Formal Wedding Ceremony Script 6 - Secular Humanist

Formal Wedding Ceremony Script 6

I don't necessarily think there is anything different about this ceremony than another non-religious ceremony, it just tends to be chosen more by couples that identify as Secular Humanists or Atheists - and it quotes Carl Sagan.   I offer a wide variety of ceremonies to help couples find their "tone."  I want you to vibe with the words of your ceremony!  Some couples are very intentional with the wording of their ceremony and that's important. You might think everyone is intentional with the wording of their ceremony, but they aren't and that's OK too. 

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Unplugged Ceremony Announcement

Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Name and Name’s Wedding!  I ask that you silence your phones and refrain from taking pictures during the wedding.  There are professional photographers here to catch all the important moments.  They will be happy to share those pictures with you when they are done.  Thank you!  Let’s begin.

Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Name and Name in marriage. 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 married partners.

Today you've gathered your friends and family together to celebrate this special day with you. 

Throughout time, what people have found that is essential for a  strong and long lasting relationship is that it be founded on love. Love is friendship, quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good times and bad. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present and hopes for the future, and it doesn't brood over the past. It is the chronicles of problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things that you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else is there, it isn't enough.

Reading

The reading will be a book passage from Carl Sagan 

Consider our planet. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived here on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Once we lose our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe which dwarfs -- in time, in space, and in potential -- the tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors. And for small creatures such as we, this vastness is made bearable only through love. 

Declaration of Intent 

Name, do you take Name. to be the Husband/wife/life-partner of your days, the companion of your heart and the friend of your life?  To stand united in the face of adversity and bask together in the light of good fortune? With these words spoken, and all those as yet unspoken, do you wish to marry Name and join your lives together?

I do

Name, do you take Name. to be the Husband/wife/life-partner of your days, the companion of your heart and the friend of your life?  To stand united in the face of adversity and bask together in the light of good fortune? With these words spoken, and all those as yet unspoken, do you wish to marry Name and join your lives together?

I do

Vows

This day represents so much for both of you. Of course, it is the day you begin your lives together as husband and wife. Your wedding is a public proclamation of your love, made here in front of your friends and family. But beyond that, and most importantly, you are here to make promises to each other, the promises that are the foundation of your marriage. Your vows are how you put your relationship into words - what it means today, and what it will mean for the rest of your lives. 

Share your own vows here

Ring Exchange

The ring is the symbol of the commitment which holds the two of you together.  The wedding ring is the visible sign of an invisible bond which unites two hearts in love.

Name and Name, as you exchange these rings, may they be symbols of your promises to each other and remind you of your devotion.  May you feel honored to call each other.... husband and wife/Partners in Life.  
may you remember that from this day the one you love is always beside you.  
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Closing

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.

I now pronounce you Husband and wife/Partners in Life/Married!

You may seal this marriage with a kiss!

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** Formal Ceremony 1 ** Formal Ceremony 2 - Traditional, Non-Religious ** Formal Ceremony 3 - Modern and Romantic **** Formal Ceremony 4 - Short and Sweet ** Formal Ceremony 5 - Christian-lite ** Formal Ceremony 6 - Secular Humanist **** Formal Ceremony 7 - Interfaith-Jewish ** Formal Ceremony 8 - Modern Handfasting ** Formal Ceremony 9 - Christian Traditional ** ​** Formal Ceremony 10 **

** Formal Wedding Ceremony Guide ** Formal Wedding Ceremony Scripts ** Elopement Ceremony Guide ** Elopement Ceremony Scripts ** Parts of a Wedding Ceremony ** Vow Writing Guide ** Unplugged Ceremony ** Opening Prayers ** Welcoming ** Moment of Silence ** Declaration of Support ** About Love and Marriage ** Non-Religious Readings ** Christian Readings ** Secular I-do's! ** Christian I-do-s! ** Ring Meaning ** Ring Blessings ** Secular Ring Exchanges ** Christian Ring Exchanges ** Unity Ceremonies ** Secular Blessings ** Christian Blessings ** The-pronouncement-Secular  ** The Pronouncement - Christian **