First of all: hi! I haven't been around in a while because my office randomly started blocking The Knot.
I'm working from home today, so woo!
I sat down last night and did a draft of my ceremony script. The wedding isn't until July so I have some time, but I will feel good knowing that this part is taken care of. A close friend of ours will be officiating, and she will say whatever we want. Mutuality and love without the syrupy-sweet fairy tale trope are kind of our guiding forces.
Some is my own original writing and some is adapted from other ceremony scripts I found online. What do you all think?
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Officiant down the aisle
Groomsmen down the aisle
GROOM + parents down the aisle
Bridesfolk down the aisle
BRIDE + parents down the aisle
Officiant: Family, friends, and fellow travelers on the
path of life: welcome! We are gathered
here today to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments, and to cherish the
words which shall unite GROOM and BRIDE in marriage.
Marriage is the promise between two people who love each
other, who trust in that love, who honor one another as individuals, and who have
decided to spend the rest of their lives together.
This ceremony will not create a relationship that does
not already exist between you. It is a representation of how far you have come
in the past five years. It is symbolic of the promises you will make to each
other to continue growing stronger as individuals and as partners throughout
the years ahead.
Today, your lives, which began on separate paths, will be
joined as one. The nature of this coming together is expressed in the poem Union by Robert Fulghum.
“You have known each other from the first glance of
acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry.
From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making
commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a
car, or over a meal, or during long walks – all those conversations that began
with, “When we’re married”, and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we
will” – all those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and
“maybe” – and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All
these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.
The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of
saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and
hoped, and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.”
Look at one another and remember this moment in time.
Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance,
friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned
much from one another these past few years. Shortly you shall say a few words
that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will
never quite be the same.
For after today you shall say to the world –
This is my husband. This is my wife.”
With this in mind, we proceed to the declaration of
intent.
Do you, GROOM, take BRIDE to be your wife, offering her
your love and encouragement, your trust and respect, as together you create
your collective future?
GROOM: I DO
Officiant: Do you, BRIDE, take GROOM to be your husband, offering him
your love and encouragement, your trust and respect, as together you create your
collective future?
BRIDE: I DO
Officiant: The couple has prepared vows to seal the occasion
GROOM: GROOM VOWS (with this ring…)
BRIDE: BRIDE VOWS (with
this ring…)
Officiant: GROOM and BRIDE, you have expressed your love to one
another through the commitments and promises you have just made. It is with
these in mind, and by the power vested in me by the state of Minnesota, that I now
pronounce you husband and wife.
You have kissed a thousand times, maybe more. But today the feeling is new. You are no longer simply partners and best
friends. I invite you now to share your
first kiss as husband and wife.
Before we close today, we will look back on an old German
tradition. In Bavaria, it was customary
for the bride and groom to conclude their wedding ceremony by jointly sawing a
log in half. The log symbolizes the
first challenge they must confront together in their marriage. Neither spouse can wield the saw alone; it is
only together that they can accomplish the task at hand. Will you bring in the log [2 wedding party
members carry log on sawhorse, one additional carries saw]. GROOM, hold this end of the saw. Use it with the full force of your being,
giving and receiving in equal measure. BRIDE,
hold this end of the saw. Use it with
the full force of your being, giving and receiving in equal measure. [we saw
the log.]
Their work is done, and my work is also at an end. I now present to you for the first time, Mr.
and Mrs. GROOM and BRIDE!
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Anything you think should be changed/adapted/added/deleted?