A civil wedding ceremony script
Runtime: 6–8 minutes
Updated August 2026
A civil ceremony is short by design, and short is where every weak sentence shows. This is a complete civil wedding ceremony script: the whole thing, start to finish, in six to eight unhurried minutes, with the legal spine intact and nothing in it a couple standing in a courthouse corridor would call filler.
It suits a courthouse or city hall wedding, a judge’s chambers, an appointment at the clerk’s office, a small ceremony at home, or any couple who wants the law satisfied and the moment still felt. The blocks that carry the legal weight are marked, so you can see at a glance which lines you can trim and which you cannot.
The ceremony, step by step
Calling the room to order
30 secCivil rooms are busy and often shared. Wait for quiet rather than competing with a corridor, and make sure the witnesses are standing where they can hear.
[The couple stands facing the officiant, with their witnesses beside them. The officiant waits for the room to settle.]
Good morning, everyone. We are ready to begin.
Statement of purpose
1 minTwo or three sentences. This is the only speech a civil ceremony gets, so make it plain and warm rather than grand.
We are here to witness the marriage of [Partner A] and [Partner B], and to record it under the law of [state / jurisdiction].
A civil ceremony is brief on purpose, and what it gives up in length it does not give up in weight. In the next few minutes two people will make a promise in front of witnesses, and from that moment the law of this state will treat them as married.
Declaration of intent
1 minThe block you cannot cut. Most places expect the couple’s spoken consent in front of the officiant and the witnesses. Ask each partner separately and wait for the answer before you move on.
[Partner A], do you take [Partner B] to be your [wife / husband / partner], to love and to care for, in good health and in poor, in comfort and in hardship, for as long as you both shall live?
[Partner A]: I do.
And [Partner B], do you take [Partner A] to be your [wife / husband / partner], to love and to care for, in good health and in poor, in comfort and in hardship, for as long as you both shall live?
[Partner B]: I do.
The vows
1–2 minNot required in most places, and worth keeping anyway. Two sentences each is plenty, and it is the part the couple will remember from a ten-minute morning.
Please join hands. [Partner A], repeat after me.
I, [Partner A], take you, [Partner B], to be my [wife / husband / partner]. I promise to be honest with you, to be kind to you, and to stay beside you for the rest of my life.
And [Partner B], repeat after me.
I, [Partner B], take you, [Partner A], to be my [wife / husband / partner]. I promise to be honest with you, to be kind to you, and to stay beside you for the rest of my life.
The rings
1 minSkip this block entirely when there are no rings, and say nothing about skipping it. A civil ceremony should never look like it is missing a piece. [Pause for each ring.]
[If there are rings, they are exchanged now. Otherwise the officiant goes straight to the pronouncement.]
[Partner A], place this ring on [Partner B]’s hand and say:
I give you this ring as the sign of what I promised today.
And [Partner B]:
I give you this ring as the sign of what I promised today.
Pronouncement
30 secName the jurisdiction out loud and slow down for this one sentence. It is the line that does the legal work, and a rushed pronouncement is the thing couples say they wish they had heard properly.
[Partner A] and [Partner B], you have declared your intention and made your promises in front of these witnesses. By the authority vested in me by the [state / jurisdiction], I now pronounce you married.
You may kiss.
[The couple kisses. The officiant gives them a moment before speaking again.]
Signing the license
1–2 minDo this while everyone is still in the room. Read the couple’s legal names off the license and check them against the license itself before a single signature goes down, and know in advance how many witnesses your state asks for.
One more thing and you are done: the signatures. [Partner A] and [Partner B] here, our witnesses here, and mine underneath.
[The couple, the witnesses, and the officiant sign the marriage license. The officiant checks every field, including dates and printed names, before anyone leaves the room.]
Sending them off
30 secEnd warmly. A civil ceremony that finishes on a flat administrative note is the one thing about the morning a couple will wish had gone differently.
Congratulations, both of you. [Partner A] and [Partner B], you are married. Go and enjoy the rest of this day.
[The couple leaves together, with their witnesses.]
Officiant’s notes
What you cannot cut
A courthouse wedding ceremony script can be trimmed almost anywhere except the legal spine, and the spine is short: a valid marriage license, an officiant with authority to solemnize in that jurisdiction, the couple’s clear consent given in front of that officiant, a pronouncement, and the license signed and returned correctly before the deadline. Everything else on this page, including the vows and the rings, is there because it makes a brief morning feel like a wedding.
The details around that spine vary from state to state and sometimes county to county: how many witnesses are required and how old they must be, whether there is a waiting period after the license is issued, how long the license stays valid, and how many days you have to return it. Do not carry assumptions from the last state you performed in. Ask the clerk who issued this license, write the answers on your copy of the script, and confirm the couple’s legal names as they appear on the license rather than as everyone says them.
Dignity in six minutes
Civil ceremonies are usually performed in rooms that were not designed for them: a corridor outside, a queue of couples behind, fluorescent light, no microphone, and a clerk who needs the room back. None of that has to reach the couple. Arrive early, find out where everyone stands, learn how much time you actually have, and start only once the room has gone quiet. Speak a little more slowly than feels natural, because the instinct in a busy room is to hurry and hurrying is what makes a short ceremony feel like paperwork.
Protect two small moments and the whole thing lands. Pause after the second "I do" and let it sit for a beat, and give the couple a few seconds alone after the kiss before you reach for the license. If there is a friend with a phone camera, tell them before you start where to stand so they are not moving during the vows. Read the script aloud once beforehand, timed, and keep the printed page in your hand rather than on a screen that can dim, lock, or lose signal at the worst moment.
Write and perform every ceremony from one desk
RiteBinder is the booking desk and the writing desk in one: interview the couple, draft and personalize the script, and read from a podium that needs no signal on the day. Free to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a civil wedding ceremony?
- A civil ceremony is a legally valid, non-religious marriage ceremony performed by someone with authority to solemnize marriages, most often at a courthouse, a city hall, a clerk’s office, or a judge’s chambers. It contains no prayers or scripture. What it does contain is the couple’s spoken consent, a pronouncement, and the signing of the marriage license.
- How long does a courthouse wedding take?
- The ceremony itself is usually five to ten minutes; this script runs six to eight at an unhurried pace. The appointment around it takes longer, because of check-in, the queue, and the paperwork afterward. Ask the clerk’s office how long they allow per couple so you know whether you have room for vows and rings.
- What has to be said for a marriage to be legal?
- Requirements vary by state, so the honest answer is to confirm with the county clerk who issued the license. In most places the load-bearing parts are the couple’s clear, spoken consent in front of an authorized officiant and witnesses, and the officiant’s pronouncement, followed by the license being signed and returned within the deadline. This script marks both blocks so you keep them.
- Do we need witnesses at a civil ceremony?
- Usually yes, though the number and the rules differ by state, with one or two being common and some places setting a minimum age. A few states require none at all. Never assume, and never bring exactly the minimum with no spare: ask the clerk’s office when the license is issued and write the answer on your script.
- Can we personalize a civil ceremony?
- Within the time you are given, yes. Keeping the vows and adding one honest sentence about the couple is usually enough to turn a legal formality into something they remember. If the venue is strict about timing, personalize the vows rather than the opening, since that is the part the couple hears as theirs.