Step 1 - Write Down What The Couple Means To You

This guide to writing a wedding ceremony script begins with the general and works towards the specific. Similar techniques are used in music composition, drawing, and architeture.

What does this means in practice? Before you begin to write your ceremony script you are first going to do a simple exercise.

1. Get a pen and sheet of paper (or finger to keyboard).
2. Make a column for each partner.
3. Write down thoughts, feelings, and memories that come to mind.

The point of this exercise is to tease out the feelings you have towards the couple. This will prove invaluable in setting the tone for the ceremony when you are ready to start writing.

Chances are you will not use most, if any, of what you write down for this exercise. That is not the point. The point is to develop a tone that resonates with the couple when you start writing. In other words, this will set you on a specific path so that you don't end up going through endless rewrites.

Good writing begins with inspiration. This technique helps you find your inspiration before you waste your valuable time.

Chances are good that you were personally chosen to officiate the wedding. This is a good indication that you share a strong bond with one or both of the people getting married. This bond is your most powerful tool in writing a meaningful wedding ceremony script.

Here is an example of what this exercise could look like:

Justin Bieberlake

• When we were kids he stood up to me when Chad tried to take my lunch money.
  Strong sense of justice.
• There was this time we went camping and I got us lost. He ended up trudging through poison oak. He didn't hold it against me though. We drank a lot of whiskey that night.
  Patience of a saint.
• We lost touch after we went to college but when we hung out 6 years later it was like no time had passed.
  True Friend
• When he met Beyoncé I could tell he really liked her right away. I thought he would, since I introduced them.
  I got his number!

Beyoncé Grandé

• I met Beyoncé in grad school. She took the time to read my dissertation even though she had her own to work on. It's cool that she did that.
  Generous spirit.
• When Justin and Beyoncé first met I could see they had chemistry, even before they did. Afterwards they both casually asked me about the other. That was pretty funny. They both made me come up with an excuse to hang out again for a second time.
  This is what romantic comedies are made of.
• Beyoncé has a dog called Shelley, which she named after Mary Shelley, that's pretty cool, but also her dog is so sweet. You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat their dog and how their dog behaves. Shelley is a sweet dog that actually comes when you call her!
  Real nurturing instinct.
• Beyoncé made it a point to include me and my girlfriend in her adventures, like the time we stayed at a cabin in Montana. She did all the planning. It was great.
  Thoughtful and goal oriented.

This list will prove to be an invaluable reference when you are inevitably stuck with writer's block. When that happens, simply go back to this list for insight on how to proceed writing.