Quaker Wedding
The ceremony will follow Quaker tradition.
A Quaker wedding is a meeting for worship in which a marriage takes place. Meeting for worship begins as soon as the couple is seated in the meeting space.
Following a period of silence, as long or as short as the couple is led to observe, the two rise and, each in turn taking the other by the hand, make their promises to each other, in the words from their marriage certificate, in tones clear enough to be heard throughout the meeting. When they are seated again, the marriage certificate is brought to them for their signatures. The certificate is then read to the meeting by a person asked in advance to do so.
The meeting then continues and offers an opportunity to those present to share in the ceremony through prayer, meditation, and other spoken messages. Those attending may speak as they feel led to do so. Traditionally each person who speaks does so only once. The vocal messages are not a conversation but rather a sharing of what is in one's heart. As such, a period of silence should follow each speaker.
The ceremony will last one hour. A few minutes of silence at the end of the hour is appropriate. The Clerk of the Meeting will signal the close by shaking the hand of the person next to them and all are invited to shake hands and greet those near them.
At the close of the meeting, all those who have been present are asked to sign the certificate as witnesses.