Ceremony #2
Combination of my favorites
Ceremony #2
Combination of my favorites
Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to celebrate the wedding of BRIDE and GROOM.
Marriage is the promise of hope between two people who love each other sincerely, who honor each other as individuals, and who wish to unite their lives and share the future together. In this ceremony, GROOM and BRIDE dedicate themselves to the happiness and well-being of each other. We come to marriage as separate persons, who, through love and affection, agree to unite our lives in common purpose. Marriage, like life, challenges us to find the best in each other, in times of joy, and in times of sorrow, to learn from each other, and to deepen our love, our compassion and our understanding of each other.
Who gives this woman to be married to this man?
Family, friends and loved ones, We gather here today to share in this formal commitment that GROOM and BRIDE are about to make to one another, to offer love and support to there union, and to allow them to start their married life together surrounded by the people dearest and most important to them. So welcome to one and all, who have traveled from near and far. BRIDE and GROOM thank you for your presence here today and now ask for your blessing, encouragement, and lifelong support, for their decision to be married.
MOMENT OF REMEMBRANCE (Optional)
Before we begin, BRIDE and GROOM would like to honor those loved ones and friends who are not with us today. Let’s pause for a moment and bring them into our thoughts and into our hearts.
DECLARATION OF INTENT (See File "Samples of Declaration of Intent" for more wording options)
GROOM, the woman who stands by your side is about to become your wife. She will look to you for comfort, support, understanding, encouragement, and protection. You must never take her for granted, and always consider her along with yourself.
GROOM, do you take BRIDE to be your wedded Wife, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony? Groom: I do.
Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others keep yourself only to her so long as you both shall live? Groom: I do.
BRIDE, the man who stands by your side is about to become your husband. He will look to you for comfort, support, understanding, encouragement, and inspiration. You must never take him for granted, and always consider him along with yourself.
BRIDE, do you take GROOM to be your wedded husband, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony? Bride: I do.
Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others keep yourself only to him so long as you both shall live? Bride: I do.
Please face one another and join your hands.
I CHOOSE YOU
GROOM and BRIDE there are three words stronger than the words I love you, and today you stand here together in front of me, your family and friends to say those three words to each other: ‘I choose you’. You have spent enough time together to know many of the quirks, habits and even little things about each other that sometimes drive you nuts, and you know that there is no one else you’d rather make this journey with.
You are saying to one another, I choose you over all others. I choose you to share happiness with, I choose you to care for, I choose you to share my innermost self with. I choose you to have a family with, I choose you to grow old with, and I choose you to love forever.
Today you have chosen to cross a threshold and enter into a new and lasting lifetime commitment to each other. You will have to keep choosing each other, every day throughout the years. Some days that will be very easy, but on some days it will be harder. But during those hard times, if you will reflect back on today, and all of the reasons you chose to be here, you will continue to confirm your choice.
We are all here to witness and celebrate this new beginning, and to show our faith that you have made the perfect choice in each other. When you walk back down that aisle, side by side, it will be as husband and wife, and you can celebrate the rest of your life with the one that chose you!
There are no ties that are more tender, no vows more sacred than those you now assume. If you are able to keep the vows you take here today, not because of a civic or religious law, but out of a desire to love and be loved by another person, fully, without limitation, then your life will have joy and the home you establish will be a place of refuge for you and those you love.
EXCHANGE OF VOWS (See File "Samples of Vows" for more wording options)
GROOM, holding BRIDE by the hands and looking into her eyes, repeat after me. “I GROOM, take you BRIDE to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”
BRIDE, holding GROOM by the hands and looking into his eyes, repeat after me. “I BRIDE, take you GROOM to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”
RING CEREMONY
The couple will now exchange rings to symbolize the never-ending love they feel for each other. The ring has neither a beginning nor an end, just as there is no beginning or end to what the partners give and receive in marriage. These rings will be a reminder of the vows you have taken today.
Who presents the ring for BRIDE?
BRIDE, in honor of the vows you have made will you receive and wear this ring? Bride: I will.
GROOM, indicating your responsibility to BRIDE to receive her into your care and keeping, place this ring on the ring finger of her left hand and while holding it there, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed and bind my life to yours. It is a symbol of my never ending love, My everlasting friendship, And the promise of all my tomorrows.
Who presents the ring for GROOM?
GROOM, in honor of the vows you have made will you receive and wear this ring? Groom: I will.
BRIDE, indicating your responsibility to GROOM to receive him into your care and devotion, place this ring on the ring finger of his left hand and while holding it there, repeat after me. “With this ring, I thee wed and bind my life to yours. It is a symbol of my never ending love, My everlasting friendship, And the promise of all my tomorrows..”
If You would like to add a unity ceremony, It would go here.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, our hearts are filled with great joy on BRIDE and GROOM’s wedding day, as they come before you pledging their hearts and lives to one another. Grant that they may ever be true and loving, living together in such a way as to never bring shame or heartbreak into their marriage. Temper their hearts with kindness and understanding, rid them of pretense or jealousy. Help them to remember to be each other's sweetheart, helpmate, best friend and guide, so that together they may meet the cares and problems of life more bravely. And with the passage of time, I ask that you grant them great contentment in the rich joy of their companionship. May the home they are creating today be a place of true love and harmony, where Your Spirit is always present. Bless this marriage we pray and watch GROOM and BRIDE as they take this journey together. In Christ name I pray, Amen
GROOM and BRIDE forasmuch as you have consented together to join your lives in the bonds of matrimony, and have pledged your loyalty each to the other and have declared the same by joining hands and by the giving and receiving of rings, and have witnessed the same before God almighty and this company of family and friends; By the authority vested in me as a minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and according to the laws of the State of (STATE), I now pronounce you are Husband and Wife.
GROOM, you may kiss your bride.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honor to present GROOM & BRIDE for the very first time as husband and wife, Mr. And Mrs. LAST NAME.