Colorado Wedding Ministers

We Do I Do For YOU!

An Affirmation of Love

Welcome
Welcome family and friends.
We are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the marriage of Name and Name. We are not here to mark the start of a relationship however; we are here to recognize a bond that already exists. Name and Name have spent the last seven years together, so we have come together to bear witness to the bond that has grown between them. Today, they will affirm this bond formally and publicly. But this affirmation of love would be empty if they could not share it with their most beloved friends and family members. As Proust said, “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” Name and Name hope that they can mark their transition to husband and wife not only by celebrating the love between themselves, but by also celebrating the love between all of us–including the love of their parents, siblings, extended family, and best friends. Without that love, today would be far less joyous. Thank you all for being here.

What a truly special day today is! Only rarely do any of us take the time to travel far away to meet all of our closest friends and family for the sole purpose of celebrating. We usually spend our time concerned with the routine of daily living. We wake up, go to work, eat lunch, watch television. We worry, plan, work, drive. But for a few moments every so often, we get to experience something transcendent. When we witness pure beauty, we pause, amazed. We revel in the feeling, deep and beyond words, indisputable and timeless. It leaves us breathless and fulfilled and amazed. No matter how much we think of ourselves as rational, logical human beings, we have an irresistible drive to forget reason and simply feel something spiritual. Those are moments to be cherished.

Declaration of Love
Name and Name experience that when they see the beauty of nature. In their eyes, there is something more than the trees and the meadows and the rocks; there is something deep, sacred, and more striking. When they witness the mountains together, it evokes awe and splendor. It is indescribable and immense. This is the same feeling that they discovered by falling in love with one another. When you are in love, you get to grab a piece of transcendence and take it with you in your daily life. You don’t have to trek to a river valley or to the top of a mountain to feel something important and indescribable; you can feel the beauty and enormity of the mountains within your own heart. And that is really why we are here today. Because love is enormous, and to take even a tiny piece into yourself and be able to experience and understand it is the greatest gift in the world. Today, we take the time to celebrate sublime moments in our lives and to remember just how important love is to all of us. When we were children, it was easy to see magic in the world; now we need days like this to remind us.

(Optional)
Percy Shelley’s poem, tells again why we are here.
"Love’s Philosophy"
The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle—
Why not I with thine?
See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain’d its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

Name and Name for the past several years, you have built a strong foundation for your relationship based on honesty and respect. You have found joy in one another’s company, and you have become better, more fulfilled people because of your connection. You have been able to stay together through the varied challenges of high school, college, and your careers, because of your shared values, humor, history, and unconditional love for one another. As long as you maintain these qualities, you will have a long and successful marriage. However, when a relationship matures, it is natural to become complacent. It is important to remember not to take your partner for granted or to neglect your relationship because your relationship so far has been easy. Instead, give priority to the tenderness, gentleness, and kindness that you each deserve. Remember to write love notes, give each other massages, and kiss in the rain. Take time to feed ducks at the park and take walks together. Share your passions, and discover life’s deeper questions. Pursue new experiences, grow together, and most importantly, laugh often. There will be difficulties ahead, but if you face them as a couple, with a strong sense of love, perspective, and mutual support, you will not only survive, but thrive. A brief moment in time and the stroke of a pen are all that is required to create the legal bond of marriage, but it takes a lifetime of love, commitment, and laughter to make a marriage durable and eternal. The process of marriage does not begin or end today; it is a lifelong pursuit. Your relationship already has all of the necessary components for success, but you must to maintain that from here forward by remembering what is important in your relationship and why you are making this commitment to one another today. Party 1 and Party 2, as long as you are both respectful of each other, you will make it through the numerous changes and chapters that your lives will take. As long as, you honor the promises that you will make to each other today, you will create a life of love and happiness.

(Optional)
With that in mind, will now read “When I Am With You” by Rumi.
"When I Am With You"
When I am with you, we stay up all night.
When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.
Praise God for these two insomnias!
And the difference between them.
The minute I heard my first love story
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along.
We are the mirror as well as the face in it.
We are tasting the taste this minute
of eternity. We are pain
and what cures pain, both. We are
the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.
I want to hold you close like a lute, so we can cry out with loving.
You would rather throw stones at a mirror?
I am your mirror, and here are the stones.

Vows
Beauty and youth fade away, money comes and goes, but your love is irreplaceable. Love is eternal. When you have love, it makes your burdens lighter, because you divide them. Love makes your joys more intense, because you share them. Love makes you stronger, so that you can reach out and become involved with life in ways you might not risk alone. “There’s a billion people on the planet. In a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying, ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness.’ Therefore, it is not my standing before you that makes your marriage real, but rather, it is the love and sincerity, the dedication and commitment, with which you make these vows. Name and Name , as you say your vows; may I remind you that saying your vows are one thing, but nothing is more challenging than living them day-by-day. What you promise today must be renewed tomorrow and each day that stretches out before you.
With that being said, I have some very important questions for you.

Name , do you take Name to be your lawfully wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?
Name
I do
Then if you would please repeat after me-
Name today I take you to be my husband/wife/partner. Together we will create a home, becoming a part of one another. I vow to help create a life that we can cherish, inspiring your love for me and mine for you. I vow to be honest, caring and truthful, to love you as you are and not as I want you to be, and to grow old by your side as your love and best friend.
Name , do you take Name to be your lawfully wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?
Name
I do
Then if you would please repeat after me-
Name today I take you to be my husband/wife/partner. Together we will create a home, becoming a part of one another. I vow to help create a life that we can cherish, inspiring your love for me and mine for you. I vow to be honest, caring and truthful, to love you as you are and not as I want you to be, and to grow old by your side as your love and best friend.

Rings
Then it is time to exchange rings. Wedding rings are a tangible symbol of the vows that you have just made to each other. Wear them every day to remind yourselves of the promises that you have made. In addition, realize that when you place the wedding rings on each other’s fingers, you are releasing the past, bringing only those memories, desires, and hopes which will belong to each other into your future life together.

Name, as you place your ring for Name on their finger please repeat after me.
With this ring, I thee wed.

Name as you place your ring for Name on their finger please repeat after me.
With this ring, I thee wed.

Closing
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 the highs and lows of life. From this day forward, you will be to each other the joy and the comfort the other one needs. You will be the listening heart to each other’s deepest thoughts and most fragile feelings. You will be the inspiration for each other’s most beautiful dreams. You will be each other’s refuge of sheltering love at the end of every day.
From this day forward, you will be two halves of one whole soul.

(Optional)
Name and Name. will you please come forward and sign your names to the certificate of marriage? With this act, your marriage becomes legally binding in the eyes of Colorado.
By the power vested in me by the great State of Colorado, I hereby pronounce you husband/wife/partners in life.
You may now kiss!
Family and friends, I present to you for the first time ___________________.

To Have and to Hold

Welcome

Welcome! Good afternoon, family and friends

We have come here today to celebrate the wedding of Name and Name. On behalf of this couple standing here before us, thank you for sharing your day/afternoon with us!

They are delighted that you have come to share in their joy during this special day, by your presence, you celebrate with them and the love they have discovered in each other and you support their decision to commit themselves to a lifelong relationship. Marriage is a bond to be entered into only after considerable thought and reflection. By making this commitment today, Name and Name's relationship will become stronger, better, and deeper. Today, they are demonstrating their devotion to each other, by dedicating themselves to a life together and they show their respect for each other by setting forth to honor the vows they have created today, their lives, which began on separate paths, will be joined as one.

(Optional)

Today represents not only the joining of Name and Name But also the joining of their families and friends. Name and Name would like to recognize their parents on this occasion,

They offer their profound gratitude for all the love and care their parents showed in raising them. (Parents), those unconditional gifts of love and support that you have continually offered. You have inspired them to become who they are today, and they thank you, from the bottom of their hearts, without you, this day would not be possible.

Name and Name are blessed to share their wedding day with you, their family and friends, and thank each of you for making the long journey here as much as today it is a celebration of this couple’s marriage, it is also a celebration of their love, Which is built upon the last (----) years they have spent together and all the experiences encompassed by that time they have invited you to this beautiful place. And show you a glimpse of an important piece of their love, to share with you these mountains/forests/lakes/ beautiful backyard/home/incredible park. Because during their years together, they have come here many times, on days like today, together so humbled and awed by the purity of their surroundings that this has become a shelter, a respite, and a temple to them they wanted to share you the beauty of this space.

Because this is where their hearts have made their home they have invited you here because their love is connected to this place their time spent here has always been a time of peace, of connectedness, and of a deepening respect for the divine, for nature, and for each other they ask that you open your hearts and minds to the timelessness of this place and to the love we are here to share through this ceremony.

Charge to the Couple

Deep abiding affection, the magical and compelling shared impulse that makes us seek each other’s company, is among the greatest gifts of the human experience. Any of us who has been fortunate enough to find and express the kind of loving devotion that we are celebrating here today knows that it is an awesome and beautiful thing. This understanding brings me to the first of three pieces of advice that I will offer to this couple in front of me and of all of you gathered here today.

First, be constantly grateful for the presence of those precious people who has chosen to share their lives with you. Life is fleeting, treasured those loved ones.

My second suggestion is this: Let someone be the recipient of a daily kindness.

The world can be a tough place and any of us can be subject to rough handling. Be generous with compliments, be attentive and helpful.

Each of you can, by your tenderness toward each other, kind words and thoughtful actions, make your marriage, your home, your community, an uplifting refuge.

Last, but perhaps most importantly, make truth, honesty, the unfailing bedrock of your lives together. A happy, loving marriage is built on trust and respect. That trust and respect can only be sustained if you are both deeply committed to always being open and truthful in every exchange no matter how small.

My hope, we all hope, for you is this; that you have many long years to delight in each other’s company, to feel gratitude for your great good fortune in having found and loved each other, to a make home together that is at once sheltering and welcoming, to each do meaningful, productive work at home and in the world and to love and be loved by the friends and family who have come here today to support you.

(Optional)

Now, I ask that as family and friends, to form a community of support that surrounds Name and Name.

Each of you, by your presence here today is being called upon to uphold them in loving each other, always stand beside them,

never between them. Offer them your love and your support not your judgment.

Encourage them when encouragement is needed and listen to them when they ask for advice

In these ways, you can honor this marriage into which they have come to be joined today.

Ladies and Gentlemen if this is something you support and believe in, please answer by saying:

We do

Vows

As you travel down the road of life together, it’s important to never forget why you are here today. Remember to write love notes, say thank you, hold hands and kiss goodnight. Share your passions, watch your favorite t.v shows, discover life’s deepest questions. Go on adventures together and enjoy each other as the unique and amazing person they are. Pursue new experiences, travel to new places, and revisit the old, grow and grow together, recognize the little moments and most importantly, laugh often. There will be difficulties ahead, but if you face them as a couple, with a strong sense of love, perspective, and mutual support, you will not only survive, but thrive. It really is just this brief moment in time and the stroke of a pen are all that is required to create the legal bond of marriage, but it takes a lifetime of love, commitment, and laughter to make a marriage durable and eternal. As long as you honor the promises that you will make to each other today, you will create a life of love and happiness.

Name and Name, do you, with family and friends as your witnesses,

Present yourselves willingly and of your own accord to be joined in marriage?

Name and Name

We will

Will you promise to care for each other in the joys and sorrows of life,

Come what may, and to share the responsibility for growth and enrichment of your life together?

Name and Name

We will

Name, would you please repeat after me?

Today I promise you that though the world may change and though we may change with it,

I will always love you, always treasure you and will always share my life

and all that I am with you.

Name, would you please repeat after me?

Today I promise you that though the world may change and though we may change with it,

I will always love you, always treasure you and will always share my life

and all that I am with you.

Rings

For thousands of years, lovers have exchanged rings as a token of their vows, let these rings be a sign that love has a past, a present, and a future through you and within you.

Name take Name's ring and place it on her/his finger and repeat after me.

I give you this ring as a sign that I choose you

To be my lover, my partner and my best friend, to the end of my days

Wear it, think of me, and know that I love you

Name, take Name's ring and place it on his/her finger and repeat after me:

I give you this ring as a sign that I choose you

To be my lover, my partner and my best friend, to the end of my days

Wear it, think of me, and know that I love you

Blessing

Name and Name, we have heard your promise to share your lives in marriage. We recognize and respect the vows you have made here this day

Before each one of us as a witness. In the honesty and sincerity of what you have said and done here today, And in accordance with the laws of the state of Colorado, it is my honor and delight to declare you henceforth now married!

May the love that has brought you together continue to grow and enrich your lives.

May you meet with courage the problems that arise to. challenge you. And may your relationship always be one of love and trust.

May the happiness you share today be with you always

And may every word you have pledged here be a living truth in your lives.

A Modern Backyard Ceremony

Welcome

Greetings all, friends and family. Thank you for coming here today on this beautiful (day and date).

We are gathered here today to celebrate that the lives of Name and Name braided together by a growing love, (and God’s blessings) for over the last several years. They will now be joined in marriage. Up to this point their love has been nurtured privately. In many ways, that deepest connection is private and between them alone, but today, the promise of that bond is made public. Packed into this yard, - you may have wondered why Name and Name chose this space to get married. They had their reasons.

It was not just that they wanted to get married in the safety and warmth of this back yard. In putting you together, shoulder to shoulder, they wanted to remind you that in addition to being connected to Name and Name, everyone also exists as a group interconnected to each other in hundreds, perhaps thousands of ways. This group is bound together by our family relationships - husbands to their wives, parents to their children, uncles, cousins. We are bound to others here by interconnected friendships. Many of you have shared challenges together, rejoiced together, and celebrated with each other. We are also bound by shared memories of those not who are not with us today -- those who have let us travel down the corridors of time without them.

(Optional)

At this time, we will have a moment of silence for those who are here in spirit and are waiting for us on the other side.

Charge to the Couple

So when Name and Name thought of gathering people together, they wanted to see not only the faces of the individuals they have loved over the course of their lives. They wanted to put you together, shoulder to shoulder to form a whole - a single solid entity -- a group that will witness the declaration of their union. They believe that the strength of this group will reinforce and protect their private union. And in return, they have a promise for you. With their home as a resource - a place to bring friends and family -- they promise to do their part to nurture long standing relationships and forge new connections between those gathered here. It is to begin this process of weaving this group they hope that this will continue as we share a walk, a drink, a toast, a meal, and a dance. Name and Name are so excited about the years of marriage ahead. Their marriage will be the intertwining of two life stories. As individuals, they have each had a unique and life-shaping past, and now they willingly choose to set aside the solitary exploration of their individual lives to discover who they are in the presence of one another. In a world where often pressures tear couples apart more so than bringing them together.

(Optional)

Here are a few words to help them remember the promises that they are making today.

The little things are the big things.

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted;

the courtship should not end with the honeymoon; it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is standing together facing the world.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.

It is not looking for perfection in each other.

It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and

the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner,

it is being the right partner.

Vows

Name and Name, you will be safe in marriage, you can risk; because you have been promised a future, you can take extraordinary chances. Because you know you are loved, you can step beyond your fears; because you have been chosen, you can transcend your insecurities. You can make mistakes, knowing the other will be there to catch you. And because mistakes and risks are the very essence of change, of expansion, in marriage you will expand to your fullest capacity. Within the nurturing shelter of marriage, you will continue to grow and develop, so you can discover your individual paths and offer your gifts back to each other and the world. Marriage, then, makes you free-to see, to be seen, to love. Your souls are protected so your hearts can open. In a sense, the person you marry is a stranger about whom you have a magnificent hunch. This person is someone you love, but her depths, his intimate intricacies; you will come to know only in the long unraveling of time. To get married is to embark on the journey of getting to know each other, of coming to see each other as you really are. This companionship on life's journey is the hallmark of marriage, its natural province, and its sweetest and most fundamental gift. This is choosing the person that you want to annoy for the rest of your life, and that person wants it! The contract of marriage is most solemn and is not to be entered into lightly, but thoughtfully and seriously with a deep realization of its obligations and responsibilities. No other human ties are more tender and no other vows more important than those you are about to pledge.

Do you both come here freely and without reservation?

Name and Name:

We do

Do you, Name, offer yourself wholly and joyfully, and do you choose Name, to be the person with whom you will share your life, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and tranquility, loving what you know of her/him, and trusting what you do not know yet?

Name

I do

Name

I do

Rings

Rings are an ancient symbol, blessed and simple. Round they are, like the sun, like the eye, like the arms that embrace. Circles they are, for love that is given comes back round again. Name and Name may these rings remind you that your love, like the sun, illuminates; that your love, like the eye, must see clearly; and that your love, like the arms which embrace, is a grace upon this world.

Will you now give and receive a ring?

Name and Name

We will.

(Optional)

Name(s), would you please step forward?

Name(s), you have been chosen to warm the rings for this couple standing before you. You are representing all of your family and friends. You are warming that ring with all the love, wishes and blessings for this new marriage. Please gift your rings.

Thank you.

Name, as you place the ring on Name’s, finger will you repeat after me:

May this ring forever be to you the symbol of my growing love. With this ring, I thee wed.

Name, as you place the ring on Name’s, finger will you repeat after me:

May this ring forever be to you the symbol of my growing love. With this ring, I thee wed.

Closing

Before these witnesses, you have joined yourselves in solemn matrimony. May you strive all your lives to meet this commitment with the same love and devotion you now possess. For love is truly the greatest gift we are given to share. Delight in each other's company and never take each other for granted.

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the State of Colorado … I now pronounce you married!

You may kiss each other!

Opening our hearts to love

Welcome

Hello and Welcome!

Friends, we are here today to share with Name and Name a very important moment in their lives. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife.

So before we begin, let us take a moment of silence to open our hearts to Love’s presence revealed in the natural beauty around us, in the earth and sky, in the trees, the breeze, and the sounds of nature, Let us be aware of that same presence as it stirs within us, expressing itself through our emotions of joy and happiness… but most especially, as it reveals itself in the radiant love of Name and Name.

Name and Name, family and friends, we have been invited to this lovely location in this backyard/home/other, to celebrate the coming together of your two separate lives, to share with you in this wonderful moment of uniting your hearts, minds and souls into one through holy matrimony. Simply allow your hearts to become peaceful and quiet now, like a beautiful pond in the early morning, and rest in the love that has brought you here today. Like the current of a stream that brings life and beauty to wherever it flows, so the current of (God’s/the Universe’s love)love, the current that “knows the way,” has brought you to life and beauty both in and through each other.

Declaration of Intention

It has been said that, “Our real journey in life is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace within our hearts.” And this is your journey, Name and Name, as husband/wife/partners in life, namely learning to bow before the love in your hearts which you have for each other as it guides you into the future. By marrying today, you choose to travel as one to that home which is not a place, but rather an experience carried within you on every breath. An experience born of deep love that takes you each day closer to the one love that you are, to a loving of each other simply by ‘being’ who you are.

“The moment I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” – Rumi.

(Optional)

God of love, you are the power that awakens and draws lovers out of their separateness into a whole new adventure of oneness and wholeness. We give you thanks for Name and Name, for their open hearts, willing spirits, and for the example of love which they embody as a couple for us today. Empower them at this moment and always as they join their lives into one.

(Optional)

“When we approach marriage and family life as a sacrament, we encounter the great mystery that is the heart of both love and faith. As a man and a woman come to love each other unconditionally, after shattering habitual roles and abandoning masks, they become at once dearer and more mysterious to each other. Lovers, like true saints, have learned to cherish, trust, and embrace the mysterious other to whom they are joined but may never fully understand. Drinking from the fountain of the mysterious other - the Unknown God, the unfathomable soul, the lover who remains a familiar stranger - passion may be renewed daily.” - Sam Keen

Vows

So, when you think on love, keep in mind that to love is to remember and keep alive forever all those unique qualities that drew you to one another in the beginning. When you love, you constantly search for new ways to bring each other to happiness, to make the most of every moment you share together, and marvel at how your feelings for one another keep rising to new dimensions. When you love, you create an oasis of tranquility for one another, a quiet place, apart from others, where you need not pretend...where you can be yourselves.... And know within your hearts, you will be accepted by one another. When you love, you greet each day with anticipation, always eager for another opportunity to share new adventures, and gather up new memories together. When you love, you come together from the pathways of your past and then move forward. Hand in hand, along the uncharted roads of our future, ready to risk, to dream, and to dare, and always believe that all things are possible with faith and love. If you ask couples who have a strong and abiding love what they like most about their partners, many will say when they are with that person, they don’t have to pretend to be anything other than what they are. They are able to express themselves without fear of being judged or rejected. There is room in the relationship for both of them to be unique individuals. They are free to surrender to the vulnerability of true intimacy—to be known and loved unconditionally. Name and Name, you have found in each other that which compliments your life. You stand here as two independent whole people, each bringing your gifts and love to this marriage. So I ask you to declare your vows to each other before (God/the Universe)this community of family and friends joined together with you.

Name, please repeat after me.

Name, I bring myself to you this day to share my life with you. You can trust my love for it is real. I promise to be a faithful husband/wife/partner and to always share and support your hopes, dreams and goals. I vow to be there for you always. When you fall I will catch you; when you cry I will comfort you; when you laugh I will share your joy. Everything I am and everything I have is yours, from this moment forth and for eternity.

Name, please repeat after me.

Rings

Since the beginning of time the circle has been a symbol of completeness, a symbol of committed love. An unbroken and never ending circle symbolizes a commitment of love that is also never ending. As often as you look at this symbol, may you be reminded of the commitment of love to each other that you have made here today.

Again Name, repeat after me as you place your ring on Name's finger.

Name, you are my life, my love, my best friend, and with this ring I thee wed. May it be a reminder of my love and the sacred commitment I have made here today.

And now you Name, repeat after me as you place your ring on Name's finger.

Name, you are my life, my love, my best friend, and with this ring I thee wed. May it be a reminder of my love and the sacred commitment I have made here today.

Blessing

Name and Name, by your free choice you have made a marriage. No matter what the demands on your lives and your time, the meaning of your living is now known through your love. There is a special blessing for you both today that rings true for what you have accomplished.

“The same wind moves you, but not in the same way. The same earth holds you, but not in the same place. The same sun feeds you and you share each other’s shadows. Now you will feel no rain, for each shall be shelter to the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each shall be warmth to the other. Now you will feel no loneliness, for each shall be companion to the other. Now you are two bodies, but there is only one life before you. Go now to your dwelling place to enter into your days together, and may your days be good and long on earth!”

Name and Name, because you have showered our hearts with expressions of your love, and promised each other the joy of all your days, it gives me great honor and pleasure to now pronounce you husband/wife/ partners in life.

I now present to you _______________ !

You may kiss!

Today is the Day!

Welcome

Welcome everyone!

We have gathered here today, surrounded by the beauty of creation, and nurtured by the sights and sounds of nature to celebrate the wedding of Name and Name.

To find someone with whom to love and grow and share your life is a rare and precious thing. You are fortunate to have found each other and today we are embracing the hope that you find the patience to listen, the capacity to understand, and the compassion to give comfort; each day enjoying each other’s company. Marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, who trust that love, who honor one another as individuals in that togetherness, and who wish to spend the rest of their lives together. It enables the two separate souls to share their desires, longings, dreams, and memories, their joys, and sorrows, and to help each other through all uncertainties of life. A strong marriage also nurtures each of you as separate individuals and allows you to maintain your unique identity and grow in your own way through the years ahead. It is a safe haven for each of you to become your best self while together you become better than ever could be alone.

(Optional)

A wedding day is often a day when couples miss those people who no longer with them or they were unbale to make it to the celebration. Maybe those loved ones are traveling down a different road from us or were unable to be here due to reasons of their own. Even if they are not always with us, we hold them in our hearts. Let’s take just a moment and remember all those wonderful times you shared, whether it was a meal, a dance, an adult beverage, laughing and sharing a smile or two.

Declaration

It is fitting to speak briefly about love. We live in a world of joy and fear, and we search for meaning and strength in the seeming disorder. We discover the truest guideline to our quest when we realize love in all its magnitudes. Love is the eternal force of life. Love is the force that allows us to overcome all obstacles. May you always remember to give love freely and unconditionally from your heart. Always preserve yourself, your integrity, and your individuality; yet give of yourselves freely to each other. Because you are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust.

One of the greatest lesson life teaches us about marriage as well as all of relationships, is that those who hoard the goodness of life just for themselves, miss out on the best things of this world. But the ones who give of themselves...who share the wonders of life with others...devoting themselves to enrich the marriage, relationships, and friendships... it is those people who find a blessed life.

(Optional)

It feels fitting that at this time I have a small poem to read to you-

This for you, for both of you, a small poem of happiness

filled with small glories and little triumphs, a fragile, short cheerful song

filled with hope and all sorts of futures.

Because at weddings we imagine the future, because it's all about "what happened next?"

all the work and negotiation and building and talk, that makes even the tiniest happily ever after

something to be proud of for a wee forever.

This is a small thought for both of you, like a feather or a prayer, a wish of trust and love and hope

and fine brave hearts and true.

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks—all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married,” and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will”—all those late-night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”—and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

Vows

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed—well, I meant it all, every word.” There are no ties on earth so sweet, none so tender as those you are about to assume. There are no vows so solemn as those you are about to make. There is no institution of earth so sacred as that of the union you will form, for the true home is not only the place in which you will live, but is also the dwelling place where each lives in the heart and mind of the other. Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another—acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past few years. Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.

Name, will you have Name to be your wife/husband/partner to live together as friend and mate? Will you love her/him as a person, respect her as an equal, sharing joy as well as sorrow, triumph as well as defeat. And keep her/him beside you as long as you both shall live?
Name
I do

Please repeat after me,

Name, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband/partner. 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, will you have Name to be your wife/husband/partner to live together as friend and mate? Will you love her/him as a person, respect her as an equal, sharing joy as well as sorrow, triumph as well as defeat. And keep her/him beside you as long as you both shall live?
Name
I do

Please repeat after me,

Rings

My friends, you have just made promises love and devotion to each other. So now its time to exchange your rings. The ring, which is a circle, is one of nature’s simplest forms. The arc of the rainbow, the halo of the moon and the smallest of raindrops simulate the circle. When a stone is cast upon a pond, it generates waves in ever expanding circles. Consider this marriage as being two stones striking the water simultaneously. The ensuing waves interlock, and the growth of the enlarging circles show the combined energies of the lives of you both. The interlocking of your two lives will be symbolized in the exchange of these rings.

(Optional)

Could Name(s), please step forward with the rings? Please hold these rings in your hands.

Warm them, think of everything that you wish and want for Kim and Brian. I also invite everyone here to do the same and infuse these rings with those blessings and wishes for them to carry though out their lives together and beyond.

Name, as you place the ring on Name’s left hand please repeat after me:

Name, I give you this ring as a sign of my devotion and love

and with my all my heart I promise to you all that I am.

With this ring I marry you and join my life to yours.

Name, as you place the ring on Name’s left hand please repeat after me:

Name, I give you this ring as a sign of my devotion and love

and with my all my heart I promise to you all that I am.

With this ring I marry you and join my life to yours.

Closing

Name and Name as a collection of words, this ceremony would count for little, were it not for the love and commitment you have pledged to one another. Your vows may have been spoken in minutes, but your promises to each other will last a lifetime. You have come here today of your own free will and in the presence of family and friends, have declared your love and commitment to each other. You have given and received a ring as a symbol of your promises.

(Optional)

As a final blessing to you my friends-

May you have many joys and be the light of each other's day. May you always see and encourage the best in each other. May the challenges that life brings your way make your marriage grow stronger. May you always be each other's best friend and greatest love.

By the power of your love and commitment to each other, and by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband/wife/ partners in life. You may now share your first kiss as a married couple!

Congratulations!

You are now married!

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