Protestant Church Wedding Ceremony
Protestant churches, Baptist, Methodist and other alike have all been registered under the Marriage Act to be authorized to conduct the service and act as a registrar under the civil law.

The ministers are also be able to solemnize marriages in their registered buildings. If a minister or a Free Church is not registered under the Marriage Act, then he may conduct the wedding service with the presence of the superintendent registrar.

The wedding couple may also attend a Church wedding service and a civil ceremony conducted by the superintendent registrar separately so that their marriage is legal. Whether the minister is authorized or not, the service must be conducted in a registered building, even if it is a civil ceremony with the presence of the superintendent registrar, it still needs to be conducted in a registered building. After the wedding couple have exchanged marriage vows, they have to sign on the register and also acknowledged by two witnesses.

It is always a good reminder to know that not all churches have an opening on your desired wedding dates, you can’t just walk in and expect the minister to be waiting for you at the altar to conduct your wedding. Most churches are booked all year round, and I have experienced some wedding couples have to wait for more than a year to get solemnized in their church. So please plan ahead and book your wedding date with the church early, so that the church can schedule an opening for you and plan ahead the necessary order of service.

Traditionally, the minister or the assistant have to be consulted first regarding the choice of hymns, song sheets, wedding music, marriage vows and things that will be taken seriously by the church itself. If you are a divorced couple seeking for a blessing from a church, you have to take into consideration that some churches don’t conduct wedding services for divorced couples. As some of the churches do take marriage seriously as a binding for life, they will not bend the rules. While other churches may look into who is the victim of the broken marriage or take into consideration of the whole situation that causes the divorce.

So now all goes well from booking of the church to the day itself. During the church wedding ceremony, the wedding couple are suppose to exchange wedding vows, some churches will help you to recite it, but some ministers may want the wedding couples to memorize them and recite them on the very day. It goes like this…..

I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, XXXXX, do take thee, YYYYY, to my lawful wedded husband / wife.

Or

I, XXXXX, take thee, YYYYY, to be my wedded wife / husband.

Or

I, XXXXX, take you, YYYYY, to be my wedded wife / husband.

Church wedding ceremony can differ from different denominations, some may emphasize too much in detail, others can be simple, while a few can be formal in the ceremonial laws, but whatever the case is, the basic fundamentals are the same, and they tends to follow the church of England.

Here are some similarities, as the bride enters during the wedding procession, she walks gracefully through the aisles and stand before the minister with the bride’s father on her left and the bridegroom on her right and the best man stands on the right of the groom. Right after that, the choir will start singing a few hymns and praises.

Then the minister will read out the purpose and the beautiful act of the wedding couple coming together as one, according to the bible. The minister will ask the congregation of any objections to this beautiful marriage, if not, they will be asked to recite the wedding vows as required by the law and followed by an exchange of rings. The minister will pray a prayer of blessings upon them, they will then be led to a table to sign the register and the two witnesses will be called upon to do so also. After the wedding couple is pronounced husband and wife, they will leave the building with the bridal party in a wedding reccession.

More detailed information on wedding ceremonies will be revealed in later chapters.