SPOILER ALERT - for those of you attending the wedding you may not want to read this, as it is the ceremony I am submitting to Reverand Day....it may ruin it for you to read it ahead....
Although that being said I have read it many times and it hasn't ruined it for me
Introduction
To the family and friends of Kelly and Adrian, I welcome you here today on this most joyous occasion in order that you may share with them the pledging of their everlasting love and commitment to each other
.their wedding day.
They particularly wanted to invite you here because the growth of their love is connected to this place. It has given them a feeling of timelessness and peace, and a sense of the wonder of life.
Presentation of the Bride and Groom
Main Body
The mood of this wedding is one of joy, festivity, and well being. You are here to celebrate your wonderful good fortune and the inevitability of it all, how wonderful it is that you two found each other and how delightful it feels to love one another as much as you do.
Love really is something over which we have no control. We can need it, wish for it, long for it, but all on our own, we cannot insist it into being. Therefore when love finds us, when the person we simply cannot live without crosses our path, it is truly a gift, and the wedding that celebrates this star-fated match is indeed the happiest of occasions.
Love is a miraculous gift and a wedding a celebration of that magic, and that is what we are here for today. We are gathered together, family and friends, to be overjoyed for and with Kelly and Adrian, who are so wonderfully suited to one another, that is pure delight for the rest of us to see just how happy two people can be.
A good marriage is dependant upon many factors, but the first prerequisite is a strong bond of love, friendship, and respect for one another. Your love will grow deeper with the passing of each day, but the genuine liking of each other, the willingness to accept each others strong and weak points with understanding and respect will be a very important part of this union.
Reading: Marven Blenus Grooms father
The Art of Marriage by Wilferd A. Peterson
A good marriage must be created.
In marriage the little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon.
It should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other,
not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,
but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating
gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo
or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience,
understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,
dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner,
it is being the right partner.
Vows
And so it is, the two of you, Kelly and Adrian, have come here today with your family and friends, the people you most cherish, to signify your desire to be united in marriage.
I ask that you face each other and join hands:
Adrian, please repeat after me:
From this day on, I Adrian, choose you, Kelly, to be my wife. To live with you and laugh with you, to stand by your side and to support you in all that you strive to be. To always listen to you, to labor with you, and to encourage you. To bring out the best in you always, and for you, to be the most that I can.
Do you Adrian, promise to always love, hold, and adore Kelly, in good times and in bad. To enjoy her, console her, delight her and astound her. To work together to build your love, to speak openly and honestly, and to maintain the respect and trust that has grown between you. To give thanks to her always, and to die with this love that you have for her?
Adrian: I do
Kelly please repeat after me:
From this day on, I Kelly, choose you, Adrian, to be my husband. To live with you and laugh with you, to stand by your side and to support you in all that you strive to be. To always listen to you, to labor with you, and to encourage you. To bring out the best in you always, and for you, to be the most that I can.
Do you Kelly, promise to always love, hold, and adore Adrian, in good times and in bad. To enjoy him, console him, delight him and astound him. To work together to build your love, to speak openly and honestly, and to maintain the respect and trust that has grown between you. To give thanks to him always, and to die with this love that you have for him?
Kelly: I do.
Exchange of Rings
May I have the rings please?
The wedding ring is an unbroken circle which symbolizes unending and everlasting love, and is a visible symbol which represents your inner commitment to one another. May your lives together, Kelly and Adrian, be blessed with everlasting happiness.
Adrian, will you place this ring on Kellys finger and repeat after me:
This ring is my precious gift to you as a sign that from this day forward, your every breath shall be surrounded with my love. With this ring, I thee wed.
Kelly, will you place this ring on Adrians finger and repeat after me:
This ring is my precious gift to you as a sign that from this day forward, your every breath shall be surrounded with my love. With this ring, I thee wed.
Sand Ceremony
Love is the eternal force of life. Love is the force that allows us to face fear and uncertainty with courage. But although you will be sharing one life, never forget that you are two separate people. Cherish and affirm your differences. Love each other. Keep your commitment primary. Together you will laugh and cry, be sick and well, be happy and angry, share and grow. Grow sometimes together, sometimes separately. To symbolize the importance of the individuals within the marriage and the joining of two live into one entity, 2 colors of sand will now be layered together. This symbolizes that the marriage is based on the strength of the individuals.
(Groom pours some of his sand in, followed by bride pouring about the same amount)
And now we combine the colors, which symbolizes two lives joined as one together forever. May your lives together be longer than the time it would take to separate these individual grains of sand.
Play music (A whole new world), Bride and Groom put sand into large vase so that the colors combine until their jars are empty.
Conclusion
Kelly and Adrian go into the world and fulfill your lives. Hold fast to your ideals, and give to one another new experiences of joy. Challenge one another so that you may grow. May the love that you have for one another, now sealed in marriage, continue to deepen and flourish so that your lives together may be a source of comfort, strength, and inspiration.
Adrian, you may kiss your beautiful wife.
Family and friends, it is with great pleasure I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Blenus.
...but I think i always knew at some point i would add it all up and panic a bit...that's kind of what happened this week, that's all...
) Love you guys!!
