Wedding Ceremony Master Class

DON'T LET A FRIEND MARRY YOU WITHOUT OUR MASTER CLASS

Officiating a wedding has never been easier.


HOW TO BECOME ORDAINED AND MARRY YOUR FRIENDS

The Wedding Ceremony Master Class takes the guesswork out of the wedding ceremony and turns dear loved ones into officiants who can confidently say, “dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”

Veteran wedding officiant, Celebrant Alisa Tongg is lifting the veil on how to officiate a wedding, become ordained and deliver a master wedding ceremony that will wow friends and loved ones. With a decade of experience marrying couples in highly personalized ceremonies, she’s identified exactly what it takes to win at a wedding ceremony. Now that knowledge and expertise is available to you! Just purchase this quick and easy 14-video course guide to create a memorable wedding ceremony experience for all in attendance.

With the help of these video guides and tools, you’ll take away a wedding ceremony script, couples’ questionnaire to help craft an ultra-personal ceremony, and even learn how to become an ordained minister to make it legal. Afraid of public speaking? These videos will give you the tips to gain confidence too! 

Say 'I do' to an officiant who has taken the only Wedding Ceremony Master Class designed to lead friend officiants through the process of authoring and performing a simple, genuine, memorable and deeply meaningful ceremony.

Celebrant Alisa Tongg, photo credit: Pat Robinson


Alisa Tongg Celebrant, With Love and Embers



“The Wedding Ceremony Master Class is a class I wholeheartedly recommend if you’re asking a friend or family member to officiate your wedding. Let the hallelujah chorus sing!”

— Danielle Pasternak, Put a Ring on it Podcast

50% of couples ask a friend or family member to officiate their wedding
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HOW TO OFFICIATE A WEDDING: WHAT FRIEND OFFICIANTS WILL RECEIVE

14 Jam-Packed video lessons with a step-by-step guide to getting your friends to 'I do!'

A Couples’ Questionnaire: Identify important sentiments to draw from when writing the love story message.

An Inclusive Starter Ceremony: A framework for the flow, including introduction, unplugged ceremony, joining of families, remembrance, introducing readings, love story message, I dos, ring exchange, the power of social contracts, declaration of marriage and final blessing—all written in the voice of a trusted friend or beloved family member.

Writing a Ceremony: A step-by-step walk through of Celebrant Alisa Tongg’s primary tool for creating custom and heartfelt ceremonies. Also included is the number one best way to ensure that your ceremony includes natural, authentic and non-gaggy language!

Making it Legal: A guide to where to look up each state’s marriage laws, and suggested pathway for a lay officiant to conduct a legit and legal ceremony, in all 50 states. We also cover alternative solutions for the friend officiant when an online ordination does not meet the qualifying legal requirements.


A Coaching Session: Covering the common pitfalls friend officiants make, and ways to ensure that the ceremony will be memorable for all the right reasons.

Technical Tips: Dressing for a celebration, finding your style and hacking your body for a boost of confidence. How to work with one microphone on a stand for all ceremony needs. How to print and format the final wedding ceremony script, and what’s the best thing to have in your hands. And the one simple thing you can do to make every wedding photographer love you!

A Vows Primer: Help the couple help you so that every element of the ceremony flows flawlessly.

BONUS CLASS! How to officiate for your friends during a pandemic. Keeping health and safety in mind this bonus content will guide you on everything from where to stand, masks or no masks, new microphone and live-streaming needs and other ceremony considerations, during the pandemic.

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A glimpse into the curriculum

Some of the topics Wedding Ceremony Master Class will cover:

  • 01

    What’s the REAL wedding? An overview of marriage licenses and why it matters to the Friend Officiant.

  • 02

    A look through the marriage laws of four representative states and suggested pathway for a lay person to officiate a legally recognized wedding ceremony. Alternative solutions for the Friend Officiant when an online ordination does not meet the qualifying legal requirements for an officiant.

  • 03

    A step-by-step walk through of Celebrant Alisa Tongg’s primary tool for creating custom and heartfelt ceremonies, her Couple’s Questionnaire.

  • 04

    Structural overview for Celebrant Alisa Tongg’s Starter Ceremony for the Friend Officiant. And number one best way to ensure that your ceremony includes natural, authentic and non-gaggy language.

  • 05

    Starting the Ceremony, Welcome Announcement. What is an unplugged ceremony? How not to be a distraction to your friend’s Gran.

  • 06

    The Processional—Celebrant Alisa Tongg explains what is and is not the responsibility of the Friend Officiant for one of the most universally symbolic aspects of the wedding ceremony.

  • 07

    Joining of Families--Celebrant Alisa Tongg’s Starter Ceremony lays out ways for being inclusive of a couple’s family and broader community of support. Explanation of how the Friend Officiant can weave in a remembrance for important loved ones who cannot be present, into the ceremony.

  • 08

    Readings: How to seamlessly include a reading of the couple’s choice and how to introduce their reader in ceremony.

  • 09

    Starter Ceremony Script for the Legal Part of the wedding ceremony. How to add personal flair and the couple’s love story in a way that is appropriate for a wedding ceremony. Learn what language needs to be in a wedding ceremony for it to be considered legal and what parts are negotiable.

  • 10

    The power of social contracts, and what is the best and most appropriate unity ritual for a Friend Officiant-led wedding ceremony.

  • 11

    Sending your friends off with a final blessing. Declaration of Marriage and how to set your friends up for a fabulous first kiss as a married couple.

  • 12

    Alisa Tongg shares how she prints and formats hers and what is the best thing to have in your hands during performance. Dressing for a celebration, finding your style and hacking your body for a boost of confidence.

  • 13

    How to work with one microphone on a stand for all ceremony needs. Your friends hired a film crew to make a movie of their wedding, what every Friend Officiant can do to ensure it will be an awesome one. The one simple thing you can do to make every wedding photographer love you.


Hi Friends!

I’m Alisa Tongg, an award-winning certified Life-Cycle Celebrant and ordained minister. I’ve been creating and performing personal ceremonies for nearly a decade, with hundreds of five-star reviewed weddings and even some love in the New York Times. As a graduate of the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, I’ve made it my life’s work to honor the love of two people in what ways feel most personal to them. I’ve been formally trained as a ceremony expert for interfaith, intercultural and religiously unaffiliated couples as well as for blended families. And I’m passionate about working with lawmakers to update the marriage laws in Pennsylvania so that couples have a greater choice for a legally recognized personal wedding ceremony. And now I’ve taken all that experience and passion and I’m teaching you what I know. Conducting a wedding ceremony is hard. It can be nerve-wracking and scary. But it doesn’t have to be. Join my Master Class and learn my tricks of the trade, my secrets from experience and everything you need to make the wedding ceremony the most memorable part of the day. Let’s celebrate together! xo Alisa 

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Covid-Era health challenges give even more reason to have a loved one closely involved in your ceremony., Pat Robinson Photo.

HOW TO OFFICIATE A WEDDING DURING COVID-19

Covid-Era health challenges give couples even more reasons to have a loved one closely involved in the ceremony. We may not know how long we’re going to have to be mindful about crowd size, but if these restrictions continue, couples may want to prioritize close friends or family members to officiate weddings. Microweddings are the perfect environment for an ultra-personal ceremony conducted by someone you love. Wedding Ceremony Master Class allows couples to keep their attendee circle tight and still get the wedding of their dreams.

Learn the nuances of officiating a Covid wedding in our NEW bonus class:

How to Officiate for Friends in a Pandemic

No-Cost When Enrolling in our Wedding Ceremony Master Class

Endorsements + Testimonials

Dad officiating wedding ceremony

“I wish I had this class right now.”

— Elyse Moody, Martha Stewart Weddings.


“We love this idea especially now, considering the fact that no one knows for sure when large gatherings will be safe again. Calling on a friend or family member is a great way to keep your party small but meaningful.”

— Green Wedding Shoes


"A great gift (that gives back in the form of a successful ceremony) and the perfect present to buy yourself to succeed in a ceremony with confidence."

— Harmony Walton, The Bridal Bar

"Wedding Ceremony Master Class fills a need that has not been addressed before! Perfect for couples who are having friends officiate as there has not yet been a place to go to for professional guidance, legal guidance and ceremony delivery. As a wedding DJ, I have had many a pep-talk with a family/friend-officiant before a ceremony, to help them feel like they got their bases covered, and that they are saying the right things in the right order, and this should not be happening on the day of, right? Also an officiant myself, I highly recommend this course for your friend officiant, especially if they are new to this. This course is beautifully and thoughtfully written, designed in perfect bite-sized lessons, and is all delivered by Alisa Tongg, who really cares about your big day, no matter who you choose to officiate it. Very reasonably priced too, for something you can’t afford to just go and 'wing it.'"

— Rev & DJ Cherish the LUV



"Thanks for the great master class and supporting us in creating a wonderful ceremony. Every tip worked and people enjoyed, cried and laughed. We would not have succeeded in making this memorable day without you."

— Friend Officiant Paula P., Buenos Aires



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Friend officiating wedding in Philadelphia

“SO MANY people need this, so their friends and family aren’t looking crazy!”

— REV. ROXY Birchfield


“The Wedding Ceremony Master Class is a class I wholeheartedly recommend if you’re asking a friend or family member to officiate your wedding. Let the hallelujah chorus sing!”

— Danielle Pasternak, Put a Ring on it Podcast


“Thank you again for your Master Class. I finished it last week and it was extremely helpful.”

— Angelo P.


Created by the award-winning celebrant featured in: