Katie and Cody's Wedding Ceremony Script, The Sycamore at Mallow Run, Bargersville, IN.

Katie and Cody chose a Sunday morning to get married at The Sycamore at Mallow Run in Bargersville, IN.  This wasn't my first Sunday morning wedding at The Sycamore.  It's a beautiful venue and the Sunday morning prices are very attractive to many couples looking to have the wedding they dream of at the price they can afford.  

Sunday morning weddings are actually very popular.  This was my 5th early Sunday wedding this month!  (One Sunday had two.) Interestingly enough, everyone was on time or even early for Katie and Cody's wedding.   It was early but there was nothing informal about it!

Katie wanted the wedding to start with a prayer.  it's the same prayer that was read at her parents wedding and she knows it has great meaning for her mother and she wanted to include that in her own wedding ceremony.  

Katie and Cody chose my Modern Romantic Ceremony and had fun personalizing it with their story of how they met at Ball State in Muncie, IN. 

Katie and Cody's Wedding Ceremony

Let it be our prayer That in the unparalleled glory of a day
Like this, We will come to a new understanding and appreciation
Of the miraculous gift of our being: That we will not allow our discovery
Of the joy And the wonder and miracle Of life To lead us into selfish concerns,
But rather that it may make use more tender, More understanding More compassionate.  Let it be our prayer That no amount of success, Of personal strength, Or pride of achievement, or glory In the power and quality
Of our own life, Will keep us from appreciating the Needs of others around us,
And our need of them, And the quality and the glory and the wonder
Of the ties that bind us together.
Rev. Duncan Littlefair Fountain Sheet Church Grand Rapids, MI

Today is a celebration. A celebration of love, of commitment, of friendship, of family, and of two people who are in it for forever.
You don't have to have a ceremony to have a marriage. And when you think about it, the whole thing is kind of weird, right? You're standing on a stage, looking fancy, holding flowers, and being stared at by pretty much everyone who has meant anything to you in the past twenty-something years. So why do we do it? 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.

Why this moment?  Why does this one matter beyond all the rest?

Because despite all of our differences, love is what we all share. It's the great unifier — our one universal truth. That no matter who we are, where we've come from, what we believe, we know this one thing: love is what we're doing right. That's why you both are standing here. That's why you all are here to watch them stand up here. We have all loved in our lifetimes, and in this moment, we're reminded that the ability to love is the very best part of our humanity
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.

"Katie and Cody weren't expecting their paths to cross at a party on Ball State's campus in the fall of 2013, but when mutual friends introduced them, they spent the rest of the night talking like they'd known each other for years. 

That introduction at the party led to a first date at Amazing Joe's Grill in Muncie, which led to Katie cheering Cody on in Ball State's football games. When Cody graduated and moved to Carmel, they began traveling back and forth to visit each other, both realizing how much they wanted to be together after Katie finished school. 

After graduation, Katie moved to closer to Cody where they both secured full time jobs, moved into an apartment together, and rescued their fur baby Theo. After a few years of life together in Noblesville, Cody finally proposed which brings us here today."

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. Falling asleep next to one another, making dinner together, spending holidays with your families, binge-watching Netflix shows, getting a big hug when you get home from work… These everyday moments fuse together into one big experience.
And even though this experience is so incredible, words fail us when we try and explain it. That's just the way it is with love — it's meant to be felt, not described.

But trying to describe love is one of our favorite pastimes. We use the words we have to write stories, and poems, and songs about love. And even though we describe love in different ways — and even though love can look different from one person to the next — we all know it when we see it. And we see it here.

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, to stand up for one another, and find happiness in the 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."

Vows
Do you Cody, take Katie, to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part.

Do you Katie take Cody, to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part.

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. 
                        
Katie, I give you this ring with all that I am and all that I ever will be.  Wear it and know that I love you. With this ring, I marry you. 

Cody, I give you this ring with all that I am and all that I ever will be.  Wear it and know that I love you. With this ring, I marry you.

Cody and Katie, 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.!!!!!