Sample Wedding III
Music (music of choice)
WELCOME ( Minister): We are here today to see _____ and _____ joined
in a life of mutual commitment. It is fitting and appropriate that you, the
family and friends of Mary and John be here to witness and to participate
in their union. For the ideals, the understanding, and the mutual respect
which they bring to their life together had their roots in the love and friendship
and guidance you have given them. The union of two people makes us aware of
the changes wrought by time. But the new relationship will continue to draw
much of its beauty and meaning from the intimate associations of their past.
Processional: (Wedding Song from Excalibur or other music of choice)
Minster: There is no greater gift than the love that brings two people
together. It speaks of the great confidence by which people rely on and believe
in one another, and that the chance meeting of two lifepaths can lead to a
permanent bond of love.
Marriage is a supreme sharing of experience and an adventure in the most intimate
of human relationships. It is the joyous uniting of a man and a woman whose
comradeship and mutual understanding have flowered into romance. To behold
this love flowering between two hearts is always a pleasure, and to behold
the vows of lovers as they pledge their commitment, each to the other, is
a moment of the soul. Today, Mary and John proclaim their love and we who
are gathered here celebrate with them and for them in the new life they now
undertake together.
Marriage is universally regarded as one of the crucial events of human life,
taking its place with those other two - the coming hither in birth and the
departure from life through death. Your marriage requires "love,"
which is a word often used with vagueness and sentimentality. We mean something
very real, when we bind ourselves in love. It can mean sweet freedom and fulfillment.
When we love we see things other people do not see. We see beneath the surface
and observe qualities which make this one different from and dearer than all
others. To see with loving eyes is to know inner beauty and to be loved is
to be seen and known as we are known to no other.
Such love means security. Each of us would like to have an absolute security.
This we cannot have, but we come close to it when we are loved - when another
human being wants us, wants to share life with us, accepts us, without qualification
or reservation, not as perfect, but as human, with strengths and weaknesses.
The love of which we speak is not static. It is a growing and dynamic relationship.
We dream that tomorrow we will grow and fulfill our possibilities. It is a
blessing when someone believes in our dream of ourselves and wants to live
with us and help make our dreams and aspirations come true.
True love breeds unlimited courage and confidence. Such courage and confidence
we know are yours as you continue your lives together under the ever embracing
bond of marriage. In addition to the fund of affection and thoughtful consideration
which you have for one another, you will need a capacity for self-sacrifice,
patience and forbearance, for this is no light adventure which you are undertaking.
Marriage must be a cooperative venture in every sense. It is a relationship
based on love, respect and a determination on the part of both wife and husband
to adjust to each other's temperaments and moods - in health or sickness,
joy or sadness, ease or hardship.
We are here to share your joy and hope and to speed you along the path which,
henceforth, you are to tread together.
Mary and John have made their lives one. They have each become that which
makes the other the best that one can be. They have allowed their love to
grow until it reached a point where the next step must be a life-time commitment.
We are here assembled to provide living witness to the love that Mary and
John share. They will rely on you, their friends and family, to provide the
sense of community so necessary for daily living. It is you, who have been
chosen to hear them express, their promise of commitment. It is you, who are
therefore charged, to remind them of this day, should you see that as a necessity,
and to celebrate this joyous occasion with them.
Musical Interlude: Monteverdi: Toccata (or other appropriate
music)
Vows:
Minster:
This celebration is the outward token of a sacred and inward union of hearts.
It is a union created by your loving purpose and kept by your abiding will.
It is in this spirit and for this purpose that you have come here to be joined
together.
*Although you have already lived together, the two of you have decided
that simply living together was not enough. Today both of you have
chosen to make a deeper commitment. Today you are declaring to each other
that your experiences together have been so good that you want them to continue
for the rest of your life. Mary and John you are present here on this day
to say that each of you is everything the other had hoped to find in a life
partner.
Do you John here in the presence of these witnesses declare your commitment
to Mary and choose her as the one with whom you wish to spend the rest of
your life? Do you take Mary as your friend, lover and mother of your children.
Will you be hers in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness
and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of
failure and in times of triumph. Do you promise to cherish and respect her,
to care for and protect her, to comfort and encourage her and stay with her
for all eternity?
John: I do
Minister: Do you Mary in the presence of these witnesses declare your commitment
to John and choose him as the one with whom you wish to spend the rest of
your life? Do you take John as your friend, lover and father of your children.
Will you be his in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness
and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of
failure and in times of triumph. Do you promise to cherish and respect him,
to care for and protect him, to comfort and encourage him and stay with him
for all eternity?
Mary: I do
Will all you, here present, promise and commit yourselves to support and uphold
this union of these two people?
Guests: We do
Rings:
Traditionally, the marking of the passage to the status of husband and wife
is marked by the exchange of rings. These rings were originally placed on
the third finger of your left hand because it was believed that the vein in
this finger runs directly to the heart. These rings are a symbol of the unbroken
circle of love. Love freely given has no beginning and no end. Each is the
giver and each is the receiver in a continual and unbroken circle. The circle
is the symbol of wholeness. May these rings you now exchange always remind
you of the vows you are taking here today.
Minster: John repeat after me
Today I John, join my life to you Mary, …..not merely as your husband but
as your friend, your lover and your confidant…... I will be the shoulder you
lean on, the rock you rest on and the companion you share your life with…..
Take now this ring and be my wife.
Minster: Mary repeat after me.
Today I Mary, join my life to you John…… not merely as your wife but as your
friend, your lover and your confidant….. I will be the shoulder you lean on,
the rock you rest on and the companion you share your life with…... Take now
this ring and be my husband.
..
Nothing is easier than saying words and nothing is harder than living them
day after day after day. What you promise today, must be renewed and decided
again tomorrow, the tomorrow after that and the tomorrow after that.
It is with these promises that I (and the State of ______ now declare you
husband and wife. In ancient Roman times a kiss was used to seal a contract….another
belief is when a couple kissed at the end of their marriage ceremony, part
of their soul was exchanged.
So now I ask that the two of you share a kiss to seal the bond the two of
you have created here today.
Ladies and Gentlemen may I now present to you Mr. & Mrs. Henry (John &
Mary Henry).
Recessional: Mendelssoln: Wedding March (or other music of choice)
*Words in iatlics are optional