April and Diedre, Haverhill, MA. September 25th 2008
Order of Service
Processional
Welcome, Introduction, Giving of the Brides
Reading by Relatives or Minister
Vows and ring Exchange
Wine and Bread blessing
Closing , Declaration and Introduction of Couple
Recessional
Please stand for the brides.
PROCESSIONAL
Reverend:
It is with great pleasure we gather this day to witness the joining of two hands and two hearts in marriage. We welcome you as witnesses to a true joining of loved ones, for Deidre and April have been led by Spirit to a rare and wondrous thing, a love that is pure and true.
It is said that when each person is created they are not whole, that there is a need to find the soul that was created to be their partner and that part of their earthly journey is to seek and to find the soul whose presence will fill and complete each of them. April and Deidre have come to the end of their seeking and before us here they make a bond whereby their hearts, bodies, and souls shall be united as one.
Today these two souls who have found fulfillment within each other create a new circle of love that is made stronger by the two from which it emerged. You, their families and friends, represent a circle of love where members care for and nurture one another in times of joy and times of sorrow. Because of their love for you, and the meaning you have brought to their lives, you have been invited to witness this creation.
THE GIVING IN MARRIAGE
Reverend: Who gives these women into marriage?
Escort/s: We/I do.
Reverend: With your blessing we proceed. Please be seated.
Reading Minister or family member or friend
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable or resentful it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things, believes in all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
April and Deidre, please look into the eyes of your beloved and take this moment to make your personal vows to each other.
Personal vows are read here, make sure you have tissues!!
April and Deidre have also chosen to mark their love and their vows today with an exchange of rings. Rings are a symbol of unending love as they have no beginning and no end. Who can say for sure the precise moment that love begins and once love is discovered, it can never be lost.
Do we have the rings? - rings from Best Friend
We bless these rings as a symbol of sacred love and they are empowered by the solemn vows that you are about to undertake as a couple. They are an outward and visible sign of a bond that unites two hearts in love.
May you who give them, and who wear them, live together in unity, love and happiness for the rest of your lives.
Give ring to April, she places ring on Deidres finger
Please repeat after me.
with this ring.......
I April take you Deidre to be my lawfully wedded partner. I promise to support you, to laugh with you, to work with you and to share with you all of life's experiences. In good times and in bad. Like this ring, my love has no beginning and no end, but it has strength and beauty, and will be there for you as long as we both shall live.'
Give ring to Deidre, she places ring on Aprils finger
Please repeat after me.
with this ring.......
I Deidre take you April to be my lawfully wedded partner. I promise to support you, to laugh with you, to work with you and to share with you all of life's experiences. In good times and in bad. Like this ring, my love has no beginning and no end, but it has strength and beauty, and will be there for you as long as we both shall live.'
Bread and Wine ceremony
As your first act as a married couple I ask you to share this wine [hand goblet, brides drink]
May you never be thirsty
As your second act as a married couple I ask you to share this bread [hand bread, brides feed each other]
May you never be hungry
As your third act as a married couple I ask you to share gifts of love [hand gifts, brides exchange]
May abundance always be in your life and love be with you always.
Blessing -
Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you shall be shelter to the other.
Now you shall feel no cold,
For each of you shall be warmth to the other,
Now there is no more loneliness,
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Although you are two bodies,
There is only one life before you.
Go now to enter the days of your togetherness,
May your days be long and good upon the earth.
Amen.
By the power vested in me, by the state of Massachusetts, by these witnesses, and by your love for each other.
I now pronounce you partners for life.
You may kiss your Bride....[kiss]
[turn to face witnesses]
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you
April and Deidre!