Customer Reviews

The Wedding Ceremony Planner: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Part of Your Wedding Day

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I used this book to customize every aspect of my recent wedding (one month ago today), from the opening prayer & gathering words to the final blessing & pronouncement. There are several passages of each "section" of the ceremony for you to choose from, as well as suggestions on personalizing each section. The sample ceremonies will give you a great place to start if you know you want to personalize your ceremony but aren't sure where to start.

The book isn't just geared towards those looking for religious ceremonies: there's a perfect balance of ceremony passages for those looking for religious words as well as passages for non-traditional unions (ex: same-sex ceremonies, second marriages, marriages with children from previous relationships, etc). The helpful hints, practical advice, and checklists throughout the book made this an indispensable resource.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Our wedding ceremony was so beautiful and personal that every guest told me afterwards how much they'd enjoyed it & that our wedding was the best they'd attended; even our ecumenical minister was impressed and teared up while performing the ceremony. In summary, this is a wonderful book.

I just performed my first wedding ceremony and found this to be the most helpful book of all I consulted. In addition to all that the other reviewers have noted, I found the section on doing the rehearsal invaluable. It had many tips that I never would have thought of (and I'm a very organized person who has put together all kinds of events); as a result the rehearsal went very smoothly, which in turn led to a ceremony in which all the participants were clear and able to be emotionally present. Thank you Judith!

I was a first time officiant about to perform the wedding of two dear friends. I was nervous. Who did I think I was to perform a wedding? I knew I had the credentials, but did I have what it takes?

Under the tutelage of this phenomenal guidebook, I found that I did.

Part One didn't have anything to do with my part of the wedding, but the information is invaluable. It sets the context for the ceremony. Who is involved, where the wedding is, what intention do the bride and groom have for there special day, what is the tone they want to create... that sort of thing.

Part Two was all about the ceremony, in other words - my stuff. In these pages, Judith Johnson laid it all out succinctly while at the same time gave me many ideas. I got a blueprint and a variety of ways to bring that blueprint to life. Reading this section really boosted my confidence.

Part Three included the nitty gritty of weaving all of this together. It gave samples and suggestions, fleshing out some of Part Two and offering the expertise of Johnson's many years of experience.

I know this is a reference book I will refer to over and over and over again. I will recommend it to both officiants and couples alike.

This book is surely a "must have" for anyone planning a wedding, including those who believe they know exactly what they are doing. Rev. Johnson's book clearly elucidates all of the subtleties of planning a successful wedding. She provides excellent anecdotal support to deeply insightful direction which evidences years of experience in conducting wedding ceremonies of all kinds. She offers guidance for both traditional and original style weddings, and excellent comparisons of the merits of each. She also offers many excellent examples of the exact language used for each part of the ceremony, and many example prayers, which makes planning a non-traditional service a less daunting exercise. Most importantly, this book provides an excellent center of focus from which a couple can improvise and customize their own perfect wedding.

This is the best book to help make your day truly special. Wonderful ideas on traditions (and explanations regarding the traditions) from many different religions. I am a catholic (not practicing) and my fiance is spirtual. We didn't know where to begin and we realized we didn't want cookie cutter wedding. This book has been great in helping us incorporate elements that are important to us. Everything from writing your own vows to the timing and staging of the ceremony are covered in this book and have been invaluable in planning our wedding.

Rev. Johnson's Wedding Ceremony Planner was a lifesaver for my husband and I when planning our wedding. Neither of us are religious, but we still wanted to have a meaningful ceremony to initiate our marriage. When we sat down to write the ceremony, however, we were lost at sea! Rev. Johnson's guide navigated us to the creation of a beautiful, personal ceremony. We even incororated many parts of the sample ceremonies into our own. My brother and his fiance are now in the process of planning their own wedding, and I just bought them a copy of The Wedding Ceremony Planner to help them along.

Being an ordained minister/wedding officiant I have found this book to be one of the best I've ever found. It continues to help me create unique contemporary weddings full of meaning and love!!! All my wedding couples are pleased with the ceremonies I create. I can't live without this book. It will serve as a resource in my ceremonies for years to come. I am able to create the type of wedding that my couples want and will cherish for years to come. I also provide a complementary copy of their ceremony so they can save the words/vows to live by for the rest of their lives together.

revJudith
[...]

This is the book I was looking for. I searched for a book to plan a ceremony and all I found was wedding organizers. This book was a dream to find. I have planned and written our entire ceremony myself with the help of this book. If you are looking to have the unique wedding ceremony this is the book for you!!!! Destination wedding was the plan, we found the place and event the person we wanted to officiate but how do you write the wording and when does each part happen, The Wedding Ceremony Planner is the book to make your wedding YOURS!

This book, in draft form, was so helpful to me planning how to officiate a marriage. I only wish it had been published so I could have given a copy to the bride and groom. In the future, that will be step one. It is comprehensive, extrememly useful and uplifting to read. A wonderful resource for both ministers and those about to step down the isle.
Judith Anderson
Allendale, NJ

Overview:
I read through this book yesterday afternoon and was successfully able to piece together my entire ceremony within a few hours. The first part of the book is an overview of wedding ceremonies, who participates, etc. Much of this section was common sense, but it can be helpful to have a reminder to check obvious things when you're as frazzled as I am.

The second section of the book is the sections of the wedding ceremony and examples. There is a good range of styles for each section of the wedding, from short and informal to quoting saccharine poems at each other... and the range from devoutly religious to entirely dodging the topic. Examples for second/mature weddings, weddings with children, etc. are included. I had our vows picked out before purchasing this book, but I used passages from this book for every other part of the wedding. I love how our ceremony transitions smoothly from the introduction through the prayers, vows, ring exchange, etc. The flow of my ceremony would have been much poorer using only internet sources.

The most helpful part for me was the section of ten example weddings, which shows how the author fits the ceremony together.

Pros:
It's thorough without being long-winded.
Good selection & range of examples.
Quality vs. Quantity

Cons:
Quality vs. Quantity. There are good examples, not hundreds of them. I was able to find many that I loved, but not everyone will. I noticed that the lack of suggestions for working in the giving away of the bride... I googled that part ;)