A Romantic Ceremony
Let us begin.
(OPENING WORDS)
We have come here today to celebrate the relationship of ______ and ______, to join their lives together in a marriage filled with hopes, dreams, and excitement!
______ and _______ are grateful for your presence today. They are honored that you come to witness their promise to devote their lives to one another from this day forward. ______ and ______, your parents, family and friends surround you with love and support in this sacred passage from one stage of life to the next. By joining your hands and hearts today, you discover that the glass into which you’ve poured your romance, passion, and excitement can hold so much more! The new wine of your early relationship will ripen into something sweeter and more complex than you can ever imagine today -- and our most ardent wish for you is that your cup truly runs over!
Anne Morrow Lindburgh wrote the most beautiful words I’ve read about the intertwined hearts of two, independent people, and if you’ll indulge me, I’ll read them now, “When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. The only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity, in freedom, in the sense that dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern. The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. One must accept the security of the winged life, of ebb and flow, of intermittency.”
So please know these things, as you go out into the world as a married couple: that your love will have seasons, that your relationship is a progression, and that love will prevail.
(READINGS)
_______ and ______ have chosen two readings that express their love for each other.
From Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my center and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.
I Love You by Roy Croft
I love you, not only for what you are but for what I am when I am
with you.
I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself but for what
you are making of me.
I love you for the part of me that you bring out;
I love you for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart and
passing over all the foolish, weak things that you can’t help dimly
seeing there, and for drawing out into the light all the beautiful
belongings that no one else had looked quite far enough to find.
I love you because you are helping me to make of the lumber of my
life, not a tavern, but a temple; out of the works of my every day not
a reproach, but a song.
You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign.
You have done it by being yourself.
Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.
(DECLARATION)
______, do you take ______ as your ____? Will you pledge to him/her/them your love, faith and tenderness, cherishing her with your loyalty and devotion?
(Answer): I will.
______, will you receive ______ as your husband? Will you pledge to him/her/them your love, faith and tenderness, cherishing him with your loyalty and devotion?
(Answer): I will.
VOWS
Your rings seal the vows of marriage and represent a promise for everlasting love. It is a physical manifestation of the promises joining the couple together.
______, I take you, as my ______. I promise to love and cherish you, to grow with you, and to have faith in our journey together through all the changes that will come. I promise to share my life and all that I am with you. I will have no greater love than you. I promise in faithfulness, to love and respect you and our marriage, for all my tomorrows and beyond
______, I take you, as my ______. I promise to love and cherish you, to grow with you, and to have faith in our journey together through all the changes that will come. I promise to share my life and all that I am with you. I will have no greater love than you. I promise in faithfulness, to love and respect you and our marriage, for all my tomorrows and beyond.
PRONOUNCEMENT
You have given each other the most precious gift of love. Treasure it, nurture it, and encourage it with all the honesty you used in creating it. You are sharing something rare and beautiful. Always speak the truth, and listen attentively. Stand together and for each other always: be content in mind and spirit. Make each day a blessing and a fulfillment of your dreams.
_____ and _____, you have promised each other your love, devotion, and commitment. It is with this in mind, that I pronounce you married and introduce you as ________.
Please seal your vows with a kiss!
(OPENING WORDS)
We have come here today to celebrate the relationship of ______ and ______, to join their lives together in a marriage filled with hopes, dreams, and excitement!
______ and _______ are grateful for your presence today. They are honored that you come to witness their promise to devote their lives to one another from this day forward. ______ and ______, your parents, family and friends surround you with love and support in this sacred passage from one stage of life to the next. By joining your hands and hearts today, you discover that the glass into which you’ve poured your romance, passion, and excitement can hold so much more! The new wine of your early relationship will ripen into something sweeter and more complex than you can ever imagine today -- and our most ardent wish for you is that your cup truly runs over!
Anne Morrow Lindburgh wrote the most beautiful words I’ve read about the intertwined hearts of two, independent people, and if you’ll indulge me, I’ll read them now, “When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. The only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity, in freedom, in the sense that dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern. The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. One must accept the security of the winged life, of ebb and flow, of intermittency.”
So please know these things, as you go out into the world as a married couple: that your love will have seasons, that your relationship is a progression, and that love will prevail.
(READINGS)
_______ and ______ have chosen two readings that express their love for each other.
From Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my center and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.
I Love You by Roy Croft
I love you, not only for what you are but for what I am when I am
with you.
I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself but for what
you are making of me.
I love you for the part of me that you bring out;
I love you for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart and
passing over all the foolish, weak things that you can’t help dimly
seeing there, and for drawing out into the light all the beautiful
belongings that no one else had looked quite far enough to find.
I love you because you are helping me to make of the lumber of my
life, not a tavern, but a temple; out of the works of my every day not
a reproach, but a song.
You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign.
You have done it by being yourself.
Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.
(DECLARATION)
______, do you take ______ as your ____? Will you pledge to him/her/them your love, faith and tenderness, cherishing her with your loyalty and devotion?
(Answer): I will.
______, will you receive ______ as your husband? Will you pledge to him/her/them your love, faith and tenderness, cherishing him with your loyalty and devotion?
(Answer): I will.
VOWS
Your rings seal the vows of marriage and represent a promise for everlasting love. It is a physical manifestation of the promises joining the couple together.
______, I take you, as my ______. I promise to love and cherish you, to grow with you, and to have faith in our journey together through all the changes that will come. I promise to share my life and all that I am with you. I will have no greater love than you. I promise in faithfulness, to love and respect you and our marriage, for all my tomorrows and beyond
______, I take you, as my ______. I promise to love and cherish you, to grow with you, and to have faith in our journey together through all the changes that will come. I promise to share my life and all that I am with you. I will have no greater love than you. I promise in faithfulness, to love and respect you and our marriage, for all my tomorrows and beyond.
PRONOUNCEMENT
You have given each other the most precious gift of love. Treasure it, nurture it, and encourage it with all the honesty you used in creating it. You are sharing something rare and beautiful. Always speak the truth, and listen attentively. Stand together and for each other always: be content in mind and spirit. Make each day a blessing and a fulfillment of your dreams.
_____ and _____, you have promised each other your love, devotion, and commitment. It is with this in mind, that I pronounce you married and introduce you as ________.
Please seal your vows with a kiss!