A Classic, Romantic Love Ceremony

Welcome

Family, friends, and honored guests, on behalf of Name and Name, I would like to warmly welcome you to the celebration of their marriage. They wish to express their gratitude for each of you who has chosen to be here today.  During the ceremony this evening, we respectfully request that you silence and put away all cell phones and cameras so we can all be fully present in this moment. Thank you.

Moment of Silence

    Name and Name would like to first take a moment to remember those who are not with us here today. Those who were unable to be here and those who are deeply missed. We know that they are here with us in love and spirit.

(Brief moment of silence)

Words about Love and Marriage

We have been invited here today to witness and celebrate the uniting in marriage of Colin and Olivia. They are taking the first step of their new beginning, their new life together. The ability and desire for one human being to love another is perhaps the most precious and fulfilling gift that has been entrusted to us. It is an all-consuming task, a lifelong endeavor — the journey we’ve been preparing for all of our lives. Loving someone is a reason to stretch beyond our limits, to become more for the sake of the other. It is to look into the soul of your beloved and accept what you see. Loving is the ultimate commitment which challenges humans to become all that we are meant to be. As they join in marriage today, these two are announcing to the world that they are welcoming that challenge.

Only once in your lifetime, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around.  You tell them things that you’ve never shared with a soul, and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more.  You share hopes for the future, dreams that may never come true, goals that were never achieved, and the many disappointments life has thrown at you.  They are not embarrassed to cry with you or laugh.  They build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special.  There is a quiet calmness when they are around.  You can be yourself because they love you for all you are.  In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, and you are quite content.  Things that never interested you before become fascinating.  You open your heart and experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible.  You find that being vulnerable is the only way to feel true pleasure, and it’s so real it scares you.  You find strength in knowing you have a true friend who will remain loyal to the end.  Life seems completely different, exciting, and worthwhile.  Your only hope and security are in knowing that they are part of your life. 

We are here today celebrating love.
(This is from The History of Love by Diane Ackerman)

Love. What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful it has altered the flow of history, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush, consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fuelled national scandals, bankrupted robber barons, and made mincemeat of kings. How can love's spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable? Love is an ancient delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots stretching deep into dark and mysterious days.
The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit, preserved forever like wondrous diatoms, are our moments of loving and being loved.

Readings
Our first reading is “Love Is Friendship Set On Fire” by Laura Hendricks:

“Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future, and does not brood over the past. It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.”


    Our second reading is an excerpt from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières:

“Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness; it is not excitement; it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion… That is just being ‘in love’, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches, we found that we were one tree and not two.”

Vows

Name and Name - You fell in love by chance, but you're here today because you're making a choice. You both are choosing each other. You've chosen to be with someone who enhances you, who makes you think, makes you smile, and makes every day brighter.

You're about to make promises to each other that you intend to keep. You're going to vow to take care of each other, stand up for one another, and find happiness in each other. There's a simple premise to each of these promises: you're vowing to be there. You're teaming up and saying to the other, "Every experience I am going to have, I want you to be a part of."

Now, I have questions for you both.

Name, will you keep Name as your partner, favorite person, and best friend for life - to live together, play together, and laugh together? To respect her/him/them, be proud of her/him/them, and find new reasons to love her/him/them every day? To always give her/him/them your unconditional love, unwavering support, and, above all else, the freedom to be herself/himself/themselves? To build with her/him/them a life that is full of love, laughter, happiness, commitment, respect, and growth?

Name: I will.

Name, will you keep Name as your partner, favorite person, and best friend for life - to live together, play together, and laugh together? To respect her/him/them, be proud of her/him/them, and find new reasons to love her/him/them every day? To always give her/him/them your unconditional love, unwavering support, and, above all else, the freedom to be herself/himself/themselves? To build with her/him/them a life that is full of love, laughter, happiness, commitment, respect, and growth?


Olivia: I will.

Will you both be each other's partners from this day forward? Will you share the responsibility for the growth and enrichment of your life together and give each other all of the loving support needed to become the people you are destined to be? Will you bring out the best in one another, share your happiest moments together, and love each other absolutely — until the end of your forever?

Both:  We will.

Throughout the course of your marriage, both in its happiest and most challenging moments, I encourage you to remember these vows you’ve just made to each other and remember the following passage: “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of errors.”

Ring Exchange

May we have the rings, please?


This is the point in the ceremony where we usually talk about the wedding bands being a perfect circle, with no beginning and no end.  But we all know that these rings do have a beginning.  Rock is dug up from the earth.  Metal is liquefied in a furnace at a thousand degrees, then molded, cooled, and painstakingly polished.  Something beautiful is made from raw elements.  Love is like that.  It comes from humble beginnings, made by imperfect beings.  It's the process of making something beautiful where there was once nothing at all.

These rings are your promise to accept each other’s imperfections and appreciate all that makes your love unique and beautiful. They are a daily reminder of your marriage.  Sometimes they will remind you of the commitment that you have made - for better or worse.  But may they always remind you that there is one person in the world that has pledged their love to you with all that they have. 

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

 I, Name, will share my life with yours, build our dreams together,
support you through times of trouble, and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty. This commitment is made in love, kept in earnest, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives.  

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

 I, Name, will share my life with yours, build our dreams together,
support you through times of trouble, and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty. This commitment is made in love, kept in earnest, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives.

Pronouncement  

You came here today to affirm your love for one another and formally acknowledge that which your hearts already knew…that your lives are meant to be shared as one, that you are stronger together than you are apart, and that, for all the days yet to come, you wish to share together all life’s joys and challenges, committed one to the other.

You have made this affirmation and commitment in the presence of the most important people in your lives. May you forever feel that the life you share is the life you have always wanted. May all your days be blessed with love and friendship. May each day and night of your lives be a new beginning. May your home be filled with laughter, warmth, and love. May you find in your life together peacefulness and beauty, challenge and satisfaction, humor and insight, healing  and renewal, love and wisdom. May you always feel that what you have is enough.

And now, it is my great pleasure to acknowledge your union as Husband/wife and Wife/Husband. (Or. Married!) You may now seal your marriage with a kiss.


Friends and family, it is my pleasure to present to you for the first time as husband and wife/married partners, Name and Name! (Mr. and Mrs.)

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