Bracketed lines are directions to perform, not lines to read aloud.
Before the guests arrive the hour before
[The officiant meets whoever is leading the honor guard or the saber detail, walks the space where the arch will form, and agrees the signal that starts it and where the officiant should stand while it runs.]
[To the detail leader, before guests arrive: Where do you want them standing, what is your signal, how much room and headroom do you need, and what do you want from me?]
[The couple confirms how each of them is to be named in the introduction, including whether either wishes to be addressed by rank at any point, and the officiant writes both forms phonetically onto the script.]
Processional 2–3 min
[Guests are seated. Any honor guard takes its position. The wedding party enters, then the couple. Everyone remains standing until the officiant invites them to sit.]
Welcome 2 min
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome. Please, be seated.
We are here for the marriage of [Partner A] and [Partner B]. There are two kinds of promise in this room today. One of them was made before any of us arrived: a promise to serve, which has already cost this couple time, distance, and a great many ordinary evenings they never got back. The other is the promise they are about to make to each other.
Both are worth honoring properly, so today we will do exactly that, and we will not rush either one of them.
On service and marriage 2–3 min
[Partner A] and [Partner B], a great deal of what a marriage asks, the two of you have already been doing at a distance: keeping faith with somebody who is not in the room, holding a shared life together across time zones, and learning to say the important things inside whatever short window you actually get.
[Add one short, true story from your conversation with the couple here.]
What changes today is not how much you love each other. What changes is that you stop doing it privately and start doing it in front of witnesses, with everything that entails.
Those who are not here 1–2 min
[If the couple has chosen to mark those who are absent, it happens here, in whatever form they chose.]
[If the couple has asked for it: Before the promises, we take a moment for the people who could not be with us today, and for those who did not come home. Their absence is part of this family’s story, and it belongs here too.]
[A short silence, if the couple asked for one. The officiant ends it clearly rather than letting it drift.]
Declaration of intent 1 min
[Partner A], do you take [Partner B] to be your [wife / husband / partner], to love and to stand with through deployments and homecomings, through the postings you choose and the ones that choose you, 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 stand with through deployments and homecomings, through the postings you choose and the ones that choose you, for as long as you both shall live?
[Partner B]: I do.
The vows 2–3 min
Please face each other and join hands. [Partner A], repeat after me.
I, [Partner A], take you, [Partner B], to be my [wife / husband / partner]. I promise to keep telling you the truth across whatever distance we are given, to make the time we do have count, and to come home to you in every way a person can. From today, wherever either of us is sent, I am yours.
And [Partner B], repeat after me.
I, [Partner B], take you, [Partner A], to be my [wife / husband / partner]. I promise to keep telling you the truth across whatever distance we are given, to make the time we do have count, and to come home to you in every way a person can. From today, wherever either of us is sent, I am yours.
The rings 1–2 min
May we have the rings, please.
You will both wear these in places the other one cannot follow. Let each ring be the plainest possible reminder, on a hand you use all day, of the promise made here in front of everyone who loves you.
[Partner A], place the ring on [Partner B]’s finger and repeat after me.
I give you this ring as the sign of everything I promised today. Wherever I am, I am yours.
And [Partner B], repeat after me.
I give you this ring as the sign of everything I promised today. Wherever I am, I am yours.
Pronouncement 1 min
[Partner A] and [Partner B], you have declared your intention in front of all of us, made your promises to each other, and sealed them with rings. And so, by the power vested in me by the [state / jurisdiction], it is my great joy to declare that you are married.
You may share your first kiss as a married couple.
[The couple kisses, to applause. The officiant lets it crest.]
Recessional and the arch 3–5 min
Friends and family, please welcome, for the very first time, [the newly married couple, announced exactly as they wish].
[The couple turns to leave. Where there is a saber or sword detail, it forms the arch on the detail leader’s command, and the couple passes beneath it. The officiant stays back and lets the detail work.]
[Some units add a light tap of the blade and a spoken welcome as the couple passes through. Whether that happens at all, and in what words, is the detail’s custom and the couple’s choice. Confirm both in advance rather than discovering them during the recessional.]