Short · officiant speaks about 3 minutes · 366 words
Short Wedding Ceremony Script (About 5 Minutes)
Lena's aunt is officiating a small backyard ceremony for about 25 guests, with no wedding party and the music playing off a phone speaker.
Officiated by Grace, Lena's aunt, for Lena and Omar. The names are made up. Italic lines are cues, not words to say.
Processional
Someone starts the song on the speaker. Lena and Omar walk out together and stop in front of Grace, next to the lemon tree.
Welcome
Hi, everyone. Thank you for coming. Lena and Omar asked me to keep this short, so I will. They also asked me to tell you the bathroom is inside, first door on the left.
Lena and Omar wanted a small wedding, and they wanted it here, in the yard they've spent three summers fixing up. So you're standing on grass Omar reseeded twice, next to a fence Lena painted one board at a time.
When they bought this house, the first thing they did, before they even unpacked the kitchen, was plant this lemon tree. It was about as tall as my knee. The man at the nursery told them it might not give them a single lemon for years. It gave them six the second spring. They've been unbearable about it ever since.
I think that's a pretty good picture of the two of them. They plant things, they wait, and they take care of them in the meantime. They do that for each other, too. Lena, Omar, I've known Lena her whole life and Omar for seven years, and I've never seen either of you give up on something you cared about. The grass, the fence, the tree, and each other. Everybody in this yard has watched you do it.
Vows
Lena and Omar are going to say their vows to each other now. Omar, go ahead.
Omar reads his vows. Then Lena reads hers.
Rings
Omar's brother hands over the rings.
These rings are plain on purpose. Lena wanted something she could garden in.
Omar, put the ring on Lena's finger and repeat after me.
Omar: Lena, with this ring, I marry you. I'll take care of you, and of everything we build.
Lena, put the ring on Omar's finger and repeat after me.
Lena: Omar, with this ring, I marry you. I'll take care of you, and of everything we build.
Declaration of intent
Omar, do you take Lena to be your wife, to love her, to look after her, and to stay beside her through all of it?
Omar: I do.
Lena, do you take Omar to be your husband, to love him, to look after him, and to stay beside him through all of it?
Lena: I do.
Pronouncement
Then by the power vested in me by [the State of ___], I pronounce you married. You may kiss.
They kiss. One of the neighbor kids cheers before anyone else does.
Introduction
Everyone, Lena and Omar, married. Thank you for standing out here in the yard with them. Go get something to eat. There's lemonade on the table, and yes, the lemons came off the tree.
Signing the license
Grace, Lena, Omar, and two witnesses sign the license at the patio table before the food comes out.
Why it works
A short script has no room for the whole story, so this one picks a single image, the lemon tree, and lets it stand in for everything else. The rest of the words go to the pieces that have to be there: welcome, vows, rings, the question, and the pronouncement. The last line goes back to the tree, which makes five minutes feel finished.
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