GROOM and BRIDE

Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter.

Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

If anyone here present knows of any legal reason as to why these two persons may not be joined together in marriage, let them speak now or forever hold their peace..

READING BY TIM

GROOM and BRIDE.
Love is patient; love is kind.
Love is not envious or boastful
or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way:
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrong doing,
but rejoices in truth.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things
And now faith, hope, and love abide,
and the greatest of these is love.

GIVING AWAY BRIDE

Who brings this Woman to be married to this Man?
Person giving away says I Do, places BRIDEs hand into GROOMs hand and then he returns to the other guests.

CHEROKEE PRAYER

Can be done as a Reading or as a Prayer

God in heaven above please protect the ones we love.
We honour all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together.
We honour mother-earth - and ask for this marriage to be abundant and grow stronger through the seasons;
We honour fire - and ask that their union be warm and glowing with love in their hearts;
We honour wind - and ask they sail though life safe and calm as in their father's arms;
We honour water - to clean and soothe their relationship - that it may never thirst for love;
With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony and true happiness as they forever grow young together.

THE ASKING

Tim to GROOM:

GROOM do you take BRIDE to be your lawfully wedded wife,

will you love her, comfort her, honour and keep her, in sickness and in health and forsaking all others keep only unto her, so long as you both shall live?

GROOM Replies I DO

Tim to BRIDE:

BRIDE will you take GROOM to be your lawfully wedded husband,

will you love him, comfort him, honour and keep him, in sickness and in health and forsaking all others keep only unto him, so long as you both shall live?

BRIDE Replies I DO

GROOM and BRIDE as the two of you come into this marriage uniting you as husband and wife, and as you this day affirm your faith and love for one another, I would ask that you always remember to cherish each other as special and unique individuals, that you respect the thoughts, ideas and suggestions of one another. Be able to forgive, do not hold grudges, and live each day that you may share it together - as from this day forward you shall be each other's home, comfort and refuge, your marriage strengthened by your love and respect for each other.

VOWS Whilst the purple words below cannot be changed, the words in black can. See options below and then copy and paste your chosen vows or write your own.

GROOM, Please repeat after me.

I call upon the persons here present
to witness that I, GROOM,
take thee, BRIDE,
to be my lawful wedded Wife.
To have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
while we both shall live.

And, BRIDE, will you now also please repeat after me.

I call upon the persons here present
to witness that I, BRIDE,
take thee, GROOM,
to be my lawful wedded Husband
To have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
while we both shall live.

POEM READ BY TIMMay your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase.May the saddest day of your futureBe no worse than the happiest day of your past.May your hands be forever held in friendshipAnd your hearts joined forever in love. RING CEREMONY

GROOM and BRIDE, what token of your love do you offer? Pause for rings to be given to Tim Would you place the rings in my hand?

Ring Blessing

May these rings represent your love for one another. These two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever they go may they always return to one another. May these two find in each other the love for which all men and women yearn. May they grow in understanding and in compassion. May the home which they establish together be such a place that many will find there a friend. May these rings on their fingers symbolise their love.

Rings are then handed back to the ring bearer/s

GROOM, please place your ring on BRIDES finger and repeat after me.

BRIDE, with this ring, I thee wed
Take it and wear it
as a token of my love
and as a symbol of all we share

BRIDE, please place your ring on GROOMS finger and repeat after me.

GROOM, with this ring, I thee wed
Take it and wear it
as a token of my love
and as a symbol of all we share

The vows that have been exchanged by GROOM and BRIDE have been offered in our hearing, but words are fleeting and the sound of them are soon gone. Therefore the wedding ring becomes an enduring symbol of the promises that have been made.

May these wedding rings be a reminder to GROOM and BRIDE of the vows they have shared today and a witness to all the world of their commitment in marriage.

BLESSING THE MARRIAGE

(Apache Blessing)

Now you will fell no rain, for each of you will the shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be the warmth to the other. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. Go now to your dwelling, to enter into the days of your life together, and may your days be good and long upon the earth.

Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficult and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight

DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE

Family and Friends

GROOM and BRIDE have declared before all of us that they will live together in marriage. Marriage is an act of faith and a personal commitment as well as a moral and physical union between two people. Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between them. It is a moral commitment that requires and deserves daily attention.

GROOM and BRIDE have made special promises to each other. They have symbolised them by joining hands, taking vows and by the giving and receiving of rings. So therefore by the authority vested in me, it is my great honour and privilege to declare them to be husband and wife.

GROOM, You may now kiss your wife.

PRONOUNCEMENT

Ladies and Gentlemen GROOM and BRIDE, husband and wife!