The Welcoming xo

Welcome to the Wedding!

I like to start a wedding ceremony by welcoming your guests to your wedding.  It can be done before the ceremony actually begins with opening announcements, after an opening prayer.  I start all of the ceremonies I perform by welcoming the couple quietly, and then welcoming the guests.

Below are some great ways to welcome your family and friends to your wedding ceremony.  I often look at them as writing prompts. 

​Sometimes, I like to begin with,
"family, friends, honored guests, I'd like to warmly welcome you to the celebration of the marriage of Name and Name..." 

Other times,
"Welcome to Name and Name's Wedding! Together, they have built an amazing life, today we celebrate with joy, their choice to keep building a more amazing life as a married couple!" 

After that, I may add something more personal about the group gathered. 

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Welcoming 1

Hello and welcome. Today we are here to witness the act of love. Love is the magic that has brought Name and Name together and through that magic, we are joining them today. 

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Welcoming 2

We are gathered here in this beautiful place to join together Name and Name in marriage, a state instituted in love, occasioned by joy. Honored and renewed by each person who pledges themselves to each other. It is therefore, not to be entered into lightly, or, unadvisedly. It is to be entered into with praise and delight for it’s inexpressible gifts. Let us be honest enough with ourselves to know that there is no true marriage, except the inward bond of trust and love that dwells in the hearts of Name and Name. Only the two of you will know what marriage exists between you – the outer forms are only signs and covers over the love of your hearts. We wish that you will find together, a richness beyond the wealth of money – a depth of soul that will make beautiful everything you do in life,  both separately and together.

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Welcoming 3

We would like to welcome all of you, honored guests, and thank you for being with us today. We are gathered here today to join Name and Name into the union of marriage, and bear witness to the miraculous power of love. Love is our purpose in being here; it is the essence of who we are. With Love as their foundation, marriage offers Name and Name the opportunity to become their essence with one another. Marriage is an art form that brings profound joy and demands great responsibility, awareness, and commitment. We who partake of this occasion bind ourselves as witnesses to the journey of love that they are undertaking here.

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Welcoming 4

​We are here on this magnificent and beautiful day to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments, we are all present to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to publicly witness the creation of an outward marriage bond that Name and Name have already been creating inwardly. Their love and intention has created this marriage and we are gathered here today to join in the celebration and acknowledgment of that bonding.

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Welcoming 5

​We have come together, both families and friends, to witness Name and Name as they exchange their vows of marriage. We share with them their delight in finding love with each other, and support their decision to live their lives together as marriage partners. As Name and Name enter into marriage, they do so with thought and reverence. They give thanks for the past, which brought them to this place and look forward with hope to what the future will bring.

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Welcoming 6

​Hello and welcome!  May your hearts be glad and your spirits be light. For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under Heaven.  Now is the time for a wedding. Name and Name have asked you all here today to bear witness to the forming of their covenant. In honor of this event, they will say heartfelt words, perform age-old rituals and validate this event in your presence, their family, and friends. They will laugh and cry, dance and sing, and above all, celebrate their love with the blessings of the people who matter most to them. To this day Name and Name bring the joy in their hearts as a gift to one another. They bring their shared dreams, which tie them together. And they bring the seeds for their future, out of which will grow their life together. You have been invited to share in their joy because of your bonds to Name and Name and their families. Thank you for coming.

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Welcoming 7

We have been invited here today to witness and celebrate the uniting in marriage of Name and Name. 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, Name and Name are announcing to the world that they are welcoming that challenge.

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Welcoming 8

Welcome to this most important moment in the lives of Name and Name. I invite you to leave behind the worries and concerns of everyday life and join us in the celebration of their marriage. This is an opportunity for us to share not only in the joy of Name and Name’s love but also to reaffirm and appreciate the love and the friendship we experience in our own lives. May we all celebrate by being fully present during our short time together.

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Welcoming 9

Welcome! Friends and Family of the Name and Name. Thank you for being here on this important day. We are gathered together to celebrate the very special love between them, by joining them in marriage. All of us need and desire to love and to be loved. And the highest form of love between two people is within a  committed relationship. Name and Name, your marriage today is the public and legal joining of your souls that have already been united as one in your hearts. Marriage will allow you a new environment to share your lives together, standing together to face life and the world, hand-in-hand. Marriage is going to expand you as individuals, define you as a couple, and deepen your love for one another. To be successful, you will need strength, courage, patience and a really good sense of humor. So, let your marriage be a time of waking each morning and falling in love with each other all over again.

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Welcoming 10

Welcome!  We are gathered here today to celebrate and to witness the joining of Name and Name in marriage. As they promise to love, trust in that love, honor one another as individuals, and anticipate with joy spending the rest of their lives together. They are surrounded by you - their friends and family.  Thank you for gathering here to witness their marriage and to share in the joy of this special occasion.