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Some other popular ceremony FAQs are:

Do I have to have a wedding party? A maid of honor, best man, ring bearer, flower girl? Do the sides have to be even?

You can have as many or as few wedding party members as you want, or totally skip it! More wedding party members will mean more money spent on things like gifts and the rehearsal dinner!

I have no idea what songs to use for the prelude, processional, and recessional!

No problemo - WW has lists on lists on lists, check them out: https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-songs

Do I need to write my own vows?

You can write your own or use traditional ones, there's no right or wrong and it's totally personal choice!

I'm thinking about doing a unity ceremony, but need ideas!

Here are two past forum discussions with tons of ideas for unity ceremonies:

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/unity-ceremony-ideas/4829e38fa0e9fe9c.html

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/unity-ceremony/a19bc1f7a9020b37.html

Do I need to have programs?

Nope - you can skip them if you want to!

How do I let certain guests know that they are only invited to the ceremony or only the reception?

Red flag! This is called a tiered wedding and is an etiquette no-no! The reception is your "thank you" to your guests for attending the wedding! All ceremony guests need to be invited to the reception and vice-versa. The only exception here is if you are having a completely private ceremony (family only, like under 15 guests max), in which case you would send the rest of your guests an invitation to the reception and call it a "celebration of marriage".

How long of a gap is acceptable between the ceremony and reception?

You really want to minimize any gap between events for your guests! Sometimes with Catholic weddings this is unavoidable, but you want to do your best! To accommodate enough time for the wedding party to take pictures, it is common to host a cocktail hour (1 hour, absolute max 1.5 hours) immediately following the ceremony and before the reception. During the cocktail hour you have music, booze, and hors d'oeuvres! You can also think about doing a first look and taking your pictures before the ceremony!

What is your venue and your budget? How many do y'all plan on inviting?

@Alyssachu Was just going to say that lol

I found this article about getting a friend officiated, so the officiant thing shouldn't be a problem.

http://offbeatbride.com/how-to-have-a-family-member-or-friend-act-as-your-officiant-legally-in-california/

We are having our ceremony at a state park near where we live, for free. Our budget is around $5000 (I know that's low), we're inviting around 90 people but only anticipating approximately 50 guests RSVP'ing. We just moved to California from North Carolina and I'm originally from Ohio, so a lot of people can't make the trek out to Cali.

My comment did not violate the CGs. Will it be reviewed and put back up? WWLynnie?

So much wrong.

1. Hire a pro. So many horror stories and at the end of the day this is not where you cut money. Your officiant is the only other necessary part of your wedding besides you and your FH husband.

2. You should never invite more than you can host. If you invite 90, be prepared to host them with a catered meal and free booze.

3. A state park is not free. You need to secure permits so I would start researching that.

I'd really recommend hiring a professional. There have been brides on here whose marriages were not legal because the friendor officiant messed up. I wouldn't risk that.

How are you getting married at a park for free? I was under the impression that most charged a fee to reserve the space.

Just cause you can be married by someone inexperienced doesn't mean you should, especially if they can't tell you how a ceremony should go...

I was just about to say, Lindsey. To click here and the first thing I see is a flagged comment of yours, I was shocked. I had a feeling it was some flag happy new posters who don't actually know the rules.

Always plan for full attendance. Always. You don't want to get blindsided and end up going over your budget if more people RSVP than you were originally prepared for.

It's a state recreation area, I guess that's different. The person we spoke to suggested a location on site for us to hold our ceremony. We just have to pay the day pass fee per vehicle ($10). So technically, not free.

We happen to know already that a lot of people we invited are not going to make it to the wedding. Hence, the approximately 50 guests.

The person we have chosen as our officiant is very important to us. She's not just a random friend we wanted to incorporate. We're going to work through everything with her, and she won't screw it up.

Is there a way to guarantee no random people will be walking through your ceremony?

Are you planning to pay for your guests admittance to the park?

Everyone who wants to use a friendor is positive it'll go well. But there are frequent stories of it going wrong. A professional is really a better bet.

Pinterest is awesome! Just look up weddings and you will get a million pictures. This is a helpful site but people can be a tiny bit harsh. You'll learn how to navigate. Don't take it personally. Welcome and happy planning!!

You still need a pro. They understand how to do weddings. Someone was on here not too long ago that had a "very special" person do their ceremony. They said it was a disaster. They were nervous and it just sounded like a long toast. Again not where you should be skimping money wise.

Also, you are responsible for paying for your guests car passes so definitely not free.

We are paying admittance fess for our guests. The area we are holding the ceremony is fairly secluded and does not get a lot of foot traffic. We are holding the ceremony early in the morning, thus there being even less chances of other folks being in the space.

What is your plan for the reception? Does your caterer have a plan for keeping food hot/cold?

@K.M. I am paying for my guests car passes, as I said. Our officiant is not shy nor is she a nervous type. We asked her because we know she will be great and is the perfect person to marry us.

Also did you check with the park about any alcohol restrictions?

If you know nothing about wedding ceremonies and your friend officiating it has never done a wedding ceremony, what do you think is going to happen? This sounds like the blind leading the blind.

The reception is not going to be held in the same location as the ceremony. We are looking to rent a different space for the reception, and we haven't decided on food options yet. We might hire a food truck.