This is an actual romantic ceremony I wrote and performed:
The bride enters...
Good
afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is my distinct honor to welcome you here
today to rejoice with *groom* and *bride*
on this, their wedding day. We are gathered here today to bear witness to their
shared desire to henceforth walk the road of life together.
Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?
Sooner
or later we begin to understand that love is more than verses on valentines, and
romance in the movies.
We begin to know that love is here and now, real and true, the most important
thing in our lives. Love is the creator
of our favorite memories, and the foundation of our fondest dreams. Love is a
promise that is always kept, a fortune
that can never be spent, a seed that can flourish in even the most unlikely of
places. And this radiance that never fades,
this mysterious and magical joy, is the greatest treasure of all -- one known
only by those who love.
*groom*
and *bride*, in presenting yourselves here today to be joined in marriage, you
perform an act of faith.
This faith can grow and develop and last -- if you both decide to make it so. A
lasting and growing love is
not guaranteed by any ritual.
If you would have the foundation of your marriage be the devotion you have for
one another, not just at this
moment, but for all the days to come, then treasure the hopes and dreams that
you bring here today.
Establish that your love will never be blotted out by the common nor obscured by
the ordinary in life.
Faults will surface where now you find comfort, and admiration can be shattered
by the routine of daily life.
Dedication, love, and joy can grow only when you nourish them together. Stand
fast in that hope and confidence,
having faith in your shared destiny just as strongly as you have faith in
yourselves and in one another today.
Only with this spirit can you forge a union that will strengthen and endure all
the days of your lives.
*groom, please repeat after me:
I, *groom*, take you, *bride*, to be my wife
to love you and to cherish you
to help you and to honor you
to give you understanding and comfort
in whatever the future may bring
in confidence that together
we are responsible for our destiny.
*bride*, please repeat after me:
I, *bride*, take you, *groom*, to be my husband
to love you and to cherish you
to help you and to honor you
to give you understanding and comfort
in whatever the future may bring
in confidence that together
we are responsible for our destiny.
I would like to share one of my favorite passages, written by William Blake.
Love to faults is always blind, and always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and
unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind.
To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, to hold
infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.
Love seeketh not itself to please, nor itself hath any care; But for another
gives its ease, and builds a heaven in Hell?s despair.
*groom*
places the ring on *bride*'s finger:
May this ring forever be to you the symbol of my growing love.
*bride* places the ring on *groom*'s finger:
May this ring forever be to you the symbol of my growing love.
From
this day forward:
laugh together, and plan together,
find your favorite places, and go together...
Enjoy the sunshine, and the rain,
being alone together, and in crowds together...
From this day forward, together,
love!
---
I think Mary Weston Fordham said this beautifully:
The die is cast, come weal, come woe,
Two lives are joined together,
For better or for worse, the link
Which naught but death can sever.
The die is cast, come grief, come joy
Come richer, or come poorer,
If love but binds the mystic tie,
Blest is the bridal hour.
By the power vested in me by the state of Pennsylvania, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. *last name*.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here, in the presence of friends and family, to
unite Pamela and Paul in marriage.
Pamela and Paul, you have invited us to witness the happiness that you have
found in each other.
Are you ready to make the pledges to which you commit yourselves to each other
in love?
Pamela and Paul together answer: "Yes."
Marriage is a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring
out in each other.
It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other relationship can
equal.
It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.
Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life's most important
relationships:
A wife and a husband are each other's best friend, confidant, lover, teacher,
listener, and critic.
Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life.
Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher, commitment is stronger -- even anger
is felt more strongly, and passes away more quickly.
Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes that life is unable to avoid.
It encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences, and new ways of expressing
a love that is deeper than life.
When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage,
they create a spirit unique unto themselves which binds them closer than any
spoken or written words.
Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people who love
each other, and it takes a lifetime to fulfill.
True love is a sacred flame that burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow, or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones, and hears with gentle ear.
True love gives with open heart, and true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands -
It neither rules nor binds.
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.
Paul, please repeat after me:
In the presence of our family and friends and in the sight of God, I promise to
love you, honor you, cherish you, and be the fount from which you can draw
strength and hope for the rest of your life… to be joy to your heart and food to
your soul, because you are my world.
Where yesterday there was cold, you have brought warmth; where there was
darkness, you brought light.
I promise that from this day forward, you shall not walk alone.
My heart will be your shelter, and my arms will be your home.
Paul places the ring on Pamela's finger and says: “With this ring, I thee wed;
all my love, I thee give.”
Pamela, please repeat after me:
In the presence of our family and friends and in the sight of God, I promise to
love you, honor you, cherish you, and be the fount from which you can draw
strength and hope for the rest of your life… to be joy to your heart and food to
your soul, because you are my world.
Where yesterday there was cold, you have brought warmth; where there was
darkness, you brought light.
I promise that from this day forward, you shall not walk alone.
My heart will be your shelter, and my arms will be your home.
Pamela places the ring on Paul's finger and says: “With this ring, I thee wed;
all my love, I thee give.”
Your gift to each other for your wedding today has been your wedding rings,
which shall always be an outward demonstration of your vows of love and respect;
and a public showing of your commitment to each other.
You now have what remains the most honorable title which may exist between a man
and a woman - the title of Husband and Wife.
For your first gift as husband and wife, that gift will be a single rose.
In the past, the rose was considered a symbol of love, and a single rose always
meant only one thing - it meant the words "I love you."
So it is appropriate that for your first gift - as husband and wife - that gift
would be a single rose.
Please exchange your first gift as husband and wife.
Megan hands Pamela a rose, and Ashley hands Paul a rose; Pamela and Paul
exchange roses.
In some ways it seems like you have not done anything at all.
Just a moment ago you were holding one small rose - and now you are holding one
small rose.
In some ways, a marriage ceremony is like this.
In some ways, tomorrow is going to seem no different than yesterday.
But in fact today - just now - you both have given and received one of the most
valuable and precious gifts of life,
and one I hope you always remember: The gift of true and abiding love within the
devotion of marriage.
Pamela and Paul, I would ask that whereever you make your home in the future -
whether it be a large and elegant home, or a small and graceful one -
you both pick one very special location for roses, so that on each anniversary
of this truly wonderful occasion
you both may take a rose to that spot both as a recommitment to your marriage -
and a recommitment that this will be a marriage based upon love.
In every marriage there are times where it is difficult to find the right words.
It is easiest to hurt whom we most love.
It is easiest to be most hurt by whom we most love.
It might be difficult sometimes to say, "I am sorry" or, "I forgive you"; "I
need you" or, "I am hurting".
If this should happen, if you simply cannot find these words, leave a rose at
that spot which both of you have selected,
for that rose says what matters most of all, and should overpower all other
things and all other words.
That rose says the words: "I still love you."
The other should accept this rose for the words which cannot be found, and
remember the love and hope that you both share today.
Pamela and Paul, if there is anything you remember of this marriage ceremony,
remember that it was love that brought you here today;
it is only love which can make this a glorious union; and it is by love which
your marriage shall endure.
Paul turns to face Pamela's daughters, and says:
Ashley and Megan, I promise to accept and love you as my own children, and to
protect and love you all of my life.
I promise to do my best to guide and support you - and to respect you enough to
allow you to see the world through your own eyes.
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune, and rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.
Pamela and Paul, in so much as you have agreed to live together in Matrimony,
have promised your love for each other by these vows, the giving of these rings
and the joining of your hands, I now declare you to be husband and wife.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance unto you, and give you peace.
Congratulations, you may kiss your bride.
I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Costello.