Welcome & presentation
Open the ceremony by naming what this moment means.
A welcome settles the room and establishes the ceremony’s tone. The traditional presentation question can be kept, rewritten as family support, shared by both families, or omitted entirely.
Welcome and support wording.
Warm welcome
Welcome. You are here because each of you has been part of the lives that brought this couple to this moment—and they are grateful to share it with you.
Direct opening
Today is not the beginning of their story. It is the moment they make a new promise about where that story goes next.
Unplugged request
The couple invites you to silence and put away your phones, then be fully present for the promises they are about to make.
Traditional presentation
Who presents this bride to be married?
This wording may be meaningful for some families and uncomfortable for others. Keep it only when it reflects the people involved.
Family support
Who stands with this couple and offers their love and support for the marriage they begin today?
Both families
Do the families of this couple offer their love, encouragement, and support as they begin this marriage?
Families may answer together: “We do.”
Remembering someone absent
As we begin, we also hold close the people who helped shape these lives and whose love is present even though they cannot be here today.
Make it yours
We’ll help these choices fit together.
Your ceremony plan keeps the words, people, and cues connected.
Keep planning