SAMPLE WEDDING CEREMONIES
The two Sample Ceremonies below are just that, samples. Your own Wedding Ceremony will be a unique creation, written just for you. I will work with you to make your ceremony a deeply moving experience for everyone involved, whether you want your wedding to be spiritual, romantic, traditional,or light-hearted-- secular, ecumenical, or multicultural. I will create, with you,a joyful,one-of-a-kind Ceremony of Love.
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SPIRITUAL CEREMONY-—WITH GOD INCLUDED   For a hypothetical couple named Terry & Chris (scroll down for Civil/Nonreligious Ceremony)   WELCOME   On behalf of Chris & Terry, I welcome you all! Thank you for coming to share in their happiness as they begin their lives together as a married couple. INVOCATION Let us pray. Dear God, open us and fill us with your presence. We are here to joyfully acknowledge and celebrate the marriage of Chris & Terry. Bless them, and bless all who are gathered here. Amen And now we will hear a READING from the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament (Chapter 2, verses 10-13): My beloved speaks and says to me: Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, and the time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. TALK And so, Chris & Terry have come away to this place, to be joined in marriage. A true marriage is an act of transformation, a profound mystery of creation and rebirth as two lives are blended into one. This is not a loss or giving up of one's self, but rather a giving over of self to something greater. In this process you will each be challenged to discover, again and again, new depths and possibilities in yourselves and in each other. This wedding ceremony, and the vows you will speak to one another today, are the gateway into this mystery. In a sense, the whole of your lives up till now has brought you here, to this moment, and together you now give over to the creation of something wholly new and transcendent, something that has never existed before--your unique marriage. The commitment to love that forms the heart of this marriage means that you will walk through the rest of your days with a true friend beside you, one you can laugh with and cry with, grow old with and feel forever young with. Chris & Terry, we wish you this: May you grow ever more glorious in each other's arms. May laughter and warmth reign supreme in your home. May you live long, May you live well. We rejoice with you. VOWS Chris & Terry, if you now freely choose to be joined in marriage, please indicate this by facing each other and joining hands. (pause while they do so) Chris, please repeat after me: Terry, From this day forward...I promise to stand by your side...through whatever life brings our way...In good times and bad, I will be with you...Change and grow old with you...I will cherish you, and love you...for the rest of our lives. Terry, please repeat after me: Chris, From this day forward...I promise to stand by your side...through whatever life brings our way...In good times and bad, I will be with you...Change and grow old with you...I will cherish you, and love you...for the rest of our lives. And so we come, Chris & Terry, to the EXCHANGE OF RINGS, by which you symbolize and bind your love. The circle is a symbol of eternity, without beginning or end, and with no point of weakness. As you give these rings to each other, our wish is that your love be as everlasting as these precious rings. Chris, please take Terry's ring, place it upon the ring finger of the left hand, and repeat after me: Terry, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my abiding love. With this ring, I marry you, and join my life to yours. Terry, please take Chris's ring, place it on the ring finger of the left hand, and repeat after me: Chris, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my abiding love. With this ring, I marry you, and join my life to yours. And now I offer this final blessing to you, Chris & Terry. May the spirit of love find a dwelling place in your hearts. May the hand of God protect you, and His holy angels accompany you all your days. Amen Chris & Terry, you have committed yourselves to each other through solemn and sacred vows. You have sealed your pledge through the giving and receiving of rings. It is my legal right as a minister, and my joy and privilege, to declare that you are now [husband and wife][life partners]. You may kiss each other!
CIVIL / NON-RELIGIOUS CEREMONY   For a hypothetical couple named Terry & Chris WELCOME On behalf of Chris & Terry, welcome! Thank you for coming to share in their happiness as they begin their lives together as a married couple. TALK Marriage is a promise, made in the hearts of two people who love each other, which takes a lifetime to fulfill. Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life's most important relationships. The marriage partners are each other's lover, teacher, listener, critic, and best friend. It is into this state that Chris & Terry wish to enter. Chris & Terry, I would ask that you always treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together today. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your marriage deserves. When you are faced with frustration and difficulty in your lives, work together to seek resolution, peace, and acceptance. This way, when clouds of trouble cause you to lose sight of the sun, you will help each other remember that the sun is still there. And if both of you will take responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and happiness. VOWS Chris & Terry, if you now freely choose to be joined in marriage, believing the love you share and your faith in each other will endure all things, please indicate this by facing each other and joining hands. Chris, do you take Terry to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage. Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health... And forsaking all others,be faithful only to her, so long as you both shall live? If so, answer I do. Terry, do you take Chris to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage. Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health ... And forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, so long as you both shall live? If so, answer I do. RINGS The wedding ring seals the vows of marriage, as a signature bears witness to a written covenant. Chris, please take Terry’s ring, place it upon the ring finger of the left hand, and repeat after me: Terry, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my abiding love.… With this ring I marry you…and join my life to yours. Terry, please take Chris’s ring, place it on the ring finger of the left hand, and repeat after me: Chris, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my abiding love … With this ring I marry you…and join my life to yours. In the words of the Indian Wedding Prayer, Now you will feel no rain For each of you will be shelter to the other. Now you will feel no cold, For each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there will be no loneliness for you. Now you are two persons, But there is only one life before you. Go now to your dwelling place, To enter into the days of your togetherness. And may your days be good and long together. PRONOUNCEMENT Chris & Terry, you have come of your own free will, and in our hearing have made a covenant of faithfulness. You have sealed your pledge through the giving and receiving of rings. It is my legal right as a minister, and my joy and privilege, to declare that you are now [husband and wife][life partners]. You may kiss each other!