Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

Re: wedding ceremony

For a marriage to be legal:

1. You must have applied for a license and waited the requisite period, and be otherwise free to marry (over 18, competent for the purpose of marriage, not married to anyone else);

2. You must go to an officiant who is legally empowered to perform weddings in the Commonwealth;

3. You and the spouse must declare the intent to be married to one another in the presence of the officiant;

4. There must be other witnesses (usually, there are at least two, but I believe that one may be enough);

5. The authorized officiant must return the marriage license with his signature to the city or town from which the license was sought.

Nothing less will create a marriage in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. There is also nothing more; the ceremony is very much up to the officiant him or herself. I am not aware that there are any prescribed words or forms, but anyone who is a judge or Justice of the Peace can clarify that.