My Celebrant Buddy Tip - The Rehearsal

An important aspect of conducting a ceremony is running through the script with your couple.

This will not only provide great practice, it will give you - and your couple – a sense of familiarity of what to expect on the big day.

This will ease the nerves about the ceremony.

Here’s what I generally run through – it’s pretty much identical to how it will run on the day.

THE WALK-IN

This is the section of the ceremony where the bride will walk down the aisle. At this stage you and the groomsmen - and the groom - will already in position.

Whoever is playing the music (usually the venue coordinator or one of your guests) will need to be cued in for when to start the walk down the aisle track.

It’s good to have the music playing during the rehearsal so the bride and bridesmaids can have some good rhythm walking up to the stage.

You can also opt to have guests standing for the bride’s entry.

THE CEREMONY

It’s at this stage where you will run through the script.

You can assure your couple that there won’t be much for them to do until around halfway through the ceremony.

You don’t have to read it word for word, but you can just give a nice summary of the following (this will vary depending on the structure of your script).

THE WALK BACK DOWN THE AISLE

Nearly there! Once you’ve given the rundown of script, you’ll pretty much do exactly what you did for the walk in – expect in reverse.

You can then officially announce that your couple is husband and wife!

You can then cue whoever is playing the walk back down the aisle track to start the music.

The groomsmen and bridesmaid should leave a few seconds before following the bride and groom.

Keeping it simple is the best way to go. And once this has been run through you’ll feel a little more at ease and iron out any creases you are worried about.

I highly recommend you do this – whether it be at the venue or even at your couple’s home.