HalloweenBride
10-25-2006, 10:42 PM
This is what we sent out officiant to read over. Most of the longer parts are put together from various ceremonies we've read, but steve and I wrote the vow parts and a litte bit of the ring part.
Commencement
Welcome! Family and Friends: Bride and Groom have asked me to
welcome you on their behalf. This ceremony attests to a commitment
and fulfills their wish to stand before family and friends and
proclaim their love. Can you think of a better way than this? I can
not.
Dear Bride and Groom, we have all gathered here this afternoon to
celebrate your marriage. This ceremony is a public expression of the
love you share and the commitment you wish to make to each other
through the coming years. Today you are surrounded by your family and
friends, all of whom are gathered to witness your marriage and to
share your joy in this wonderful day. This ceremony attests to the
happiness you have already attained through your year of friendship
with one another and the deepening love that will evolve from this
intimate union.
Address
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. The joy we now feel
is a solemn joy because the act of marriage is fraught with weighty
consequences, both social and personal. By this marriage you two will
reach a new social status and rise to a new plane of social dignity.
But, also, with the founding of the family, there come the most
difficult tasks and exacting disciplines which fall to our human lot.
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 dreams and aspirations come true.
Love of this sort can grow. It is not, like yout h, a moment that
comes and is gone, remaining only a memory of something which cannot
be recovered. It can grow because it has something to grow upon and
grow with. It does not become contracted and stale, because it has for
its object all the objects with which the two lovers are concerned.
Love endures only when the lovers love many things together and not
merely each other.
Who presents this woman to be married to this man? Brides mother and Father: We do.
Vows
(we would like to read from cards, we're going to try to memorize it, but that would be nice)
Lauren:
On a solemn night
of a wayward plight
I accept you
I am receptive to you
this is the capturing of a moment
this is as we should own it
this is how we met
let's not forget
our true love vows
Steve:
I held you
I realized you\
you are now part of my life
my equal
my complement
yet my supplement
and my dearest
forever
Both at same time:
look into my eyes
give me your hands
approach me
tell me you love me
leave my embrace
as we know
we can love each other
when we are apart
Blessing and Exchanging of Rings
And now the rings:
We don't need one ring to rule it all, but we do need two rings to unite Lauren and Steve before all of you.
These rings are a symbol of unbroken circle of love.Love, freely given, has no beginning and no end. Love, freely givin has no giver
and no receiver- for each is the giver and the receiver.May these rings remind you always of the Love you share on this day.
With this ring, I ask you to be mine
Blessing
We rejoice this day in your marriage. We celebrate the love that
brought you to this day. With love that deepens through many years,
may you know its meaning and its mystery - how we become truly one in
sharing ourselves with one another, and yet, remain truly two in our
own uniqueness. May your house be a place of happiness for all who
enter it, a place where the old and the young are renewed in each
other's company, a place for growing, a place for music, a place for
laughter. And when shadows and darkness fall within its rooms, may it
still be a place of hope and strength for all who enter it, especially
for those who may be entrusted to your care. May no person be alien to
your compassion. May your larger family be the family of all
humankind. And may those who are nearest to you and dearest to you
constantly be enriched by the beauty and the bounty of your love for
each other.
Pronouncement of Marriage
For as much as you have consented together in marriage, declaring your
love for each other, giving and receiving rings, it is my pleasure and
joy to declare that henceforth you are husband and wife. At last!
You may kiss the Bride! or
You may seal your marriage with a kiss!
Commencement
Welcome! Family and Friends: Bride and Groom have asked me to
welcome you on their behalf. This ceremony attests to a commitment
and fulfills their wish to stand before family and friends and
proclaim their love. Can you think of a better way than this? I can
not.
Dear Bride and Groom, we have all gathered here this afternoon to
celebrate your marriage. This ceremony is a public expression of the
love you share and the commitment you wish to make to each other
through the coming years. Today you are surrounded by your family and
friends, all of whom are gathered to witness your marriage and to
share your joy in this wonderful day. This ceremony attests to the
happiness you have already attained through your year of friendship
with one another and the deepening love that will evolve from this
intimate union.
Address
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. The joy we now feel
is a solemn joy because the act of marriage is fraught with weighty
consequences, both social and personal. By this marriage you two will
reach a new social status and rise to a new plane of social dignity.
But, also, with the founding of the family, there come the most
difficult tasks and exacting disciplines which fall to our human lot.
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 dreams and aspirations come true.
Love of this sort can grow. It is not, like yout h, a moment that
comes and is gone, remaining only a memory of something which cannot
be recovered. It can grow because it has something to grow upon and
grow with. It does not become contracted and stale, because it has for
its object all the objects with which the two lovers are concerned.
Love endures only when the lovers love many things together and not
merely each other.
Who presents this woman to be married to this man? Brides mother and Father: We do.
Vows
(we would like to read from cards, we're going to try to memorize it, but that would be nice)
Lauren:
On a solemn night
of a wayward plight
I accept you
I am receptive to you
this is the capturing of a moment
this is as we should own it
this is how we met
let's not forget
our true love vows
Steve:
I held you
I realized you\
you are now part of my life
my equal
my complement
yet my supplement
and my dearest
forever
Both at same time:
look into my eyes
give me your hands
approach me
tell me you love me
leave my embrace
as we know
we can love each other
when we are apart
Blessing and Exchanging of Rings
And now the rings:
We don't need one ring to rule it all, but we do need two rings to unite Lauren and Steve before all of you.
These rings are a symbol of unbroken circle of love.Love, freely given, has no beginning and no end. Love, freely givin has no giver
and no receiver- for each is the giver and the receiver.May these rings remind you always of the Love you share on this day.
With this ring, I ask you to be mine
Blessing
We rejoice this day in your marriage. We celebrate the love that
brought you to this day. With love that deepens through many years,
may you know its meaning and its mystery - how we become truly one in
sharing ourselves with one another, and yet, remain truly two in our
own uniqueness. May your house be a place of happiness for all who
enter it, a place where the old and the young are renewed in each
other's company, a place for growing, a place for music, a place for
laughter. And when shadows and darkness fall within its rooms, may it
still be a place of hope and strength for all who enter it, especially
for those who may be entrusted to your care. May no person be alien to
your compassion. May your larger family be the family of all
humankind. And may those who are nearest to you and dearest to you
constantly be enriched by the beauty and the bounty of your love for
each other.
Pronouncement of Marriage
For as much as you have consented together in marriage, declaring your
love for each other, giving and receiving rings, it is my pleasure and
joy to declare that henceforth you are husband and wife. At last!
You may kiss the Bride! or
You may seal your marriage with a kiss!