Welcoming - Welcome Guests to Your Wedding

I like to start a wedding ceremony by welcoming your guests to your wedding.  It can be done before the ceremony actually begins, with opening announcements or after an opening prayer.  I start all of the ceremonies I perform by quietly welcoming the couple and then welcoming the guests.

Below are some great ways to welcome your family and friends to your wedding ceremony.  I often look at them as writing prompts. 

​Sometimes, I like to begin with:

"Family, friends, honored guests, I'd like to warmly welcome you to the celebration of the marriage of Name and Name..." 

Other times:
​
"Welcome to Name and Name's Wedding! Together, they have built an amazing life, today we celebrate with joy, their choice to keep building a more amazing life as a married couple!" 

After that, I may add something more personal about the group gathered. 

Welcoming Words Option 1

​Welcome!  We are gathered here today to celebrate and to witness the joining of Name and Name in marriage. As they promise to love, trust in that love, honor one another as individuals, and anticipate with joy spending the rest of their lives together. They are surrounded by you - their friends and family.  Thank you for gathering here to witness their marriage and to share in the joy of this special occasion.

Welcoming Words Option 2

Welcome Everyone!  Thank you for traveling from far and wide to be here today as Name and Name are joined in Marriage. Each of you has played an important part in their lives, helping to make them the people they are.  Your love for them has fueled the fire for them to find the true and lasting love that we celebrate today.  They are grateful for each of you and are honored by your presence here with them today.  ​

Welcoming Words Option 3

We are gathered here today to witness and celebrate an act of deep love. Name and Name, in their devotion, respect, and love for each other, wish to unite in marriage and to dedicate themselves to each other’s happiness and well-being as life mates and partners. On behalf of them, I welcome you all.
Although this is their day, it is also a tribute to all of you. For knowing you and interacting with you has helped to make them who they needed to be to find each other. They would like to thank you all for that. You all hold a place in their hearts reserved for those that they have chosen to call Family and Friends and they are deeply grateful for each and every one of you here today.

Welcoming Words Option 4

Hello and welcome! Today we are here to witness the act of love. Love is the magic that has brought Name and Name together and through that magic, we are joining them today. 

Welcoming Words Option 5

We are gathered here in this beautiful place to join together Name and Name in marriage, a state instituted in love, occasioned by joy, and honored and renewed by each person who pledges themselves to each other. It is therefore not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly. It is to be entered into with praise and delight for its inexpressible gifts. Let us be honest enough with ourselves to know that there is no true marriage, except the inward bond of trust and love that dwells in the hearts of Name and Name. Only the two of you will know what marriage exists between you – the outer forms are only signs and covers over the love of your hearts. We wish that you will find together, a richness beyond the wealth of money – a depth of soul that will make beautiful everything you do in life,  both separately and together.

Welcoming Words Option 6

We would like to welcome all of you, honored guests, and thank you for being with us today. We are gathered here today to join Name and Name into the union of marriage, and bear witness to the miraculous power of love. Love is our purpose in being here; it is the essence of who we are. With Love as their foundation, marriage offers Name and Name the opportunity to become their essence with one another. Marriage is an art form that brings profound joy and demands great responsibility, awareness, and commitment. We who partake of this occasion bind ourselves as witnesses to the journey of love that they are undertaking here.

Welcoming Words Option 7

​We are here on this magnificent and beautiful day to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments. We are all present to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to publicly witness the creation of an outward marriage bond that Name and Name have already been creating inwardly. Their love and intention have created this marriage, and we are gathered here today to join in the celebration and acknowledgment of that bonding.

Welcoming Words Option 8

We have come together, both families and friends, to witness Name and Name as they exchange their vows of marriage. We share with them their delight in finding love with each other, and support their decision to live their lives together as marriage partners. As Name and Name enter into marriage, they do so with thought and reverence. They give thanks for the past, which brought them to this place, and look forward with hope to what the future will bring.
​

Welcoming Words Option 9

Welcome to this most important moment in the lives of Name and Name. I invite you to leave behind the worries and concerns of everyday life and join us in the celebration of their marriage. This is an opportunity for us to share not only in the joy of Name and Name’s love but also to reaffirm and appreciate the love and the friendship we experience in our own lives. May we all celebrate by being fully present during our short time together.

Welcoming Words Option 10

Welcome! Friends and Family of the Name and Name. Thank you for being here on this important day. We are gathered together to celebrate the very special love between them by joining them in marriage. All of us need and desire to love and to be loved. The highest form of love between two people is found within a committed relationship. Name and Name, your marriage today is the public and legal joining of your souls that have already been united as one in your hearts. Marriage will allow you a new environment to share your lives together, standing together to face life and the world, hand-in-hand. Marriage is going to expand you as individuals, define you as a couple, and deepen your love for one another. To be successful, you will need strength, courage, patience, and a really good sense of humor. So, let your marriage be a time of waking each morning and falling in love with each other all over again.

** Formal Wedding Ceremony Guide ** Formal Wedding Ceremony Scripts ** Elopement Ceremony Guide ** Elopement Ceremony Scripts ** Parts of a Wedding Ceremony ** Vow Writing Guide ** Unplugged Ceremony ** Opening Prayers ** Welcoming ** Moment of Silence ** Declaration of Support ** About Love and Marriage ** Non-Religious Readings ** Christian Readings ** Secular I-do's! ** Christian I-do-s! ** Ring Meaning ** Ring Blessings ** Secular Ring Exchanges ** Christian Ring Exchanges ** Unity Ceremonies ** Secular Blessings ** Christian Blessings ** The-pronouncement-Secular  ** The Pronouncement - Christian **