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Wedding Ceremonies

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My Most Popular Wedding Ceremonies

Religious Ceremony

Who gives this woman to be married?  (The bride's escort responds: I do).

Welcome family and friends.  We meet in this place to celebrate a mystery as ageless as humankind; a mystery of enduring power and inspiration.

The Song of Solomon speaks of this mystery in these words:

Place me as a seal over your heart... for love is as strong as death, Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it; Love is beyond price; to what can it be compared?

This passage speaks of a strong and committed love, the kind of love that results in a strong and committed relationship. The quality of marriage must never be judged by the absence of difficult times, but rather by love's response to them.

In the words of Solomon, the waters are a metaphor for adversity, while the seal speaks of a love that protects; of a love that conquers all. Solomon is saying to his betrothed that sincere love transcends mere romantic inclination: It is not, as some may suppose, a fleeting notion borne of wishful thinking, but a substantive hope of a rich and fulfilling life together.

Your marriage this day begins a truer revelation of the depth and wonder of hope freely given, freely received and fully shared. This ceremony celebrates both the mystery and the power of your love for one another a love enduring and complete. The mystery of love is that this day your hearts become one in the sight of God.

The power of love in that-though one-neither is diminished but rather fulfilled in ways you would never know apart from each other.  You come to this altar of commitment individually as man and woman. But when you leave, you leave as husband and wife, united by vows and blessed by God.

From the book of 1st Corinthians, chapter thirteen, These words, written by the Apostle Paul, further describe the nature and characteristics of true love: ?If I speak with the tongues of men or of angels but have not love, then my speech is empty.?

Love is patient, Love is kind, Love considers the feelings of others, Love does not put itself first; Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  There are only three things of enduring worth in this world, Faith, Hope and Love.  And the greatest of these is Love.

Exchange of Vows

Do you, BRIDE'S NAME take this man as your husband and your closest friend, and do you agree to be fully committed to the sanctity of this marriage for as long as you both shall live? 

Do you, GROOM'S NAME take this woman as your wife and your closest friend, and do you agree to be fully committed to the sanctity of this marriage for as long as you both shall live?

In this spirit of shared love and full agreement for the well-being of each other and the well-being of this marriage, you will now confirm these intentions by the exchange of vows and the giving and receiving of rings.

I, GROOM'S NAME, take you BRIDE'S NAME, as my wife. I promise to cherish and honor you as my wife and forsaking all others, to be faithful in body and spirit, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live.

From this day and until forever, I pledge to you my everlasting love.

I, BRIDE'S NAME, take you GROOM'S NAME, as my husband. I promise to love and honor you as my husband and forsaking all others, to be faithful in body and spirit; for richer or poorer; in sickness and in health for as long as we both shall live.  

From this day and until forever, I pledge to you my everlasting love.

Exchange of Rings

The ring is the visible symbol of your marriage. Reflecting the essence of this ceremony the ring symbolizes the nature a loving marriage and your lifelong commitment to each other. Through time, the ring has been used to seal agreements and establish covenants.

By this exchange of rings, you enter a joyful and sacred covenant with one another.  A covenant that endures until God by death separates you. 

The shape of the ring symbolizes the unbroken circle of your love and the unbroken union of your hearts.  These precious elements will serve as reminders in the months and years to come, of how precious in your sight, your loved one is this day: And ever will remain. 

Please repeat after me, these words: 

Groom:

With this ring, I embrace you fully as my wife. Accept this ring as a symbol of my affection and complete love for you: By accepting this ring you give to me my most cherished possessions-your beauty, your heart, my future. 

Bride:

With this ring, I embrace you as my husband. Accept this ring as a symbol of my affection and complete love for you: As this ring encircles your finger, so shall my love forever encircle your heart. 

Pronouncement

By the exchange of vows and the giving and receiving of rings, you have proclaimed and affirmed your intentions to enter into a sacred union. In recognition of the above, and, as a minister of the Gospel and in accordance with the laws and statutes of the State of Arizona,

I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. 

Presentation To The Wedding Party

It is with the greatest pleasure that I present to you, the luckiest people in the world at this moment: Groom's Name and Bride's Name, Husband and Wife.

You may kiss your Bride. 

Spiritual Ceremony

Welcome family and friends.

 Marriage is more than a contract.  Marriage is a mutual commitment to take the love you share deep, deeper than simple momentary happiness, deep into the discovery of who you most truly are.  It is a commitment to a journey, to a life of becoming. 

Thus marriage becomes more than commitment. 

It is a covenant that says: I love you.  I trust you. I will be here for you when you are hurting, and when I am hurting, I will not leave. 

It is a covenant intended not to provide haven from pain or from anger and sorrow.  Life offers no such haven.  Instead, marriage is intended to provide a sanctuary safe enough to risk loving, to risk living and sharing from the center of oneself. This is worth everything. 

It is therefore fitting that you, GROOM'S NAME, and BRIDE'S NAME, should today become husband and wife; to give yourselves to each other in marriage, freely and exclusively. 

Find room for the things that make each of your spirit's soar and make your search for the good and the beautiful a common search. 

In the words of a counselor, make yours a relationship in which "the independence is equal, the dependence is mutual, and the obligation is reciprocal. 

Remember that standing together never means dissolving your individual selves into each other, but indeed means the strengthening of the individuality of each.   

A good marriage evolves when two distinct personalities face life's joy and its sorrow in harmony, not in unison.  

Revel in your similarities and delight in your differences. 

Statement of Intent

Do you, GROOM'S NAME, being of sound mind and true spirit, vow to follow the guidance of your heart and the dictates of your commitment, the direction of shared love, as BRIDE'S NAME husband?  

Will you remain strong in your belief in this union and confident in the lasting power of your love? 

Do you, BRIDE'S NAME, being of sound mind and true spirit, vow to follow the guidance of your heart and the dictates of your commitment, the direction of shared love, as GROOM'S NAME wife?  

Will you remain strong in your belief in this union and confident in the lasting power of your love? 

Exchange of Vows

I, GROOM'S NAME accept you, BRIDE'S NAME, as my wedded partner to love, respect, and cherish.  I promise to listen to you and encourage open and honest communication.   

I place you in my heart today before all other women, and pledge to you, from this hour forward, to make our marriage a sound and joyous one. 

I, BRIDE'S NAME, accept you, GROOM'S NAME, as my wedded partner to love, respect, and cherish.  I promise to listen to you and encourage open and honest communication.   

I place you in my heart today before all other men, and pledge to you, from this hour forward, to make our marriage a sound and joyous one. 

Presentation of Rings

The rings you give and receive this day are the symbols of the endless love into which you enter as husband and wife. Such a love has no beginning and no ending, no single giver or receiver.  

You are each the beginning and the ending of this union, each the giver and receiver. 

 As you look upon these rings in the months and years to come, may they be a perpetual reminder of how precious your loved one is on this day, and always will remain. 

Exchange of Rings

GROOM'S NAME: I give this ring in remembrance of this hour, a symbol of love that is complete, beautiful and endless. This ring is a symbol for me, and all that see it, of my commitment to you. 

BRIDE'S NAME: I give you this ring to wear upon your hand as a symbol of our unity.  May this ring forever be to you the token of my growing love. 

Pronouncement

By the exchange of vows and the giving and receiving of rings, you have proclaimed and affirmed your intentions to enter into a sacred union.  

In recognition of the above, and, as a minister of the Gospel and in accordance with the laws and statutes of the State of Arizona, I now pronounce you: Husband and Wife. 

Presentation

It is with pleasure that I present to you, GROOM'S NAME and BRIDE'S NAME, Husband and Wife.  You may kiss your Bride.  

Civil Ceremony  

I Groom's Name, take you to be my lawfully wedded wife.

Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live.  I take you, with all your faults and your strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and my strengths.  I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. 

I Bride's Name, take you to be my lawfully wedded husband.

Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live.  I take you, with all your faults and your strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and my strengths.  I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help.  I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life.

Exchange of Rings

Traditionally, the marking of the passage to status of husband and wife is by the exchange of rings. These rings are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no beginning and no end, no giver and no receiver, for each is the giver and each is the receiver.  May these rings always remind you of the vows you have taken today.

 Statement of Intent

As an expression that your hearts are joined together in love, please join your hands.

Groom's Name, do you take Bride's Name to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? 

 Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her?  So long as you both shall live?

Bride's Name, do you take Groom's Name, to be your wedded husband to live together in marriage Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health And forsaking all others, be faithful only to him So long as you both shall live?

Pronouncement

By authority granted by the State of Arizona I now pronounce you, husband and wife.

You may kiss your bride.

 
Copyright © 2009 By Rev. Kenneth A. Graham All Rights Reserved