How long was your non-religious ceremony?

Anastasia517 · February 2013

First off, I know that my FI and I have a very long time before we actually need to get our ceremony written and down in stone. However, neither of us have been to a non-Catholic wedding that we can remember and have no idea what we can expect in our non-religious ceremony.

So, for those of you who have had secular ceremonies, how long was it? We are trying to get a general timeline ready for the day so we can figure out what time to schedule our ceremony for to avoid a gap.

AddieCake · February 2013

Ours was about 20 minutes.

daria24 · February 2013

Including the processional & recessional (it was just the groom + parents, and bride + parents for the processional) about 20 minutes. 15 minutes of just the ceremony. Our ceremony had:

Processional

Opening Greeting

Reading 1

Reading 2

Vows

Sand Ceremony

Signing the License

Pronouncement/kiss

Recessional

crystaldbl · February 2013

We are planning on ours being about 15 minutes.

mcda04 · February 2013

I've been to two between 15-30 minutes long. No more than 30 I would think.

MrsGandthebeag · February 2013

Ours was probably 10-15 minutes. It was short and sweet.

JaxInBlue · March 2013

I think ours was 20-25 minutes. It was everything we wanted to include and it didn't feel long to us - but we definitely could have left parts out for a speedier ceremony. We had an opening blessing, 3 readings, and a song split along with the rings and vows.

Anastasia517 · March 2013

We are about 95% sure we are going to have the ceremony at the same place as the reception, which starts at 5:00, so we were thinking that a 4:30 ceremony would work. Judging by all of the comments, we've been on the right track.

Thanks everyone!

anssett · March 2013

5 to 10 depending on how long winded my father gets and when I cut him off.

MoonlightSilver · March 2013

Something like 20-30 minutes? I didn't look at the clock once we left the bridal suite until we were going to sleep.

Cackle6 · March 2013

Ours was 20-25 minutes. We had the ceremony start at 6, and had cocktail hour at the reception start at 6:45 (there was a 15 minute drive between ceremony and reception), and the timing worked out perfectly.

The outline of our ceremony was as follows:

Processional

Opening greeting/parents blessing

Readings 1, 2 and 3

Vows

Toast to Love ceremony (our unity ceremony)

Rings

Kiss!

Recessional

itzMS · March 2013

I was a bridesmaid in one that was 45 minutes from processional to recessional.

And the WP had to stand the whole time. On grass. In heels. Ugghh.

Anywho, they had a really long-winded officiant. Also, a hand blessing ceremony, two readings, and a friend who sang a solo with guitar.

Calypso1977 · March 2013

ive seen everything from 2 minutes (no joke) to about 30 minutes.

teh 30 minute one included, IMO, way to much filler of all sorts of ceremonies (sand/unity candles, ring warmings, etc.). i think its better to keep it short and incorporate the types of ceremonial stuff that truly hits home wiht you as a couple, rather than throwing in everythign youve ever seen or heard done in order to make it longer. longer does not always mean more meaningful.

Anastasia517 · March 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_how-long-was-your-non-religious-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:b1aae585-5369-48f5-aa2a-91ce9d2affd6Post:1e8f5574-cc14-462c-acfd-6cc9c631b577">Re: How long was your non-religious ceremony?</a>:
[QUOTE]ive seen everything from 2 minutes (no joke) to about 30 minutes. teh 30 minute one included, IMO, way to much filler of all sorts of ceremonies (sand/unity candles, ring warmings, etc.). i think its better to keep it short and incorporate the types of ceremonial stuff that truly hits home wiht you as a couple, rather than throwing in everythign youve ever seen or heard done in order to make it longer. longer does not always mean more meaningful.
Posted by Calypso1977[/QUOTE]

<div>I agree with you about too much filler being bad. I'm not a big fan of unity candles, because the whole ceremony is about unity and it seems a bit... not excessive exactly, but a bit much for me.</div><div>
</div><div>We were thinking something along the lines of:

Processional</div><div>Greeting</div><div>Readings (2 or 3)</div><div>Vows/Rings/Signing of the license (we're in Canada, so this is done during the ceremony)</div><div>Pronounced husband & wife</div><div>Recessional</div><div>
</div><div>Obviously, this could change but we need to figure out a ballpark length to figure out scheduling. Based off of what Cackle said, this looks like it should be about 20 minutes.</div>

mrspadfoot · March 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_how-long-was-your-non-religious-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:b1aae585-5369-48f5-aa2a-91ce9d2affd6Post:1e8f5574-cc14-462c-acfd-6cc9c631b577">Re: How long was your non-religious ceremony?</a>:
[QUOTE]ive seen everything from 2 minutes (no joke) to about 30 minutes. teh 30 minute one included, IMO, way to much filler of all sorts of ceremonies (sand/unity candles, ring warmings, etc.). i think its better to keep it short and incorporate the types of ceremonial stuff that truly hits home wiht you as a couple, rather than throwing in everythign youve ever seen or heard done in order to make it longer. longer does not always mean more meaningful.
Posted by Calypso1977[/QUOTE]

<div>Our officiant said he can legally marry you in 1.5 minutes, and the rest is just filler.</div><div>
</div><div>That being said, our ceremony runs about 25 minutes from the mom's being seated, to the recessional</div>

ZiggyZos · March 2013

Ours was just under 30 minutes including processional (three sets of grandparents, groom & parents, bride's mom & stepmom, and split stepfather/father handoff of the bride), a wine blending ceremony, and recessional. We specifically told our reverend that we wanted no more than thirty minutes. He was happy to oblige.

lindatrewin · March 2013

Ours was 25 minutes

How long was your non-religious ceremony?

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