Wedding Ceremony Planning: 8 Details Couples Often Overlook
from someone who officiates 100+ ceremonies per year
by Grit City Weddings
Photos by Jason Goldfarb Photography
A wedding ceremony might only last 20 or 30 minutes, but there are a lot of little things happening inside that window.
Someone needs to know when everyone is walking, where the officiant should stand, how the microphone is working, and who actually has the marriage license.
We sat down with Cherise from Another One Ties the Knot, one of our favorite professional officiants, to talk about the details couples rarely think about but absolutely notice when they go wrong.
We’ve already talked about how to create a wedding ceremony that actually feels like you. This time, we’re getting into all the less glamorous details that make that ceremony actually work.
1. Your officiant is part of the vendor team
It is easy to think of the officiant as someone who arrives, stands at the front, says some lovely things, signs a piece of paper and heads out.
Technically, yes.
Also: not really.
A professional officiant is working alongside your planner or coordinator, DJ, photographer and videographer to make sure the ceremony actually functions.
Cherise reaches out to the other vendors before the wedding because there are things they all need to know.
What microphone is being used? Is she wearing a lapel mic? Are the couple's vows going to be amplified? Is there something happening during the ceremony that the photographer should know about before it starts? Where can the officiant stand without creating feedback? When can she move completely out of the way?
None of this is especially glamorous, but all of it matters.
The goal is that everyone is clear on the plan before the wedding day arrives. Your officiant knows their role, your DJ knows the cues, and your photographer knows what is coming next. That kind of vendor communication is a big part of our wedding planning and coordination services.
By the time you are walking down the aisle, everyone else is ready to rock n’ roll.
Photos by Jason Goldfarb Photography
2. Yes, we need to talk about the microphone
Nobody has ever come into a planning meeting wildly excited to discuss microphone technique. Fortunately for everyone, we are discussing it anyway.
Your ceremony is one of the few parts of the wedding where your guests are expected to sit quietly and listen. It would be helpful if they could actually hear you.
The microphone situation also affects more than volume.
If your officiant is holding a handheld mic, they may need to hold it for you while you read your vows. If they're wearing a lapel mic, that creates a different set of options. If moving to one side of the ceremony space causes feedback, that matters too.
And then there is simply knowing how to hold the thing.
One of the first things Ashley remembers noticing when she began working with professional officiants was how much easier the ceremony became when she didn't have to explain where the microphone goes, how close to hold it, or when to hand it off.
“These are deeply unsexy details,” she said, “but they’re the difference between a smooth ceremony and a confusing one.”
They are also the difference between your grandmother hearing your vows and smiling through them or asking the person next to her what you said.
3. A rehearsal is not really about practicing how to walk
The point of a ceremony rehearsal is to make sure everyone knows when to walk, where to go once they get there, and what happens next.
Who goes first?
How much space should be between people?
Where does everyone stand?
Who has the rings?
When does the officiant step out of the way?
What happens after the kiss?
Which direction are you leaving?
These seem very obvious right up until 12 people are standing in a line asking us all of them simultaneously.
This becomes especially important when a friend or family member is officiating.
Ashley regularly runs rehearsals with loved ones who have never officiated before, and sometimes that rehearsal is the first time they're hearing that they should move out of the kiss photo or that there is a specific legal component that needs to be included.
Cherise completed 100 ceremonies in one year alone, ranging from simple marriage-license signings to full weddings. “Repetition is what makes it look effortless,” she told us.
4. Please know where your marriage license is
There are a lot of wedding details where, if something goes sideways, we can improvise. The marriage license is not really where we want to express ourselves creatively.
Cherise has had couples reach out months after their wedding because a friend or family member officiated, they never received anything afterward and they weren't sure whether their paperwork had actually been submitted.
Sometimes it had. Sometimes she couldn't find any record of it.
You can imagine which version of that phone call is more fun.
Before the wedding, know:
Who is bringing the license?
Who needs to sign it?
When is it being signed?
Who is responsible for submitting it?
How will you confirm it has been processed?
Cherise walks her couples through the paperwork in advance and files the completed license afterward. Then she checks that it has been processed and lets them know they're officially good to go.
5. The paperwork can actually be fun
Not what you would expect, right?
One of Cherise's favorite ways to make the ceremony a little more interactive is to sign the marriage license during it. Instead of disappearing into a side room later with two witnesses and a pen that inevitably does not work, you can make the signing part of the ceremony itself.
You can even choose your witnesses in the moment!
Cherise has suggested putting guests' names into a bowl and drawing two people to come up and sign.
“It gets your guests involved,” she said. “It creates a genuine moment, and it makes for great photos.”
And there is something particularly satisfying about signing the actual paperwork while everyone who came to watch you get married is sitting right there.
There is also the strategic version.
One couple knew exactly which two people they wanted as witnesses but anticipated some family feelings about the decision.
Solution: announce a random drawing. Put exactly two names in the bowl.
We didn't say every wedding problem requires a completely transparent solution.
6. Your decorative certificate can be more interesting than you think
While we are discussing paperwork, Cherise had another idea we immediately stole for our mental filing cabinet.
If you have a decorative marriage certificate, ask someone meaningful to fill it out.
Maybe it's a grandparent whose handwriting you want to keep. Maybe your witnesses sign it. Maybe you have additional loved ones sign around the edge or add something to the back.
The legal document has rules.
The sentimental one has a little more room to become something you might actually want to keep.
This is the kind of wedding detail we like: meaningful without requiring six months of crafting or an entire Pinterest board.
7. If your best friend is officiating, give them a fighting chance
We like friends and family officiants, truly. Having someone who knows you well stand up there with you can be incredibly personal.
But loving you and knowing how to officiate a wedding are two separate skill sets.
If your chosen officiant has never done this before, don't hand them an internet script two weeks before the wedding and hope charisma carries everyone through.
They should know:
what the ceremony structure is,
what legally needs to happen,
how the microphone setup works,
where they should stand,
when they should move,
how the processional and recessional work,
who they need to communicate with,
and what happens with the marriage license afterward.
Cherise actually offers officiant consulting for exactly this reason.
Your planner/coordinator should not have to spend the morning chasing them around explaining what they're supposed to do.
8. Your ceremony site affects more than the photos
A ceremony location can be absolutely incredible and still require some logistical thought.
We have worked together at Thornewood Castleseveral times, where the gardens are separated from other areas of the property. It is beautiful.
It is also quite spread out.
That means timing matters. Guest movement matters. Vendor communication matters. Knowing where everyone needs to be matters.
And occasionally spatial awareness matters…
At one wedding there, the mother of the bride stepped backward and went directly into the pond. Full immersion. Right before the ceremony.
She was okay. She had a good sense of humor. There was absolutely no way anyone involved was going to forget it.
Which brings us to perhaps the most useful thing Cherise said during our entire conversation.
Photos by Jaquilyn Shumate Photography
» Perfection is overrated «
We are going to plan the ceremony.
We are going to make a timeline.
We are going to communicate with your vendors.
We are going to know where the marriage license is.
We will strongly encourage everyone to remain out of nearby bodies of water.
And then something will happen.
Maybe it is tiny.
Maybe it becomes the story everyone tells for the next 20 years.
Cherise works on one very specific portion of a wedding day, and she has seen enough ceremonies to know that an unexpected moment does not automatically make something a bad moment.
As she put it, “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. It just has to be real.”
The goal isn't a ceremony where every human being behaves like they were rehearsed by a stage director.
The goal is a ceremony where the important pieces are handled well enough that you can actually be present for it.
Where your guests can hear you.
Where nobody is wondering what they're supposed to do next.
Where the legal paperwork gets completed.
Where the people you hired know their jobs.
And where, if someone's mom falls into a pond, we deal with it and move along.
Because you have more interesting things to do, like getting married!
Want someone handling all of these decidedly unsexy details for you?
Take a look at our wedding planning services, or tell us what you’re planning.
