Outline of a typical Australian wedding ceremony

This is the first post in my new series on Australian wedding ceremonies. Through this series I’m going to give you all the details about:

• what usually happens (including in this post, an outline of a wedding ceremony)
• how those different elements work and fit together, and
• possible alternatives to traditional options.

This first post is an overview of the outline of a wedding ceremony. Each subsequent post in the series will examine one element of the ceremony in depth. There will be lots of ideas and suggestions of things you might want to include in your own ceremony! Remember though: I want to hear your ideas and suggestions too. I’m good enough I can manage anything you throw at me 🙂

This series won’t be focusing on the legalities of marriage in Australia. I’ve got a whole different series for that! Click here to read my series on marriage legalities.

So let’s get started!

What can and can’t be changed

The outline below is of a traditional Australian wedding ceremony to help with your ceremony design. The elements listed in bold font are legally required; they have to stay. Everything else can be thrown out. You can throw other things in. We can mess with the order.

As I’ve written elsewhere, there are pretty much no rules for designing your wedding ceremony apart from making sure it’s meaningful to you as a couple.

Having said that, when designing their weddings, the vast majority of couples stick with a traditional ceremony structure. They may choose less traditional alternatives within that structure. Tradition and ritual are part of what makes us human. We love and crave familiarity; there is safety and security in repeating the actions of those who have gone before. And there’s nothing wrong with that! It’s just important to me that you know alternatives are available.

Outline of a wedding ceremony

The structure of a traditional Australian wedding ceremony is based on the Christian wedding ceremony. However there are some important differences allowing the ceremony to be more personalised to the couple and their history. So here’s an outline of a wedding ceremony to help with your ceremony design:

• Processional (walking the aisle, usually to music)
• Welcome/introduction
• Family blessing and acknowledgement/giving away
• Words about love and marriage
• The couple’s story
• Symbolic rituals
• Readings/poems
• The asking
• The Monitum
• Legal vows and personal vows
• Ring ceremony
• Declaration of marriage
• The kiss!
• Certificate signing (usually accompanied by music)
• Conclusion/housekeeping
• Presentation of the newly married couple
• Recessional (walking back down the aisle, usually to music)

Remember: the elements in bold font are legally required and cannot be changed. Everything else can be!

What will your wedding ceremony look like? Will you follow this traditional structure? What will you consider when designing your ceremony?

More information

Read all the posts in my series about Australian wedding ceremonies here.

Find all the posts in my series about marriage legalities here.

If you’re a celebrant wanting help with all things celebrancy, come and join us at the Celebrant Institute!

Australian Wedding Ceremonies

• The wedding processional
• Introduction to the wedding ceremony
• Outline of a typical Australian wedding ceremony
• Who brings this woman to marry this man?
• Words about love and marriage in the wedding