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meggles    June 6, 2009   UK

Morning Ladies.... I was cleaning out my files, and came across our Ceremony Text from our June 2009 wedding.  We wrote the ceremony ourselves, cutting/pasting/creating from various sources.... Hopefully this may help someone else in our same situation

meggles    June 6, 2009   UK

Meghann & Andy

June 6th 2009

5pm

 

Pre Ceremony Checklist:

Bestman (Ray) has the (2) Rings – to give to officiant on pillow before ceremony starts.

Andy (Groom) has the vows in his pocket.

 

Processional

Trinidad North playing "So Nice"

Andy and Bestman (Ray) takes his place

 

Sue & Malcolm (Mother & Father of the Groom) are the last guests to sit. 

Ann Marie (Mother of the Bride) is escorted to her seat by Bill Loughery Jr

 

Avery & Finn walk down aisle (Flower girl & Ring Bearer)

Carolyn & Gabrielle walk down aisle (Bridesmaids)

Suzanne & Kathryn walk down aisle (Bridesmaids)

Tracy & Hazel walk down aisle (Matron of Honor and her daughter)

 

Meghann & Father (Terry) walk down aisle

 

Meghann stops to give Mother (Ann Marie) a kiss & hug.  Mother continues to stand

 

Guests will most likely stand at the Bride’s entrance; ask them to please be seated, if they don’t do so on their own.

 

I. Giving away of the Bride
Meghann’s dad stands on Andy’s left side when she and her dad reach the end of the aisle.
Officiant: Who gives this bride in marriage?
Meghann’s mom & dad: We do
Andy shakes Meghann’s Dad’s hand.

 

II. Gathering Words

Officiant: Being married is like trying to keep your balance

in a three-legged race.

You are walking side by side in a forward momentum,

yet each of you is making choices,

moment by moment,

that will either help you maintain balance together

or cause you to lose your rhythm,

your balance, or your way.

 

While you are two separate individuals,

you walk along one path together.

Your every gesture, word, expression, and action,

and those you withhold or omit,

will determine the quality of your experience together.

 

It is through loving, kindness, caring, and sharing

that a successful marriage journey is created.

A good marriage takes patience,

dedication, humor, and forgiveness.

 

You keep your love alive

through the choices you make moment by moment,

day after day, and year after year.

Through patience,

you learn how to love yourselves and each other

with devotion and freedom.

 

Meghann and Andy,

through your marriage, and through your love,

may you give the gifts of tenderness,

comfort, joy, and peace to each other

to nurture you throughout the years.

 

III. Ring Warming:

Officiant: As a tangible symbol of their commitment to one another,

Meghann and Andy will be exchanging rings.

As a gesture of your commitment—

as their friends and family—to support and celebrate this marriage,

their rings will be passed among all of you during the ceremony.

When it’s your turn, as you hold the rings for a brief moment,

please reflect on a wish

for their happiness or a hope for their future together.

After everyone has held the rings,

please pass them back to the front to Ray here. (Bestman)

 

IV. Remembrances

Officiant: Meghann and Andy

have asked that we take a moment

to honor the memory of those loved ones

who could only be here today in spirit.

 

We would especially like to remember

Roy and Maisy Foster

who were unable to make the trip,

the Bride's grandparents, Bette Smythe VonHacht, Jack & Peggy Horner,

and the Groom's grandparents, Harry & Beatrice Smith.  

who have passed away.

 

V. Declaration of Support

Officiant: By being here with you,

each of us is declaring our support

for your decision to join together in marriage.

 

(to guests)

 

As families and friends,

you form the community of support

that surrounds Meghann and Andy.

Each of you, by your presence here today,

is being called upon

to uphold them in honoring and loving each other.

 

Please affirm your support for this marriage

by responding “Yes, we do” to the following question:

 

Do you offer your love and support

to strengthen their marriage

and promise to always stand beside them, never between them?

 

Guests: Yes, we do!

 

Officiant: Meghann and Andy have chosen to celebrate and commemorate

their wedding with a Quaker Marriage Certificate.

After the ceremony, they ask that all present

sign the document to affirm your love and support for their marriage.

The certificate will be hung in a place of honor in their home,

reminding them of the commitments they will make today,

and of the community that they can draw on in times of need.

 

VI. Marriage Address

 

I will focus here on two key areas:

 

1. Unconditional love

2. Spending the rest of your lives drawing out of the other person whom they were truly intended to be.

 

Meghann and Andy

from this day forward,

this date, June 6th,

will always have special meaning for you

as the day you vowed to love and to cherish each other

in all ways, always.

 

Each year when you come upon your anniversary

I encourage you to rededicate yourselves

to the vows you make here today.  

Express your gratitude to each other  

for the ways that you have effectively loved

and supported one another.

Show each other

that you can be trusted and counted on

as a comfort when facing difficult times

and celebrate abundantly

the successes and joys life brings your way.

Let you love lead the way

and be more important than anything else.

Then, your lives together

will be filled with blessings and joy.

 

VII. Statement of Intentions / Charge for couple

 

Officiant: (to couple):

Meghann and Andy, do you, with family and friends as your witnesses,

Present yourselves willingly and of your own accord to be joined in marriage?

Meghann and Andy: We do.

 

Officiant: (to couple): Even after knowing each other for 5 years, there will be more to learn. Will you always be open and honest, trust one another, and be worthy of that trust?
Meghann and Andy: We will.

Officiant: (to couple): Marriage is an ongoing dialogue, a series of discussions that will help you find your way together. Will you communicate with each other fully, and fearlessly?
Meghann and Andy: We will.

 

VIII. Wedding Vows

Officiant: Meghann and Andy, please turn and face each other, holding hands. 

Meghann and Andy will now recite their vows. 

Andy, please repeat after me:

 

Andy:

I take you Meghann,
in the presence of our family and friends
to be my wife and partner from this day forward.
I will laugh with you in times of joy,

and comfort you in times of sorrow.
I will honour and respect our marriage

and be by your side.
I promise to lovingly fulfill these vows

each and every day
and share all that is to come.

 

Officiant: and Meghann repeat after me.

 

Meghann:

I choose you, Andy,

to be my husband.

I promise to laugh with you,

to listen to you,

to respect you,

to support you,

and to love you,

as long as we both shall live.

 

IX. Prelude 

Officiant (to Bestman): May I have the rings please?

(Bestman (Ray) hands up the rings and gives them to the Officiant)

 

Officiant:

I know it may seem old fashioned,

but there is really no better outward symbol

that represents the vows you are making here today.

This ring serves as a constant reminder

to embrace one another through everything that life offers.

   

XI. Ring Exchange

Andy: I love you. (places ring on Meghann's finger)

Meghann: I wed you. (seats ring on her finger)

 

Meghann: I love you. (places ring on Andy's finger)

Andy: I wed you. (seats ring on his finger)

 

 

XII. Final Blessing

Officiant:

Meghann and Andy, we have heard your promise to share your lives in marriage.

We recognize and respect the vows you have made here this day

Before each of us as witnesses.

 

Through the sacred vows of marriage
you are saying that who you are
and who you want to be
can best be achieved through this union.

 

In the honesty and sincerity of what you have said and done here today,

And in accordance with the laws of the state of Pennsylvania

It is my honour to declare you to be Husband and Wife

You may seal your vows with a kiss.

NYE Gal    December 31, 2010   Ontario

My eyes have watered right up....very beautiful and I might 'borrow' some wording...