Basic wedding ceremony scripts: short and simple
Runtime: Two complete scripts: about 5 minutes and about 10 minutes
Updated August 2026
A basic wedding ceremony script is the whole ceremony with nothing extra in it: the welcome, the promises, the rings, the pronouncement, the kiss. This page carries two of them, both complete and ready to perform exactly as written: one that runs about five minutes, and one about ten.
These are short and simple wedding ceremony scripts, and short is a choice rather than a shortcut: each one keeps every essential and cuts everything else, so what’s left has room to breathe. The five-minute version is a simple ceremony for an elopement, a courthouse-style wedding, or any couple who wants it truly brief. The ten-minute version adds a short personal address and fuller vows, for a ceremony that stays basic and still feels warm. Pick one, replace the bracketed names, and you’re ready.
The five-minute ceremony
about 5 minutesShort and sweet: only the load-bearing beats, for an elopement, a courthouse-style wedding, or any couple who wants it truly brief.
Welcome
30 secOpen, look at the couple, and mean it. Even at five minutes, don’t rush the first breath.
Friends, welcome. We’re here for one wonderful reason — to see [Partner A] and [Partner B] married. Thank you for being their people.
A few words
45 secKeep one honest line about the couple even here; it’s what stops a short script sounding generic.
[Partner A] and [Partner B], you’ve found in each other a partner and a best friend, and today you make it official. Marriage is simply the promise to keep choosing each other — on the easy days and the hard ones — for the rest of your lives.
Declaration of intent
45 secAsk each in turn; wait for the answer.
[Partner A], do you take [Partner B] to be your [wife / husband / partner], to love and to stand beside for all your days?
[Partner A]: I do.
And [Partner B], do you take [Partner A] to be your [wife / husband / partner], to love and to stand beside for all your days?
[Partner B]: I do.
The vows
1 minSlow down here. This is the whole point. [Couple joins hands.]
Please join hands and repeat after me. [Partner A]:
I take you, [Partner B], to be mine. I promise to love you, to be honest with you, and to stand beside you always.
And [Partner B]:
I take you, [Partner A], to be mine. I promise to love you, to be honest with you, and to stand beside you always.
The rings
45 secHave the rings ready. [Pause for each ring.]
[Partner A], place this ring on [Partner B]’s hand and say:
With this ring, I marry you.
And [Partner B]:
With this ring, I marry you.
Pronouncement
30 secLift your voice, pause, then the kiss.
Then by the power vested in me by the [state / jurisdiction], it’s my joy to declare you married. You may kiss.
[The couple kisses, to applause.]
Recessional
15 secName them and step back.
Everyone, [the newly married couple]!
[The couple leads the way out.]
The ten-minute ceremony
about 10 minutesSimple but a little fuller: a short personal address and fuller vows, for a ceremony that stays brief yet feels warm and complete.
Welcome
1–2 minCheck your mic on the first line. Warm, unhurried; let the room settle.
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome. Please, be seated. We’re gathered for the happiest of reasons — the marriage of [Partner A] and [Partner B], surrounded on purpose by the people who mean the most to them. Thank you all for being here.
On this couple
1–2 minReplace the bracketed line with one true detail; it’s what makes a simple script personal.
What everyone here can see is how much better you are together — steadier, quicker to laugh, more yourselves. [Add one short, true line about the couple.] Marriage won’t change that so much as protect it: it’s the decision to keep choosing each other, deliberately, on the ordinary days as much as this extraordinary one.
Declaration of intent
1 minAsk each in turn; wait for each answer.
[Partner A], do you take [Partner B] to be your [wife / husband / partner] — to love, to respect, and to stand beside, for all the days of your life?
[Partner A]: I do.
And [Partner B], do you take [Partner A] to be your [wife / husband / partner] — to love, to respect, and to stand beside, for all the days of your life?
[Partner B]: I do.
The vows
2 minThe center of the ceremony: slow down and watch the couple. [Couple faces each other and joins hands.]
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 love you as you are, to be honest and kind, and to stand beside you through whatever comes, for as long as I live.
And [Partner B], repeat after me.
I, [Partner B], take you, [Partner A], to be my [wife / husband / partner]. I promise to love you as you are, to be honest and kind, and to stand beside you through whatever comes, for as long as I live.
The rings
1–2 minKnow who holds the rings. [Pause for each ring to go on.]
The rings, please. A ring is a small circle with no end, worn where the world can see it. [Partner A], place it on [Partner B]’s finger and repeat after me.
I give you this ring as a sign of my love and my promise. Wear it, and know that I am yours.
And [Partner B], repeat after me.
I give you this ring as a sign of my love and my promise. Wear it, and know that I am yours.
Pronouncement
1 minLift your voice: the peak. Pause after “married” before the kiss.
[Partner A] and [Partner B], you’ve made your promises and sealed them with rings. And so, by the power vested in me by the [state / jurisdiction], it’s my great joy to declare you married. You may kiss.
[The couple kisses, to applause. The officiant lets it crest.]
Recessional
30 secName them the way they asked, end high, step back.
Friends and family, for the first time — [the newly married couple, announced as they wish]!
[The couple leads the recessional, the party behind them.]
Officiant’s notes
Short doesn’t mean rushed
A short ceremony is a discipline, not a shortcut. The goal is to keep every essential (the welcome, the promises, the pronouncement) and cut everything else, so what remains has room to breathe. A five-minute ceremony that hits the vows squarely and lets the kiss land feels complete; a fifteen-minute one padded with filler feels long. Say fewer words, and mean them: slow your pace, look at the couple, and let a short script feel deliberate rather than hurried.
These suit an elopement, a courthouse-style wedding, a big-crowd wedding where the reception is the real event, or any couple who simply wants it kept simple and basic. Both versions here are complete (the five-minute keeps only the load-bearing beats, and the ten-minute adds a short personal address and fuller vows), so you’re never trimming on the fly. Choose the length first, then perform it with intention: guests can always feel the difference between a ceremony that was shaped short on purpose and one that was merely cut off.
The most basic ceremony you can perform
Officiants ask what a basic wedding ceremony actually needs, and the honest answer is: less than the page in front of you. Strip a wedding back to its load-bearing parts and three are left. The couple has to state, out loud and freely, that they take each other. You have to declare them married. The license has to be signed and returned on time. Everything else here (the welcome, the address, the rings, the kiss) is in the script because it is good, not because the law asks for it.
That is why a five-minute ceremony is a real wedding rather than a shortened one: what the couple consents to is identical, and only the framing around it is briefer. Requirements do vary, and a few places specify particular wording or a set number of witnesses, so confirm what your license needs with the county clerk who issued it. Then choose your length deliberately and perform the short version with the care you would give twenty minutes.
The two things worth keeping personal
Even in the shortest ceremony, protect two things: get the names exactly right, and keep one honest, specific line about this couple. A basic script becomes theirs the moment you replace a single generic sentence with one true detail from your conversation: how they met, or the small daily thing that says everything. Confirm pronunciations and write them into your copy.
The other place a short ceremony can be personal without getting longer is the vow itself. A couple who wants their own words but has no time to draft them can take a set from the modern wedding vows, which are plain-spoken, run about thirty seconds each, and change one line to make them theirs. Thirty seconds of their own words costs you nothing and is the part they will remember.
Then deliver it like it matters, because it does. Test your microphone if there is one, or plan to project; stand slightly to one side; and read the script aloud once, timed, so “short” is a choice you control rather than a surprise on the day. The pauses do a lot of work in a brief ceremony (after the “I do,” before the kiss), so let them sit rather than filling them.
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 the most basic wedding ceremony script?
- It is the ceremony with only its load-bearing parts left in: the couple states their consent out loud, you declare them married, and the license is signed and returned. Wrap that in a brief welcome and a ring exchange and it runs about five minutes while still feeling like a ceremony rather than a formality, which is exactly what the five-minute script on this page is built to do. Confirm any wording your state requires with the county clerk who issued the license.
- How short can a wedding ceremony be?
- About five minutes, comfortably, with everything that matters still in it: a brief welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, and the pronouncement. The legal minimum is shorter still, but five minutes is where a ceremony stops feeling clipped. Below that you are performing paperwork with an audience, and guests can tell.
- Are these good for an elopement or courthouse wedding?
- Yes, that’s exactly what a short, simple script is for. Elopements, courthouse-style weddings, and large weddings where the reception is the real event all suit a brief ceremony that gets the promises made without dragging. Keep the pace calm so “short” reads as intentional and elegant, not hurried.
- Can a simple ceremony still feel personal?
- Easily. Replace one generic line in the address with a single true detail about the couple and it stops sounding like a template. Get their names and pronouns exactly right, offer them the chance to say a short vow of their own, and slow down at the vows and the kiss. A simple ceremony done with care feels intimate, not thin.
- Do I still need a license for a short ceremony?
- Yes. Length changes nothing about the legal requirements: the couple needs a valid marriage license, and you need the authority to solemnize it and must sign and return it correctly. A five-minute ceremony is still a real marriage. Confirm the license steps with the county clerk who issued it.