This article was last updated on 20/10/2025.
If you’ve been tasked with creating a Catholic wedding ceremony booklet and have no idea where to start — you’re not alone. After designing a number of Catholic ceremony booklets for couples across Australia, I know how tricky it can be to translate the full liturgy into a clear, print-ready format.
This wording example is based on real booklets I’ve created for traditional Catholic wedding ceremonies in Australia. It follows a commonly used structure (without Mass) and the downloadable Word document below is formatted for A5 (ideal if you’re printing your own ceremony booklet or handing the content to a designer or printer).
Before You Use This Template
This is a wedding ceremony booklet wording example only — it is not a planning document or official liturgical text.
Always check the final wording, readings, and order of service with your celebrant or church coordinator before printing. Every parish (and priest) has slightly different preferences, and some ceremonies may not follow this structure.
This example guide is intended to help you better understand how to format and personalise your booklet from a design angle (whether you’re designing it yourself or handing the content to a professional).
Looking for a design to start with? Here are a few of the most-loved wedding ceremony booklet templates from our shop — all editable, printable, and ready to personalise.
The Wedding Party
Priest: [Name]
Parents of the Bride: [Names]
Parents of the Groom: [Names]
Bridesmaids: [Names]
Groomsmen: [Names]
Flower Girls: [Names]
Ring Bearer: [Names]
Readers:
First Reading: [Name]
Responsorial Psalm: [Name]
Second Reading: [Name]
Prayers of the Faithful: [Name]
Ushers: [Names]
Entrance Procession
(Please stand.)
Song: [Song name]
Introductory Rites
Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Priest: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
All: And with your spirit.
Opening Prayer
Priest: Be attentive to our prayers, O Lord, and in your kindness pour out your grace on these your servants [Name] and [Name], that, coming together before your altar, they may be confirmed in love for one another. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
The Liturgy of the Word
First Reading
Read by [Name]
A reading from the Song of Songs
Love is as strong as Death.
I hear my Beloved. See how he comes leaping on the mountains, bounding over the hills. My Beloved is like a gazelle, like a young stag. See where he stands behind our wall. He looks in at the window, he peers through the lattice.
My Beloved lifts up his voice, he says to me, ‘Come then, my love, my lovely one, come. My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock. In the coverts of the cliff, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is beautiful.’
My beloved is mine and I am his. Set me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is strong as Death, jealousy relentless as Sheol. The flash of it is a flash of fire, a flame of the Lord himself. Love no flood can quench, no torrents drown.
The word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm
Read by [Name]
(Psalm 145:8-9, 10 and 15, 17-18)
Reader: The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy.
How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.
All: How good is the Lord to all.
Reader: All your works shall thank you, O Lord,
and all your faithful ones bless you.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
All: How good is the Lord to all.
Reader: The Lord is righteous in all his ways,
and holy in all his deeds.
The Lord is close to all who call him,
who call on him in truth.
All: How good is the Lord to all.
Second Reading
Read by [Name]
(1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8a)
Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
The word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
(Please stand.)
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Everyone who loves is begotten of God and knows God.
Alleluia!
Gospel Reading
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John. (John 15:12-16)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Homily
(Please be seated.)
Rite of Marriage
Introduction
Priest: Dearly beloved, you have come together into the house of the Church, so that in the presence of the Church’s minister and the community your intention to enter into Marriage may be strengthened by the Lord with a sacred seal. Christ abundantly blesses the love that binds you. Through a special Sacrament, he enriches and strengthens those he has already consecrated by Holy Baptism, that they may be faithful to each other for ever and assume all the responsibilities of married life. And so, in the presence of the Church, I ask you to state your intentions.
Statement of Intentions
Priest: [Name] and [Name], have you come here to enter into Marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?
[Name]: I have.
[Name]: I have.
Priest: Are you prepared, as you follow the path of Marriage, to love and honour each other for as long as you both shall live?
[Name]: I am.
[Name]: I am.
Priest: Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?
[Name]: I am.
[Name]: I am.
Giving of Consent
Priest: Since it is your intention to enter the covenant of Holy Matrimony, join your right hands and declare your consent before God and his Church.
Priest: [Name], do you take [Name], to be your wife? Do you promise to be faithful to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and to honour her all the days of your life?
[Name]: I do.
Priest: [Name], do you take [Name], to be your husband? Do you promise to be faithful to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and to honour him all the days of your life?
[Name]: I do.
Priest: May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God who joined together our first parents in paradise, strengthen and bless in Christ the consent you have declared before the Church, so that what God joins together, no one may put asunder. Let us bless the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Blessing & Exchange of Rings
Priest: May the Lord bless these rings which you will give to each other as a sign of love and fidelity.
All: Amen.
[Name]: [Name], receive this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[Name]: [Name], receive this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Prayers of the Faithful
Read by [Name]
Priest: Dear brothers and sisters, let us accompany this new family with our prayers, that the mutual love of this couple may grow daily and that God in his kindness will sustain all families throughout the world. For this bride and groom, and for their well-being as a family, let us pray to the Lord.
Reader: For their relatives and friends, and for all who have assisted this couple, let us pray to the Lord.
All: Lord, we ask you, hear our prayer.
Reader: For young people preparing to enter Marriage, and for all whom the Lord is calling to another state in life, let us pray to the Lord.
All: Lord, we ask you, hear our prayer.
Reader: For all families throughout the world and for lasting peace among all people, let us pray to the Lord.
All: Lord, we ask you, hear our prayer.
Reader: For all members of our families who have passed from this world, and for all the departed, let us pray to the Lord.
All: Lord, we ask you, hear our prayer.
Reader: For the Church, the holy people of God, and for unity among all Christians, let us pray to the Lord.
All: Lord, we ask you, hear our prayer.
Priest: Lord Jesus, who is present in our midst, as [Name] and [Name] seal their union, accept our prayer and fill us with your Spirit. Who live and reign for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Priest: At the Saviour’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:
All: Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Nuptial Blessing
Priest: My dear friends, let us ask God for his continued blessings upon [Name] and [Name].
Holy Father, maker of the whole world, who created man and woman in your own image and willed that their union be crowned with your blessing, we humbly beseech you for these your servants who are joined today in the Sacrament of Matrimony.
May your abundant blessing, Lord, come down upon this bride, [Name], and upon [Name], her companion for life, and may the power of your Holy Spirit set their hearts aflame from on high, so that, living out together the gift of Matrimony, they may (adorn their family with children) and enrich the Church.
In happiness may they praise you, O Lord,
in sorrow may they seek you out;
may they have the joy of your presence
to assist them in their toil,
and know that you are near
to comfort them in their need;
let them pray to you in the holy assembly
and bear witness to you in the world,
and after a happy old age,
together with the circle of friends that surrounds
them, may they come to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Signing of the Documents
(Please be seated as the priest invites the couple to sign the register along with their witnesses.)
The Concluding Rites
Priest: May God, the all-powerful Father grant you his joy and bless you and your children.
All: Amen.
Priest: May the Only Begotten Son of God stand by you with compassion in good times and in bad.
All: Amen.
Priest: May the Holy Spirit of God always pour forth his love into your hearts.
All: Amen.
Priest: May almighty God bless all of you, who are gathered here, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
The Recessional Hymn
Song: [Song name]
Optional: Thank You
To our parents and families — thank you for your endless love, guidance, and support. Your unwavering presence in our lives has shaped who we are, and we are so grateful to walk into this next chapter with your blessing.
To our friends and guests — thank you for being here to witness such a meaningful moment in our lives. Your encouragement, prayers, and joy mean the world to us, and we’re so glad to share this day with you.
To our incredible wedding party and everyone who helped bring today together — thank you for your time, energy, and patience. Your generosity and care have made this experience even more special.
With love and gratitude,
[Couple’s Names]
Optional: In Our Memories Today
Although we cannot see you,
we know that you are here.
We feel the warmth of your smile,
and can sense you are near.
And we want for you to know,
your love is still our guide.
Memories carried in our hearts,
you are always at our side.
It’s so sad you will not be here,
on the day we say, ‘I do.’
And so we say our vows today,
in loving memory of you.
[Names of those in our memories]
Further Reading
This wording example has been compiled based on real Catholic wedding ceremony booklets I’ve designed for Australian couples. While the structure and prayers included are commonly used, it’s important to always confirm your final ceremony details with your celebrant or church office.
Here are a few useful links for official information:
- Outline of a Catholic Wedding Without Mass | Catholic Wedding Help
- Marriage Liturgy | Catholic Australia
