Adrianna and Kurt's Wedding Ceremony Script With A Reading From Kurt Vonnegut, Scottish Rite Cathedral, Indianapolis

Who gives this woman to be married?
Father: Her mother and I do.  
 
Officiant Continues:
 
Please be seated.
 
Welcome
 
Welcome!  We are gathered here today to celebrate and to witness the joining of Adrianna and Kurtis 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.
 
Moment of Silence
 
We’d like to take a moment to remember those who are not with us here today. Those who were unable to be here and those who have gone on to greater things. We know that they are here with us in spirit.  
 
Today is a celebration. A celebration of love, of commitment, of friendship, of family, and of two people who are in it for forever.
 
The marriage ceremony has been an important feature across nearly every culture, religion, generation, and society. We have thousands of important moments that happen throughout our lives, but this one is regarded as one so critical, we acknowledge its special status by sharing it with others.
 
All of us here today have our own love stories. Some are short, others long. Some are yet unwritten, while others are just getting to the good part. There are chapters in all of our stories that are sad or disappointing — and others that are exciting and full of adventure.
 
And that brings them here. A time to pause, look back, and smile at all the moments that brought them here. And a time to look ahead at all the moments that are still to come.
 
I'm here — we're all here — because we want those moments for you. We're here to hope with you, to support you, to be proud of you, and to remind you that love isn't happily ever after, love is the experience of writing your story. It's not one moment — not even this moment. It's every moment. Big ones like saying "I love you," moving in together, getting engaged — but mostly a million little ones that come in between the big moments.
 
The bride and groom would like for me to share a passage from Kurt Vonnegut’s “A man without a country” p. 132.
 
"But I had a good uncle, my late Uncle Alex. He was my father’s kid brother, a childless graduate of Harvard who was an honest life insurance salesman in Indianapolis. He was well-read and wise. And his principal complaint about other human beings was that they so seldom noticed it when they were happy. So, when we were drinking lemonade under an apple tree in the summer, say, and talking lazily about this and that, almost buzzing like honeybees, Uncle Alex would suddenly interrupt the agreeable blather to exclaim, if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is. So, I do the same now, and so do my kids and grandkids. And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is."
 
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 who makes you stop and think “if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
 
Unity Candle Ceremony
 
Bride and Groom have chosen to commemorate their marriage by lighting a Unity Candle.  This ceremony represents the joining of two families.  Both of their mothers will lit their candles as a symbol of their love towards their children and from where they come.  Their children will then join those flames.
 
*Mothers to come up and light their candles*

Bride and Groom, the two distinct candle flames represent your lives before this day, individual, unique and special. Please take the candle symbolizing your life before today, and together light the center candle to symbolize the union of your individual lives. (Place the tapers back into their holders—join hands and remain near the candles) As this new flame burns undivided, so shall your lives now be one. Although you are now entering into a marriage relationship, you do not, however, lose your personal identity. Rather, you will use your special individuality to create and strengthen the relationship of marriage. Therefore all three candles remain glowing. The individual candles represent all that makes each of you the wonderful and unique person the other admires and respects. The Unity candle in the center symbolizes the union of your lives, families, and friends, as well as your shining commitment to each other, and to a lasting and loving marriage.
 
*move back to center of the stage*
 
Vows and Ring Exchange
 
The rings please…

The rings are the universal symbols of marriage.  They mean many things.  From now on you will wear these rings and they will remind you...  They will remind you of the endless circle that they are.  Like love, there is no beginning and no end.  They will remind you daily that you are married.  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 other person in the world that has pledged to love you forever, through thick and through thin and with all that they have. 
 
Kurtis, as you place the ring on Adriana’s finger, please repeat after me:
I Kurtis, take thee, Adriana to be my Wife.
To have and to hold,
in sickness and in health,
for richer or for poorer,
in joy and sorrow,
and I promise my love to you.
And with this ring,
I take you as my Wife,
for as long as we both shall live.

Adriana, as you place the ring on Kurtis’s finger, please repeat after me:
I Adriana, take thee, Kurtis, to be my Husband.
To have and to hold,
in sickness and in health,
for richer or for poorer,
in joy and sorrow,
and I promise my love to you.
And with this ring,
I take you as my husband,
for as long as we both shall live.
 
Closing
 
Adriana and Kurtis, 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 and the warm embrace of a summer’s day.    
May you find peacefulness and beauty, challenge, and satisfaction, humor and insight, healing  and renewal, love and wisdom, as in a quiet heart.
May you always feel that what you have is enough.
 
By the power vested in me by the state of Indiana I now pronounce you Husband and wife!
 
You may kiss your bride!!
 
Mr. and Mrs!!