Today is our 10th wedding anniversary. It is truly a time to reflect on a decade of being the Ds.
I found it fitting to post this today. Enjoy!
Our Wedding Ceremony
June 5, 1999
5:30pm
Greeting:
Family and Friends, you are here tonight because Sandy and Paul are important to you, and because you are important to them. They want to know that you support their decision to marry, and they want you to celebrate with them. Each of you has in various ways shaped and impacted one or both of these two people. On their behalf, and with the hospitality of God, I welcome you.
There is nothing magic about a wedding. A wedding ceremony does not make a marriage. Rather, two people celebrate a wedding when they realize they have a marriage. This has been Sandy and Paul’s discovery: that they are more complete together than they are apart. They have found together a friendship, love, family, and so they have come here to make a commitment to what they have found.
There is nothing magic about a wedding, and yet this centuries-old ritual bears near-unspeakable power and what is happening here and now will affect them and many others for years to come. This ceremony is not just between Sandy and Paul. They are calling on your power, too and upon the mysterious powers of God.
At time like this our hearts are full. Our feelings of love and hope for Sandy and Paul overflow and we feel the power of love among us. And the lump we feel in our throat or the tear in our eye or the hope in our heart -- these are the marks of a spiritual presence among us and within us.
Let us pray:
We celebrate your goodness, O God. We thank you for these persons, Sandy S.and Paul D., each alone a miracle, but together a miracle even more wonderful. We celebrate with you their attraction for one another, the future they dream together, the commitment they promise, and the friends and family who have taught them and will continue to teach them what it means to love.
May Sandy and Paul remind us of the love and caring within us all. May we be a constant reminder to them of the support which is theirs through all people. And may we all remember that you, O God, are the source of all love, now and forever, and we may call on you in times of need. Amen.
Covenants:
Sandy and Paul, I want to remind you as you stand here in the presence of God and of all these people who love you, that Marriage Celebrates the Sharing of Two Unique Individuals
When you’re married
you join hands and become one
as you walk
through life
together and not alone,
remember that you are
both unique and different
from each other.
Give your love openly and honestly.
Do not try to change each other;
your differences helped bring you together.
Always respect and accept
what the other has to say
even if you do not agree.
Remember that you are
two separate individuals.
You are one, you are partners,
you are living the same life,
yet your lives may be different.
You have yourselves and you have
each other.
Take time to enjoy each day
you share together, and remember
that each day is a new beginning.
(Catherine Houkland)
Sandy and Paul, before God and before these who come to witness and celebrate with you tonight, I ask you to affirm you willingness to be husband and wife, to share all the joys and sorrows of this relationship, whatever the future may hold.
Sandy, will you have Paul to be your husband, and will you strive to fulfill the promise of love and faithfulness you make to him tonight? (I will.)
Paul, will you have Sandy to be your wife, and will you strive to fulfill the promise of love and faithfulness you make to her tonight? (I will.)
And you, the family and friends gathered here tonight... will you do all in your power to support Sandy and Paul in their life together with you? If so, Please answer clearly : We will.
Exchange of Vows:
You have come together to create a marriage. In this spirit you must pledge from the depths of hearts to nurture your friendship, your companionship, and to give each the love, care and kindness each needs to give and to receive.
Sandy, please repeat after me:
Paul, as your wife, I promise to love you with all my heart, to trust and respect you. I will share your joys and sorrows, triumphs and defeats. I will be faithful to you and be honest with you. I will try to meet each new day with more understanding, more wisdom and more strength than the day before.
Paul, please repeat after me:
Sandy, as your husband, I promise to love you with all my heart, to trust and respect you. I will share your joys and sorrows, triumphs and defeats. I will be faithful to you and be honest with you. I will try to meet each new day with more understanding, more wisdom and more strength than the day before.
Exchange of Rings
The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to all the uniting of Sandy and Paul in holy matrimony. From the earliest times, the golden circle has been a symbol of wedded love. It is made of pure gold to symbolize pure love. Being an unbroken circle, it symbolizes unending love. As often as either of you see this golden circle, you will be reminded of this high moment and the unending love you promise.
Let us Pray:
Bless, O Lord, the giving of these rings, that they who wear them may abide in your peace and continue in your favor, now and forever. Amen.
Paul, Repeat after me:
Sandy, I give you this ring as a symbol on my vow. And with all that I am, and all that I have, I join with you.
Sandy, Repeat after me:
Paul, I give you this ring as a symbol on my vow. And with all that I am, and all that I have, I join with you.
Closing Charge and Blessing
Sandy and Paul, as you continue to live in a faithful and loving partnership with one another, may you know the grace you need, when you need it, you live out the commitments you have made:
grace to know how fortunate you are to have found one another;
grace to forgive the other when you have been disappointed or wronged;
grace to laugh, play, and feel your passion for life and each other and all these here who love you;
grace to work, and through work to love and care for the world;
grace to be a marriage with room for whatever new growth there may be in your lives;
grace to speak the truth in love;
grace to keep silent in love;
grace to know the difference;
God keep you alive, like fire, all the days of your lives. May it make a happy, healthy home; and may it’s joy be everywhere contagious. Amen.
Pronouncement of Marriage:
Sandy and Paul, by the power of God and by the power of the vows spoken tonight, and by the prayers of those present here tonight: you are from this time forth husband and wife together. What God has joined together, let no one put asunder.
Blessing:
May God bless you and keep you; may God’s face shine brightly upon you and be gracious unto you; may God’s countenance hover over you and give you peace: now and forever. Amen.