Colorado Wedding Ministers

We Do I Do For YOU!

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Welcome to the Celebration

Welcome
We, who have gathered in this circle, are now privileged to witness and to participate in a ceremony celebrating the public acknowledgment of a love which Name and Name have for each other, knowing that by our presence here with them, we are saying that they, together, are loved by many others. We have come to surround them as they stand before us in this center, where now Name and Name in essence say, "Welcome to our marriage! Welcome to the Celebration!"

Declaration of  Intent
We all know when you love someone, you do not love them all the time in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. That is impossible. It is even a disservice to pretend it is possible. Yet that is what most of us demand. We have such little faith in the ebb and flow of life and of love and of relationships. We leap forward at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb, for we are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanence, on duration, on continuity. But the only continuity possible in life, as in love, is in growth, in fluidity and in freedom, as dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in creating the same pattern.

 Name and Name,  since we are here in the name of love, I want to take just a moment to speak of love, which has the basis of the trust and freedom of that person standing before you today,  becomes as significant as the trust and freedom of one's self. I speak to them of generosity, which gathers the beauty of earth for riches and the kindness which turns away the wrath of foolish men and women. I speak of all our hopes for their continued growth through patience, one for the other. My hope and the hope of everyone gathered here is that  Name and Name keep the vows, the promises they are making on this day, in freedom, teaching each other who they are, what they yet shall be, enabling them to know that, in the fullness of being, they are more than themselves and more than each other, that they are all of us and that together we share joyously the fruits of life on this Earth, our home.

Vows
In just a moment you will say those words that will change your life forever. You will not be just a person, but a part of two. 
 I want you to take just a moment and look at those hands holding yours, so that you may see the gift that they are to you.
These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day 
as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, 
and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other.
These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief temporarily comes your way.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that will give you support and encouragement to chase down your dreams.
These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times. 
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
These are the hands that will lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face 
to look into eyes that are filled with overwhelming love for you.
And finally, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, 
still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

Name do you take Name to be my wife/husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

Please now repeat after me- 
I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband. Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you with all your faults and your strengths as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and I will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. 

Name do you take Name to be my wife/husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

Please now repeat after me- 
I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband. Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you with all your faults and your strengths as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and I will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. 

Rings
Now it is time for you to exchange your rings. Let the seamless circle of these rings become the symbol of your endless love. Your wedding rings are most special because they say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bonded, to allow the presence of another human being to enhance who you are. Your rings carry a potent double message: We are individuals and yet we belong; we’re not alone. As you wear them through time, they will reflect not only who you are, but also to this amazing union that you are now creating.

Name please place your ring on Name's finger and repeat after me.
May this ring forever be to you the symbol of my growing love.

Name please place your ring on Name's finger and repeat after me.
May this ring forever be to you the symbol of my growing love.

Closing
Please take each others hands once more, we are almost done. But in some ways it seems like you haven’t done anything at all. A moment ago you were just standing here holding each others hands like you have done 1000's of times in the past. In alot of ways, the act of marriage is like this. In some ways, tomorrow is going to seem no different from yesterday. But in fact today, just now, you have both given and received one of the most valuable and precious gifts of life – and one I hope you always remember – the gift of true and abiding love within your marriage.
Name and Name, I would ask that wherever you make your home in the future – whether it be large and elegant or small and graceful – that you both pick one very special location for roses; so that on each anniversary of this wonderful occasion you both may take a rose to that spot as a recommitment to your marriage – and to remember that this will be a marriage based on love.

Blessing
As we close this ceremony today, I have a small blessing for you and everyone gathered here today.
May your marriage enrich your lives. 
May you work together to build a relationship of substance and quality.
May the honesty of your communication build a foundation of understanding, connection, and trust. 
May you respect each other’s individual personality and philosophy, and give each other room to grow and fulfill each other’s dreams.
May your love and relationship deepen with each day that passes.
May your sense of humor and playful spirit continue to enliven your relationship.
May you understand that neither of you is perfect: you are both subject to human frailties: and may your love strengthen when you fall short of each other’s expectations. 
May you be “best friends”, better together than either of you are apart

I now pronounce you married.

You may kiss!

An Occasion of Great Joy
Welcome
Welcome!
 Name and Name have brought us together here for an occasion of great joy and a cause for great celebration. Having found each other, they have built the kind of relationship that will serve them well as the foundation for their marriage. They have chosen each one of you to be here with them to witness their wedding vows as they join together as husband and wife.  Marriage is a bold step into an unknown future. It is risking who we are for the sake of who we can be. In marriage, two lives are intimately shared; and the blending of the two must not diminish either one. Rather, it should enhance the individuality of each partner.  Each of us knows that a marriage is not created by a law or a ceremony; rather it occurs in the hearts of two human beings. It grows out of loving, caring, and sharing ourselves with another. This ceremony is not magic, it will not create a relationship that does not already exist and has not already been celebrated in all the commitments Name and Name have made to each other, both large and small, in the days since they first met and recognized their connection to one another. 
 
Declaration of Intent
So, in witnessing this ceremony today, we are observing only an outward sign of an inward union that already exists between Name and Name. This ceremony is a symbol of how far they have come together and a symbol of the promise that they will make to each other to continue to live their lives together and to love each other solely and above all others. 
There are only two official witnesses at a wedding but each and every person here today will witness the words that they will speak to one another and the vows that they will make. You should take good care to remember these words; for a marriage needs the help of a community, of friends and family who will be there when needed and will do all that they can during hard times to stand by Name and Name and offer their support to them and the new family that they create today. May you always do all within your power to support the union that will be made here today and to nurture the bond between these two people whom you love.
If the old fairy-tale ending “and they lived happily ever after….” is taken to mean “They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day they were married". Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of work, sleep, friendships, family? But, of course, ceasing to be “in love” need not mean ceasing to love.
Love in this second sense-love as distinct from “being in love” and it is not merely a feeling. Love is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each could easily allow themselves to be “in love” with someone else. “Being in love” first moved them to promise fidelity but this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.
Vows
A successful marriage is not something that just happens. It takes work, it takes patience, and it takes time. It takes a commitment from both of you… a commitment to do whatever it takes to make your relationship thrive and not just simply survive. 
 
Name and Name, these vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.” In a moment you’ ll say a few words and things will never quite be the same between you. Your world has changed, you are no longer a single person, you are now a part of each other. 
 
Name, will you take Name to be your lawfully wedded wife/husband/partner and travel the rest of life’s road with her/him? Will you love her/him, laugh with her/him, comfort her/him, honor and protect her/him, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her /him as long as you both shall live? 
Name
I do.
Name please repeat after me-
I, Name, choose you, Name
In the presence of our friends and families, to be my wife/husband and partner. From this day forward, I promise to love you,
to be a comfort and safe haven in your life. To hold you close, to listen deeply when you speak,
to uphold you with my strength, to weigh the effects of the words I speak.
And to never take you for granted, to always give thanks for your presence in my life.
 
Name, will you take Name to be your lawfully wedded wife/husband/partner and travel the rest of life’s road with her/him? Will you love her/him, laugh with her/him, comfort her/him, honor and protect her/him, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her /him as long as you both shall live? 
Name
I do.
Name please repeat after me-
I, Name, choose you, Name
In the presence of our friends and families, to be my wife/husband and partner. From this day forward, I promise to love you,
to be a comfort and safe haven in your life. To hold you close, to listen deeply when you speak,
to uphold you with my strength, to weigh the effects of the words I speak.
And to never take you for granted, to always give thanks for your presence in my life.
 
Rings
This is the point in the ceremony when people talk about the wedding bands being a perfect circle, having no beginning and no end. But we all know that these rings have a beginning. Rock is dug up from the earth. Metals are liquefied in a furnace at a thousand degrees. The hot metal is forged, cooled, and then painstakingly polished. Something beautiful made from raw elements. Love is like that. It comes from humble beginnings, made by imperfect beings. It is the process of making something beautiful where there was once nothing at all. The promises which you have spoken to each other today are inscribed forever in your minds, in your hearts. But words are fleeting so let these rings serve as a reminder of the feelings you have in your hearts at this very moment. 
 
Name, as you place your ring for Name on her/his finger please repeat after me
Name, with this ring I am giving you my promise, to always love you, cherish you, honor you and comfort you.
I promise that I will love you, and keep my heart open to you for all the days of my life.
 
Name, as you place your ring for Name on her/his finger please repeat after me
Name, with this ring I am giving you my promise, to always love you, cherish you, honor you and comfort you.
I promise that I will love you, and keep my heart open to you for all the days of my life.
 
Closing
Name and Name no one but you can declare yourselves married. You have begun it here today in speaking your vows before your family and friends and you will do it again in the days and years to come, standing by each other, sharing all that is sweet and bitter in life. Each tender act, each loving word will be the declaration of what was made here today.
It is with great pleasure and much honor to pronounce you now married!
 
Today is the Day
Welcome
 We have come together on (date) for the celebration of the joining together of Name and Name.  There are many things to say about marriage. There is much wisdom concerning the joining together of two souls, that has come our way through all paths of beliefs, philosophies, personal choices and many cultures. With each union, more knowledge is gained and more wisdom gathered. Although we are unable to give all this knowledge to Name and Name, who stand before us, we can hope to leave with them the knowledge of love and its strengths and  the anticipation of the wisdom that comes with time. 
Marriage is a bond to be entered into only after considerable thought and reflection. As with any aspect  of life, it has its cycles, its ups and its downs, its trials and its triumphs. With full understanding of this, Name and Name have come here today to be joined as one in marriage.
 
(Optional)
Others would ask, at this time, who gives to each other in marriage but, as a person is not property to be bought and sold, given and taken, I ask simply if you  both have come of your own free will and it is your intention to be married today.    
Name and Name        
Yes,  we have. 
 
(Optional)
As we begin this celebration to day, I would like for everyone to bow their heads as we ask for a blessing for Name and Name as they join together.
Heavenly Father, we gather to celebrate your gift of love, and its presence among us. We rejoice that these two people have chosen to commit themselves to a life of loving faithfulness to one another. We praise you, Lord, for the ways you have touched our lives with loving relationships such as Name and Name’s, and we give thanks for the special love and friendship you have put in their hearts. Renew within us an affectionate and loving spirit. Enrich our lives with the gracious gift of your love so that we may embrace others with that same love. May our participation in this celebration of love and commitment, give to us a new joy and responsiveness to the relationships that we cherish.
In your loving arms we pray, Amen.
 
Declaration of Love
Marriage is a joyous occasion. It is connected in our thoughts with the charm of love, the warmth of home, and with all that is pleasant, as being one of the most important events of our lives. Its sacredness and unity is the most significant and binding covenant known in human relations. 
Name and Name, true marriage is the holiest of all earthly unions. It is to be entered into reverently, consciously and with full understanding of its significance. To be complete, marriage must be spiritual as well as an earthly estate. When it is Spiritual in thought, purpose, plan and action, it becomes the harmonious, peaceful and happy union for you both. If you remember anything from this ceremony; it’s that your future happiness is to be found in the gifts that you would give to each other every day. Those gifts of mutual consideration, patience, kindness, confidence and affection. You are destined to find your greatest joy in the company of the other. As a married couple you are taking on many roles to each other, you are being asked to be to considerate, tender, faithful, and loving to each other; to support, guide and cherish each other in prosperity and trouble; to thoughtfully and carefully enlarge the place the other holds in your life. To constantly show to affection and to live together with unconditional love.
 
Vows
Seeing that no moment is without meaning, we ask that you take this marriage as a beginning of your lives together. Today signifies the creation of a new home and a new family for you both. May you be fulfilled by each other’s love and friendship. May you be overjoyed by the promises you are about to make and the life together you will create.
Remember that in every marriage, there are good times and bad, times of joy and times of sorrow. Marriage is a journey – a time of adventure and excitement enhanced by the love, trust, dedication and faith you share in one another. May the promises you make to one another today, be lived out to the end of your lives. Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys, but today is the day it all begins.
 
Do you Name, take Name, to be your wedded wife/husband/partner in life?
Name 
I do
Do you in the presence of these witnesses, promise to stay by her/his side,
In sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad? Promising to love without reservation, offer comfort in times of distress ? Will you also encourage Name to achieve all of their goals, to laugh and cry with her/him? Will you also promise to grow together in mind and spirit,  being open and honest with each other, and cherishing each other for as long as you both shall live?
Name
I will
 
Now please repeat after me-
I, Name take you Name to be my wife/husband, my partner in life, my best friend, and my one true love. 
I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever and always. I will trust you and honor you, I will laugh with you and cry with you.
Through the best and the worst, the difficult and the easy, whatever may come I will always be there.
As I have given you my hand to hold, I give you my life to keep
 
Do you Name, take Name, to be your wedded wife/husband/partner in life?
Name 
I do
Do you in the presence of these witnesses, promise to stay by her/his side,
In sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad? Promising to love without reservation, offer comfort in times of distress ? Will you also encourage Name to achieve all of their goals, to laugh and cry with her/him? Will you also promise to grow together in mind and spirit,  being open and honest with each other, and cherishing each other for as long as you both shall live?
Name
I will
Now please repeat after me-
I, Name take you Name to be my wife/husband, my partner in life, my best friend, and my one true love. 
I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever and always. I will trust you and honor you, I will laugh with you and cry with you.
Through the best and the worst, the difficult and the easy, whatever may come I will always be there.
As I have given you my hand to hold, I give you my life to keep.
 
The law of life is love unto all beings. Without love, life is nothing. If we learn no more in life, let it be this–    
Name and Name from this moment forward you will never be alone. You will carry with you the love of another person, giving you a completeness and renewed lightness.
 
Rings
Having this love in your hearts, you have chosen to seal your vows by exchanging rings.
From the earliest times, the circle has been a sign of completeness. The rings that you have chosen to wear have neither beginning nor end, much like your love for one another. They are a symbol of the words that you speak today. May these rings be from this day forward, your most treasured adornment, and may the love they symbolize, be your most precious possession. As you wear these rings, may they be constant reminders of these glad promises you are making today.
 
Could Name, please step forward with the rings?
Thank you.
Name and Name please take your rings.
 
Name, please place your ring for Name on their  finger and repeat after me.
I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.
 
Name, now take Name’s ring and place it on their finger and again repeat after me.
I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.
 
Closing
Name and Name, no one but you can declare yourselves married. You have begun it here today in speaking your vows before your family and friends and you will do it again in the days and years to come, standing by each other, sharing all that is sweet and bitter in life. Each tender act, each loving word will be the declaration of what was made here today.
Name and Name from this moment forward you will never be alone. You will carry with you the love of another person, giving you a completeness and renewed lightness. May your life together be immersed in love and excitement. May you strive to enrich each other in every possible way. And may you work to bring the peace you find to this world.
 
Therefore, it is my joyful responsibility to officially acknowledge your union as Husband/Wife/Partners in Life. 
You may now seal your marriage with a kiss.