- GREETING
- (Traditional) Dearly beloved we are gathered here in the sight of God, and in the
presence of these witnesses, to join together this man and this woman
in holy matrimony; an honorable estate, instituted of God, signifying
unto us the mystical union which exists between Christ and his Church;
whose holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence in
Cana of Galilee. It is not to be entered into unadvisedly, but
reverently, discreetly, and in the fear of God. Into this holy estate
these two persons come now to be joined.
- We gather to acknowledge and to bless a marriage that has arisen.
We come together to celebrate a discovery and to record in the minds and
hearts of all present the ripe event of a love that has bloomed. We gather
also to mark the reality that marriage must overcome many forces that would
destroy it. Love is an act of creation; a direct sharing of a process.
Love can survive only by being born again and again. Love is dynamic and
will fly away from a marriage which has become static and unbending. When
love lives, as it does here today it reflects the deepest and most tender
secrets of the universe.
- We are gathered here together in the sight of God to witness and
celebrate the marriage of _____ and _____ who have committed themselves
to an everlasting bond of mutual love and who now wish to formalize and
ask God's blessing on their union. Mutual love is one of the richest experiences
and most precious gifts we know. Marriage is both a threshold and a continuing
process in that experience. The relationship must continue to grow with
care, nurture, and an unending awareness of each others' needs and feelings.
It requires a solemn commitment which is to be entered into reverently,
advisedly, soberly, and in love of God. It is also to be entered into with
joy and celebration. In this we now share.
- We welcome _____ and _____, their families, and their friends to
this celebration of their love and blessing of their new life. _____ and
_____ have asked you to share this moment when they bring the fullness
of their hearts together in the presence of God and the gathered community.
This is a joyful time -- for now their love will have taken a great step
forward to fulfillment. And a pattern of living will be developed between
these two, whereby their response to God's love may be worked out to please
God in all the ways that marriage can bring.
- Friends, we are gathered here at this hour to witness and to celebrate
the coming together of two separate lives. We have come to join this man
_____, and this woman _____, in marriage, to be with them and rejoice with
them in the making of this important commitment. The essence of this commitment
is the taking of another person in their entirety, as lover, companion,
and friend. It is therefore a decision which is not to be entered into
lightly, but rather undertaken with great consideration and respect for
both the other person and oneself.
Love is one of the highest experiences that we human beings can have,
and it can add depth of meaning to our lives. The sensual part of love
is one of life's greatest joys, and when this is combined with real friendship
both are infinitely enhanced. The day to day companionship -- the pleasure
of doing things together, or doing separate things but in delighting to
exchange experiences -- is a continuous and central ?part of what a woman
and man who love one another can share.
- THE RESPONSE OF THE FAMILIES (optional)
The marriage of _____ and _____ unites their families and creates a
new one. They ask for your blessing as you rejoice in this union. Will
all of you, by God's grace, do everything in your power to uphold and care
for these, _____ and _____ in their marriage? We will.
- DECLARATION BY THE MAN AND WOMAN
- (Traditional) I require and charge you both, as you stand in
the presence of God, before whom the secrets of all hearts are
disclosed, that having fully considered the holy covenant you are
about to make, you do now declare before this company your pledge of
faith, each to the other. Be well assured that if these solemn vows
are kept inviolate, as God's word demands, and if steadfastly you
endeavor to do the will of your heavenly Father, God will bless your
marriage, will grant you fulfillment in it, and will establish your
home in peace.
- _____ and _____, I charge you with the responsibility to keep alive;
to grow, to change, to maintain the capacity for wonder, for spontaneity,
for humor; to remain pliable, warm and sensitive. I charge you to give
fully; to show your real feelings, to save time for each other, no matter
what demands are made upon your day. I charge you to see the meaning of
life through the changing prism of your love; to nurture each other to
fullness and wholeness, and in learning to love each other more deeply,
learn to love the creation in which the mystery of your love has happened..
- _____ and _____, out of the wild exuberance of creation throughout
millions of years, you two have appeared. ~ each of you unique, distinctive,
wondrously personal. You have chosen to journey together down this earth
valley in the brief moment of time that is yours. From this day forward,
you will become a unit of life that will bring forth futures. You are both
called into a new existence. The old things have passed away; a new heaven
and a new earth is now your dwelling place. For the whole universe has
come to each of you in the form of a particular person who has a unique
love for you and is love by you. Therefore, I charge you...(one of the
other charges here listed.
- _____ and _____, I require and charge you both before God and these
gathered friends to cherish and nurture your precious gifts of love and
deep sharing. I charge you also with the responsibility for continued growth
in love, both mutual and outward reaching; to worship and celebrate; to
be warm, caring, and sensitive; to maintain a balance between the foolish
and the solemn. Live by your consciences with the teachings of Christ as
guide. Save time for each other. Be ever and daily aware of the fullness
and beauty of life and nature as God has provided.
- _____, you are now entering a relationship with many privileges,
but also many obligations. The man you love is about to become your husband.
In no way could he tell of his love for you as by his willingness to make
his home with you. Your joys will be his joys and your sorrows his sorrows.
Your people will be his people and your God his God.
_____, you too, are entering into a relationship with many privileges
and obligations. The woman you love is about to become your wife. She tells
the world not only of her willingness but out of her express desire to
turn from all others and to you for all of her life ahead. Your love will
become her inspiration and your prayers, her tower of strength. Your people
will be her people and your God, her God.
- THE EXAMINATION
And now, in the presence of God and all these witnesses,
- (Traditional) _____, will you have this man/woman to be your
wedded husband, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony?
Will you love him/her, comfort him/her, honor him/her; in sickness and
in health; forsaking all others, keep only unto him/her as long as you
both shall live? (I will)
- And now _____, do you, here today in the presence of God and all
these witnesses, take _____ to be your husband/wife, agreeing to love him/her,
and to promote his/her joy and happiness as long as you both shall live?
I do
- _____, do you find within you a love that has united you and _____?
(I do)
Do you find within you the courage to resist the many deaths by
which love can die? (I do)
Are you willing to love _____ into her/his unique fullness, and
to take the risk and the vulnerability of love again and again and again?
(I am)
- _____, will you take _____ to be your wife/husband, to live together
in matrimony? Will you draw her/him to your very being to share life's
sorrows and joys? Will you promise to respect her/him and be respected
by her/him, to install hope in her/him and be given hope by her/him? Will
you promise to accept the mystery of your uniqueness, still merging into
a unity with her/him? Will you, through acts of teaching and learning,
grow toward _____? (I do so promise.)
- _____ will you have this man/woman to be your husband/wife, to live
together in the holy covenant of marriage? Will you be honest with him/her,
share your feelings, events of your life and plans for the future so that
you may be understood? Will you protect him/her, keeping him/her from the
pain or discomfort of your anger, annoying behavior and selfish demands?
Will you care for him/her, learning to meet his/her most important marital
needs? Will you reserve time to give him/her enough undivided attention
so that his/her marital needs can be met? Will you do this as long as you
remain in this covenant of marriage?
- PRESENTATION
Who presents this woman to be married to this man?
We do or Her Mother and I do.
- THE VOWS
- (Traditional) I, _____, take thee _____,to be my wedded husband/wife, to
have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer,
for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death
do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee
my faith.
- I, _____, ask you, _____, to be my husband as my friend and my love.
On this day I affirm the relationship we have enjoyed, looking to the future
to deepen and strengthen it. I will be yours in plenty and in want, in
sickness and in health, in failure and in triumph. Together we will dream,
will stumble but restore each other, we will share all things, serving
each other and our fellow humanity. I will cherish and respect you, comfort
and encourage you, be open with you, and stay with you as long as we shall
Live, freed and bound by our Love.
- _____, I offer you my Love
I offer you my strength
I offer you my weaknesses
I offer you my support
I offer you my loyalty
I offer you my faith
For as long as we both shall Live.
- _____, I take you to be my wife/husband from this time onward, to
join with you and to share all that is to come, to be your faithful husband/wife,
to give and to receive, to speak and to listen, to inspire and to respond;
a commitment made in love, kept in faith, and eternally made new.
- _____, I take you to be my wife/husband. I pledge you the rest of
my life, as your partner and your friend. In the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
- BLESSING AND EXCHANGE OF THE RINGS
- (Traditional) The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and
spiritual Grace, signifying to all the uniting of this man and woman in
holy matrimony, through the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us pray.
Bless, O Lord, the giving of this ring, that he/she who gives it and
she/he who wears it may abide forever in Thy peace, and continue in Thy
favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love, with this
ring I thee wed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit.
- Gracious God, bless these rings which are symbols of the vows taken,
circles of wholeness. They are symbols of the sun and the earth and the
universe, of perfection and peace. These rings mark the beginning
of a long journey together, filled with wonder, surprises, laughter, tears,
celebration, grief and joy. May these rings glow in reflection of the warmth
and the life which flow through the wearers today.
_____, I give you this sign of my love, knowing that love is precious
and fragile, yet strong. I give you this sign of our love, an ever-present
symbol of the vows we make this day. I give you this ring as I give you
my love.
- _____, take this ring as a sign of my love. May we be cheerful of
face and glad of heart whatever the season.
_____, take this ring as a sign of my love. May we be younger that springtime,
even to the autumn of our days.
- For centuries the perfect symbol for eternity has been a circle.
A wedding ring in shape is a perfect circle. It is our prayer that it may
symbolize love, complete and beautiful, whenever your eye is cast upon
it.
_____, with this ring I wed you.
All that I am, and all that I have, I give to you. Amen.
_____, with this ring I wed you.
All that I am, and all that I have, I give to you. Amen.
- _____, in giving/receiving this ring I make a covenant of love with
to share my strengths and weaknesses and to become increasingly aware open
to ways of expressing love for you and receiving your love for me. I myself
to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE
- (Traditional) Forasmuch as _____ and _____ have consented together in holy wedlock,
and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have
pledged their faith each to the other, and have declared the same by joining
hands and by giving and receiving rings; I pronounce that they are husband
and wife together, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Those whom God has joined together, let not man put asunder. Amen.
- _____ and _____ you have exchanged statements and vows here before
God and all the witnesses...some verbally and some non-verbally. You have,
through speaking, through the gift of rings, through prayers. We here declare
what we have seen and heard to be good. I pronounce that now, and you are
husband and wife.
- In recognition of the marriage between you, accomplished in the uniting
of your hearts by mutual love and confidence, and in conformity to the
laws of this state by whose sanctions these visible expressions of your
pledged fidelity have been given and received, as a minister acknowledged
by the church, I do pronounce you to be husband and wife. May you together
bring a new creative spirit to a world in need of renewal.
- Because _____ and _____ have sought each other in marriage and have
witnessed this before God and our gathering, affirming their acceptance
of the responsibilities of such a union, and have pledged their love and
faith to each other, sealing their vows in the giving and receiving of
rings, I do proclaim that they are husband and wife in the sight of God.
Let all people everywhere recognize and respect this holy union now and
forever, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
- That which was just with you has now been shared with all. Explore
it well, explore it deeply and reverently. Explore it with joy and with
hope and with perseverance. I now pronounce you husband and wife in just
accord with the laws of God in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. What God has united, let no one separate. Amen.
- LIGHTING OF THE UNITY CANDLE
- BLESSING OF THE MARRIAGE
- (Traditional) Let us pray. O eternal God, creator and preserver of all humanity,
giver of all spiritual grace, the author of everlasting life; send Thy
blessing on this couple, whom we bless in Thy name; that they may surely
perform and keep the vow and covenant between them, and may ever remain
in perfect love and peace together, living according to Thy laws. Look
graciously upon them that they may love, honor and cherish each other and
live together in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness,
that their home may be a haven of blessing and a threshold of peace; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Lord, we hear thee in the silence. We stand before thee knowing and
not knowing; afraid and not afraid. We hear the silence. We hear words
unspoken; dreams not yet dreamt; pain not yet known; fullness not yet felt.
We hear the silence; babies crying not yet born; children reaching for
and touching what is real in life. We hear this silence and somehow know
in this Moment that we join with all those who have made this journey and
with all those who will. We somehow know we can trust in you along the
way. We hear and trust and I love. Amen.
- Lord, grant that _____ and _____, now married, may keep this covenant
which they have made. May they be a blessing and a comfort to each other,
sharers of each others joys, consolers in each other's sorrows, helpers
to each other in all the vicissitudes of life. May they encourage each
other in whatever they set out to achieve. May they, trusting each other,
trust life and you and not be afraid. May they not only accept and give
affection between themselves, but also together have affection and consideration
for others. We who are here present, and those who are absent thinking
of these two people, pray that the inspiration of this hour will not be
forgotten. May they continue to love one another forever. Amen.
- Hear the voices of wonder, joy, and hope. Hear those who stand before
thee saying, "I am," "We are," "Thou art." Hear the joy they have with
them now and the inner wonder that trembles at the beauty of it all. Hear
the hope that strains to stretch around whatever may befall them. Hear
the strength and the conflict. Hear the passion offered to thee; ripe,
alive, warm. Come to this union like fire; fuse, warm, ignite...Come like
water; cool, quench, cleanse... Come like wind; clear, caress and lift...Thou
whose face we see where life shows... Thou whose rhythm we see in the dance
and in the heartbeat... Thou whose mystery we sense in colors... Thou whose
meaning bubbles from the heart of love itself... Emblazon and wash and caress
this new love. Amen.
- Eternal God, whom we come to know and understand through the experience
of love, we give thanks for the joy of this occasion and the love between
_____ and _____ who have pledge themselves to each other. May they, this
day and in the days to come, be the recipients of your blessing. Bestow
upon them the gift of your presence, that the love which they hold for
each other and the commitments they have made may endure forever. Keep
them ever faithful to their holy covenant, and may they live together all
their days in true love and peace. In the spirit of Christ, which is love,
we pray. Amen.
- LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom
come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those
who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory
forever. Amen.
- DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING
- (Traditional) God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit bless, preserve, and
keep you; the Lord graciously with his favor look upon you, and so fill
you with all spiritual benediction and love that you may so live together
in this life that in the world to come you may have life everlasting. Amen.
- An now may the courage of the early morning's dawning, the strength
of eternal hills, and wide open fields, the joy of silent streams and gentle
wind, the beauty of flowered gardens and the song of the birds, the faith
of youth be in your heart;
And the love of God that alone can make happiness, that makes
family love flourish with the radiance of great joy, be with you always.
May the peace of a quiet evening's ending and of the midnight, Be yours
now and forever. Amen.
- Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace
there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender. Be on good
terms with all persons. speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen
to others for they too have their story. Be yourself. Especially do not
feign affection. Do not be cynical about love for it is perennial as the
grass. Nurture strength of the spirit to shield you from sudden misfortune.
Do not distress yourself with imaginings, for many fears are born of fatigue
and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe; the universe is unfolding as it should.
therefore be at peace with God. In the noisy confusion of life keep peace
with your soul. Go in peace. Amen.
- Father, bless the bond which is sealed today between these two who
love, for by loving each other they will become closer to you. May your
guidance and unchanging love lead them down all the pathways of marriage
in joy and light and love. Amen.
- _____ and _____ have just professed and confirmed what is real to
them. It is our hope and prayer that each of us has been reminded and renewed
as to what is real in our lives. Relationships - those times of intertwining
and intermingling with one another, and with God - they're all we have
that is real. And I hope we can live accordingly, living first out of love,
at peace with yourself and with God. Now go in peace, renewed in your relationships.
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