Guide · Updated October 11, 2026

Wedding officiant checklist: from the yes to the signed license

Everything a first-time officiant needs to do, in the order you'll do it. Print this page and tick things off: the menus and buttons are left out of the printout.

As soon as you say yes

• Find out which county will issue the couple's marriage license, and call or check that office's website.
• Ask what they require of an officiant: an ordination, a one-day designation, or registration before the day.
• Ask what the ceremony must include, how many witnesses the license needs, and how and by when the signed license must be returned.
• If you need an ordination or a designation, start it now. Some take weeks.
• Put the wedding, the rehearsal and the license deadline in your calendar.

Rules differ by state and county. For one example of an official source, see California's Marriage Officiant FAQ (checked October 11, 2026), and our guide to officiating a wedding.

Two to three months before

• Meet the couple for an hour. Ask how they met, the proposal, what their friends love about them, and what they'd rather you didn't mention.
• Agree on the length (10 or 20 minutes), the tone (heartfelt, funny or both) and how much faith the ceremony holds.
• Ask who walks in and in what order, who reads, who holds the rings, and whether anyone is being remembered.
• Ask whether they'll write their own vows or repeat them after you.
• Write down how to say every name you'll speak.

Six weeks before

• Write the script. Start from the complete sample script, or have yours written for you.
• Read it aloud with a timer and cut it to the agreed length.
• Send it to the couple, and change what they ask you to change.
• Check the readings with the readers, and the order of the program with whoever is printing it.

One week before

• Print the script in large type and put it in a plain binder.
• Rehearse it out loud at least twice, standing up.
• Confirm the rehearsal time and place, and whether there will be a microphone.
• Decide what you'll wear, with the couple's blessing.

At the rehearsal

• Walk through the processional in order, with the music if you can.
• Show everyone where to stand, and where the readers go.
• Settle who holds the rings and when they come forward.
• Practice the end: the kiss, the presentation of the couple and the walk out.
• Run it twice.

On the day

• Arrive 45 minutes early.
• Bring the script in its binder, a pen for the license, and a spare copy of the script.
• Check that the license is there, and read it before the ceremony.
• Test the microphone, and check who has the rings.
• Turn off your phone.
• Go slower than feels natural, and step aside before the kiss.

After the ceremony

• Sign the license with the couple, and with the witnesses if it asks for them.
• Check every line is filled in before you leave.
• Return it exactly as the license office told you, before the deadline.
• Give the couple your printed script. Many keep it.

Written by the CeremonyMade team. How we write our guides