The first ceremony is banal (5)
I believe the answer is:
trite
'is banal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the first ceremony' is the wordplay.
'the first' becomes 't' (1st letter of 'the').
'ceremony' becomes 'rite' (rite is a kind of ceremony).
't'+'rite'='TRITE'
(Other definitions for trite that I've seen before include "all vigour is gone" , "Dull, unoriginal" , "Commonplace, hackneyed" , "Banal, commonplace" , "Stock" .)