Ceremony

This is the text of our ceremony. It was a definate labor of love.


Welcome
Officiant: Welcome, family, friends and loved ones. We gather here today to celebrate the wedding of Erica and Craig. You have come here to share in this formal commitment they make to one another, to offer your love and support to this union, and to allow Erica and Craig to start their married life together surrounded by the people dearest and most important to them.

So welcome to one and all, who have traveled from near and far. Erica and Craig thank you for your presence here today, and now ask for your blessing, encouragement, and lifelong support, for their decision to be married. 

 
Definition of Marriage
Officiant: Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure of human relationships. No ceremony can create your marriage; only you can do that – through love and patience; through dedication and perseverance; through talking and listening, helping and supporting and believing in each other; through tenderness and laughter; through learning to forgive, learning to appreciate your differences, and by learning to make the important things matter, and to let go of the rest. What this ceremony can do is to witness and affirm the choice you make to stand together as lifemates and partners.

 

1st reading: The Art of Marriage 


The little things are the big things.

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.

 

It is never going to sleep angry.

It is at no time taking the other for granted;

the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years.

 

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is standing together facing the world.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,

but in the spirit of joy.

 

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.

It is not looking for perfection in each other.

 

It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

 

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.

It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.



Declaration of Intent
Officiant:
Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, please declare your consent. Have you come here freely today and without reservation to commit yourselves to each other in marriage?
Bride & Groom: We have.
Will you be respectful and value one another as your equal, be open, honest, and patient, trust and have faith in one another, and be worthy of that trust?
Bride & Groom: We will.
Marriage is an ongoing dialogue, a series of discussions that will help you find your way together. Will you listen and communicate with each other fully, and fearlessly?
Bride & Groom: We will.
Every marriage requires a leap of faith. Will you work, even when the work is hard, to honor your vows?
Bride and Groom: We will.
As your life unfolds before you, will you remain true to the promises you make this day?
Bride & Groom: We will.


2nd READING Dr. Suess wedding vows


Melissa:  Will you answer me right now
These questions, as your wedding vow?

Greg: Yes, I will answer right now

Your questions as my wedding vow.

Melissa: Will you take her as your wife?

Will you love her all your life?

Greg: Yes, I take her as my wife,

Yes, I'll love her all my life.

Melissa: Will you have, and also hold

Just as you have at this time told?

Greg: Yes, I will have, and I will hold,

Just as I have at this time told,
Yes, I will love her all my life
As I now take her as my wife.

Melissa: Will you love through good and bad?

Whether you're happy or sad?

Greg: Yes, I'll love through good and bad,
Whether we're happy or sad,
Yes, I will have and I will hold
Just as I have already told,
Yes, I will love her all my life,
Yes, I will take her as my wife!

Melissa: Will you love her if you're rich?
Or if you're poor, and in a ditch?

Greg: Yes, I'll love her if we're rich,
And I will love her in a ditch,
I'll love her through good times and bad,
Whether we are happy or sad,
Yes, I will have, and I will hold
(I could have sworn this has been told!)
I promise to love all my life
This woman, as my lawful wife!

Melissa: Will you love her when you're fit,
And also when you're feeling sick?

Greg: Yes, I'll love her when we're fit,
And when we're hurt, and when we're sick,
And I will love her when we're rich
And I will love her in a ditch
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold
Ten years from now a thousandfold,
Yes, I will love for my whole life
This lovely woman as my wife!

Melissa: Will you love with all your heart?
Will you love till death you part?

Greg: Yes, I'll love with all my heart
From now until death do us part,
And I will love her when we're rich,
And when we're broke and in a ditch,
And when we're fit, and when we're sick,
(Oh, CAN'T we get this finished quick?)
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold,
And if I might now be so bold,
I'll love her my entire life,
Yes, I WILL take her as my wife!

Melissa: Then if you'll take her as your wife,
And if you'll love her all your life,
And if you'll have, and if you'll hold,
From now until the stars grow cold,
And if you'll love through good and bad,
And whether you're happy or sad,
And love in sickness, and in health,
And when you're poor, and when in wealth,
And if you'll love with all your heart,
From now until death do you part,
Yes, if you'll love her through and through,
Please answer with these words:

Melissa and Greg: I DO!





 
Support of Community
Officiant: Two people in love do not live in isolation. Their love is a source of strength with which they may nourish not only each other but also the world around them. And in turn, we, their community of friends and family, have a responsibility to this couple. By our steadfast care, respect, and love, we can support their marriage and the new family they are creating today.

Will everyone please rise.

Will you who are present here today, surround Craig and Erica in love, offering them the joys of your friendship, and supporting them in their marriage?

All: We will

Officiant: You may be seated. 

 
Wedding Vows
Officiant: We've come to the point of your ceremony where you're going to say your vows to one another. But before you do that, I ask you to remember that love – which is rooted in faith, trust, and acceptance - will be the foundation of an abiding and deepening relationship. No other ties are more tender, no other vows more sacred than those you now assume. If you are able to keep the vows you take here today, not because of any religious or civic law, but out of a desire to love and be loved by another person fully, without limitation, then your life will have joy and the home you establish will be a place in which you both will find the direction of your growth, your freedom, and your responsibility.

I Craig take you Erica my one true love

I will cherish our friendship

and love you today, tomorrow, and forever.

May the world see how beautiful you are

as I see how beautiful you are.

I will trust you and honor you;

I will laugh with you and cry with you;

I will love you faithfully,

through the best and the worst,

through the difficult and the easy.

What may come, I will always be there for you.

To stand by your side and hold you when you are sleeping.

I promise to spend quality time with you every week.

I promise to not let our romance fade away.

I promise to give you the best of myself
and to ask of you no more than you can give.


I vow to honor and respect you for all that you are and will become, taking pride in who we are, both separately and together.

Above all, I will give you my love freely and unconditionally.
I pledge this to you from the bottom of my heart, for all the days of our lives.


 

I Erica take you Craig my one true love

I will cherish our friendship

and love you today, tomorrow, and forever.

I will trust you and honor you;

I will laugh with you and cry with you;

I will love you faithfully,

through the best and the worst,

through the difficult and the easy.

What may come, I will always be there for you.

To stand by your side and sleep in your arms.

I promise to give you the best of myself
and to ask of you no more than you can give.


I vow to honor and respect you for all that you are and will become, taking pride in who we are, both separately and together.

I promise to support you as you strive to reach your dreams.

I promise to laugh at your jokes…every so often and not throw your trumpets out the window.

Above all, I will give you my love freely and unconditionally.
I pledge this to you from the bottom of my heart, for all the days of our lives.


Rings
 

Officiant: May I have the rings, please?

Please repeat after me: 


Erica/Craig: I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you. I ask you to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day.
 

Officiant:  The engagement ring is a symbol of promise and intention. Now the intention is realized and the promise fulfilled.  Craig, please place the engagement ring on Erica’s finger, over her wedding band to symbolize that the love that brought you together will always protect and sustain your marriage.

 
Sand Ceremony
Officiant:  As you stand beside the ocean tide, may your love always be as constant as these never-ending waves, flowing endlessly from the depths of the sea. 

Your love came softly upon each other’s hearts, just as the foam comes softly upon the sand, and just as there will never be a morning without the ocean's flow, so there will never be a day without love for each other.  

You have pledged yourselves on this day that your love will be as dependable as the tide; as these waters nourish the earth and sustain life, may your constant devotion nourish and sustain you until the end of time.

Craig and Erica, you have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings, and this covenant is a relationship agreement between two people who agree that they will commit themselves to one another throughout their lives.  The most beautiful example of this partnership is the marriage relationship.  You have committed here today to share the rest of your lives with each other.

This relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand, one from New Jersey, representing you, Erica and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and one from Delaware, representing you, Craig, and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be. 

As these two containers of sand are poured into the third container, the individual containers of sand will no longer exist, but will be joined together as one.  Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be. Far more important than your individuality is now the reality that you are no longer two but one, never to be separated one from the other.

Blessing

JEWISH SEVEN WEDDING BLESSINGS (CONTEMPORARY)

May your marriage enrich your lives.

May you work together to build a relationship of substance and quality.

May the honesty of your communication build a foundation of understanding, connection, and trust.

May you respect each other’s individual personality and philosophy, and give each other room to grow and fulfill each other’s dreams.

May your sense of humor and playful spirit continue to enliven your relationship.

May you understand that neither of you is perfect: you are both subject to human frailties: and may your love strengthen when you fall short of each other’s expectations.

May you be “best friends”, better together than either of you are apart.

 
Pronouncement
Officiant: By the power of your love and commitment, and the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss each other! 

Recessional

I am proud to announce the new Mr. and Mrs. Erica and Craig Retzlaff!

 

As they head up the aisle as Mr and Mrs

Shower them with rose petals, your love and good wishes.