When crafting the marriage ceremony, officiants must find the perfect balance between too much information and not enough. Personalized, but not too intimate. And, of course, not too short, nor too long.
To answer this last question, JPus surveyed professional officiants and asked, How long do you think a marriage ceremony should be? Following are the results of the survey.
15-20 Minutes ~ The Perfect Ceremony Length
Our decision to omit the 15-20 minute option was deliberate, to force respondents to lean either shorter or longer. Our plan may have backfired, though, since officiants chose both the alternatives at practically the same rate. So, maybe the 15-20 minute is the perfect medium!
The Takeaway
- Interestingly, the results were consistent no matter how long an officiant has been performing ceremonies.
- Officiants with the most experience, performing for more than eight years, were split exactly 50:50 between 10-15 minutes and 20-30 minutes.
- For newbies, the responses were similar. Those officiating for less than three years said 10-15 minutes was preferred 47% of the time, and 20-30 minutes 53% of the time.
- The only outliers were people officiating 4-8 years. They preferred the longer 20-30 minutes by 64 percent.
- The outliers who preferred either less than five minutes or 30-40 minutes ranged from newbies to more experienced officiants.
- Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they were a civil officiant (a JP or a notary in Maine, Florida or South Carolina).
- Meanwhile, 30% identified as an online officiant without a congregation. Another 14% were wedding celebrants.
- Although only 4.2% of respondents self-identified as religious officiants with a congregation, they all preferred a ceremony that is 20-30 minutes long. None suggested a longer ceremony. This is interesting and suggests that the trend for shorter, secular ceremonies may be influencing religious rituals, too.
For Couples
In addition, we shared survey findings in an article for couples on findaJP.com. The blog article also has selected officiant comments from the survey. If your couples are having a hard time deciding on the length of the ceremony, send them a link to the article.
Related Links
- Read the blog article about survey length with selected comments from the survey
- Professional development for officiants about commitment ceremonies
- See the Code of Ethics that JPus members abide by
- Learn more about membership with the Justice of the Peace Association