Multiple Elements

Sample Weddings

Beach Weddings
Multiple Elements
Non-denominational Christian
Unitarian Universalist
Contemporary Jewish
Civil / Non-Religious
A Celtic Flavour
Buddhist
African American
Native American
New Year's Theme
Symbolic Ceremony
Commitment Service
Spanish

• Ceremony One (flower presentation and unity candle)
• Ceremony Two (memorial statement, bread, wine, salt & coin ritual)
• Ceremony Three (honoring the parents, extemporaneous speaking, some ad libbing)

This couple met in junior high school and waited until their late twenties to get married. Everyone in the room knew both sides quite well so it was very easy to engage everyone. It was a formal secular affair with a sweet and light-hearted tone. This wedding demonstrates not only personalization, but how weddings can change "on the fly" with grace and humor.

• Ceremony Four (customized sand ceremony with mothers, surprise butterfly release)

The bride and groom both expressed a strong connection to the past and wanted to acknowledge the importance of their parents and as well as where they both came from geographically. Because they shared what they consider to be important attributes to their marriage, I was able to customize an affirmation of marriage focusing on their hopes for the relationship. Additionally, the family planned a surprise butterfly release in honor of those who could not make it to the ceremony but were special to the bride and groom. I had a great deal of fun crafting and officiating this ceremony as a result of their active participation.

Ceremony One

• Presentation of the Bride
• Opening Words with Flower Presentation
• Reading: Love by Chief Dan George
• Affirmation of Marriage (extended to a brief homily)
• Exchange of Vows
• Blessing of the Hands
• Exchange of Rings
• Unity Candle
• Gaelic Blessing
• Declaration of Marriage

Presentation of the Bride

Who brings this woman to be married this day?

Opening Words with a Flower Presentation

Dearly beloved, we gather this afternoon to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in matrimony. The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and soul is intended for their mutual joy and for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity. Marriage is a bond to be entered into advisedly and reverently.

______ and ______ are about to enter a relationship of assumed mutual responsibilities and a promise of undying devotion. Nothing is easier than saying words, nothing harder than living them day-by-day. Love between a husband and wife means caring as much about the welfare and happiness of our partner as about ourselves. Burdens will be lighter because they divide them—joys more intense because they share them.

            Weddings unite two individuals in the sanctity of marriage, but these two people do not come to their union alone. Each has a history and a family that nurtured them and helped them become the man and woman each holds dear. ______ and ______ would like to take a moment to honor their mothers, ________ (Bride's mom) and ______ (Groom's mom), for their continued love and support in their lives. 

<Bride and Groom present their mothers with a long-stemmed rose.>

Reading

Love by Chief Dan George

Love is something that you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become faint and weak. Without love our self- esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails.  ithout love we can no longer look confidently at the world. We turn inward and begin to feed on our own personalities and little by little we destroy ourselves. With love we are creative. With love we march tirelessly.  With love and with love alone, we are able to sacrifice for others.

Affirmation of Marriage

______ and ______, it is a great joy for us to be here with you on this day, sharing in you marriage ceremony and witnessing the commitment you make to one another. It is our hope that you remain ever mindful of the gifts you bring to one another, that you inspire and encourage one another. Bring out the best by being sparing in your criticism and generous with your praise.

        One of the most surprising things I have learned about marriage is how much it can serve to strengthen us as individuals. Rather than subsume the partners into the sole definition of a couple, marriage can define who each of you are and who you can become. Like the grandeur and mystery of the universe, a marriage is more than the sum of its parts. 

        ______ and ______, by coming here today, you have taken the initial step in what will be a wonderful and lasting life together. A union between two people takes effort and neither is a relationship ever complete. It is a process and a journey requiring constant nurturing. 

        When you don't feel particularly loving, act loving. The tenderness exhibited by kind and loving acts translates almost seamlessly into the compassion necessary for loving feelings to grow.  A good marriage is one that fosters respect, a devoted love, a willingness to make sacrifices as well as support one another by remaining true to your values and convictions. 

A strong and healthy marriage is an eternal gift we cultivate within the context of our lives. But bear in mind that eternity is something other than endless time. It is outside of time. It is not the past and not the future, but now. This moment. But as soon as we contemplate the moment it is gone. That is eternity. So if one seeks a relationship of love throughout eternity, it must be a continual process of the here and the now. 

Symbolically you have been brought together as one, yet are still two separate people with unique ideas, talents and ways of being. Respect and value those differences and your relationship will flourish. In the words of Kahlil Gibran, “Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together yet not too near together. For the pillars of the temple stand apart and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.” 

Exchange of Vows

I remind you that the vows you are about to exchange belong entirely to you. The words I speak have no magical powers and nothing I say or do on this day can ultimately make your marriage endure with beauty, fidelity and joy. Only you, by the integrity and diligence of your life, can make these vows last.

So it is not to lofty words or institutions that we appeal at this hour of commitment, but to the resources which you draw from deep within yourselves…the deep well of human need, the need to live united and loving and complete in an imperfect world. So will you now please (join hands/turn to one another)?

____, please look into _____'s eyes and repeat after me.

You, ______, are the love of my life,

the inspiration I have always sought.

I pledge my undying dedication to you for the rest of my life.

I love you with all of my heart and soul.

I will do everything in my power

to ensure your happiness and well being.

I, _____, take your hand and hold you to be,

from this day on, a part of me,

and promise to look upon you forever

as I would look upon myself,

with dedication, understanding, and unconditional love.

Blessing of the Hands

            ______ and ______, please hold one another’s hands with the palms facing up, so you may see the gift they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant on your wedding day, as you promise to passionately love and cherish each other through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.

These are the hands that will work beside one another, as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that will provide comfort in illness, and hold you when fear or grief engulfs your heart. These are the hands that when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch. These are the hands that will tenderly lift the chin and brush the cheek to gaze into one another’s eyes—eyes filled completely with love and desire.

            May these hands we see before us this day be blessed. May they long be held by one another. May they have the strength to hold on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. May they remain tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love. May these hands continue building a relationship founded in love, rich in caring, and devoted in reaching for perfection. May ______ and ______ see the hands that will hold their rings as healer, protector, shelter and guide.

Exchange of Rings

The circle is the symbol of the sun and the earth and the universe. It is a symbol of perfection and of peace. As the circle can begin anew at any point, so a good marriage can pick any point to renew itself. This ring is a symbol of unity, in which your two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle. Please repeat after me as you place the ring on your beloved’s left hand. 

Please repeat after me. 

I, ______, give to you ______, this ring,

as a symbol of my commitment

to love, honor, and respect you.

Unity Candle

        The two outside candles ______ and ______ are lighting represent all they were, all they are and all they will ever be. 

They are two distinct lights, symbolizing not only the families that brought them to this moment, but also the two unique individuals entering into the sacred bond of matrimony.

As they each take a candle and together light the center one, it now represents the coming together of two lives in a marriage relationship.  As this one light cannot be divided, neither shall their union be divided.  

A marriage neither results in two distinct personalities, nor the complete surrender of individuals into a partnership. Rather it is a relationship that strengthens the individual through love, honor and respect.

Gaelic Blessing

May joy and peace surround you both,
Contentment latch your door,
May happiness be with you now;
God bless you evermore.

Declaration of Marriage

What love has brought together, let no one break asunder. For as much as you, ______ and _______, have consented to live together in marriage and have pledged yourselves to one another, have declared the same by the giving and receiving of rings, with great pleasure and by the authority vested in me as a Minister in the state of Florida I pronounce you husband and wife.

Ceremony Two

• Presentation of the Bride
• Opening Words with Memorial Statement
• Reading: Falling by Robert Hardy
• Affirmation of Marriage
• Exchange of Vows
• Exchange of Rings
• Bread, Wine, Salt and Coin Ritual
• Marriage Blessing
• Declaration of Marriage

Presentation of the Bride

Minister: Who brings this woman to be married this day?

Escort/Family Responds

Opening Words with Memorial Statement

Dearly beloved we are here today to bear witness to the joining of this man and this woman in holy matrimony. (Bride)  and  (Groom)  invite us to share in the acknowledgment of the sincerity and gravity inherent in their decision to unite publicly as husband and wife. Because of this love we find ourselves in the exalted presence of their devotion, compassion, reverence and joy. We are invited to be a part of one of the happiest days of their lives because of the regard they have for us and the love we hold for them.

It is only right and fitting that we remember those who have been instrumental in helping (Bride) and (Groom) become the person each finds most dear in the world. _____  and ____ are unable to be with us today, but we know they reside within our minds and hearts as they bless this union. (Bride) and (Groom) light these memorial candles in honor of everyone who is unable to be here today in person but resides in our hearts in spirit.

Reading

"Falling" by Robert Hardy

You already know about love. You fall in love. Falling is easy.

Maybe you don’t see it coming. Maybe you brace yourself against the wind in the door,

see the earth circling below and jump. Falling is easy. It feels like flight.

You feel your kinship with clouds, with light, stuff of stars, atoms that float and fall,

meteors, stars that still glow with the start of everything.

You raise your arms like wings. Butterfly or belly-flop.

You feel the earth expanding--don’t look down. Reach for the cord.

Falling is easy. But is this love or gravity? Pull the cord.

Yes--love blossoms from the weight you carry, the question, the tug at your heart.

The parachute pops like a cork. Now you float in the arms of the atmosphere,

milkweed floss, dandelion seed, no longer afraid to take root in the earth--

but still floating awhile, ecstasy and trust,

your high-altitude heart settling back into a steadier beat,

the tilt of the earth, seasons and days.

But here you are floating--buoyed by invitations and arrangements.

Now you look down. The ground looms like a date, circled for landing.

The fields look like RSVPs. Your feet touch.

The parachute falls around you like a wedding dress.

You’ve landed together. Dance while the earth steadies beneath your feet.

Hold each other up. Now you will walk together in ordinary days.

Your parachute may become a maternity dress,

a mortgage, a tissue for your tears.

It may be divided into diapers, water-proof sheets,

a layette, stories to tell your grandchildren.

Days may come when you forget how it felt to float.

But still this moment of landing lives inside you,

when the touch of the ground felt like a vow--

I will always be there. I will catch you if you fall.

(Bride) and (Groom), you have shared with me your vision of marriage and the things each holds most dear about the other. I am struck by the realism that abides comfortably with your passion. You speak of unity, companionship, respect for individuality and compromise. And truly these are elements that constitute a healthy and successful marriage. A husband and wife must acknowledge the times when they will be of like mind and when they will disagree. They may or may not share common interests and hobbies. This matters not. It is the alignment of the heart and will, their commitment of loyalty and trust in a center of value and power greater than themselves that enables them to respect one another as they seek to understand and build a life together. The images they share of the ultimate environment ground them in a relationship that endures the inevitable changes wrought by time.

(Bride) and (Groom), is it your solemn yet joyous intention to pledge yourselves to one another in holy matrimony before these witnesses?

It is

Then I ask you to turn to one another, join hands and look into one another's eyes as you repeat after me and exchange your marriage vows.

I, ______ _____ _____

Exchange of Rings

Do we have the rings?

The circle is a natural symbol of eternity as it has no beginning and no end. We place the ring on the left hand because it constitutes a direct path to the heart, a traditional metaphor for love and devotion. It's presence reminds us of the vows we have made and their relationship to the emotional seat of the heart. We ask that these rings that will forever grace the hands of  (Bride) and (Groom's) be blessed. May they reside on the hands of the lover, the caregiver, the companion and the guide. May (Bride) and (Groom) wear these rings as a symbol of their unity.

(Bride) and (Groom), please repeat after me as you place the ring on your beloved’s left hand. 

I give you this ring

 in remembrance of this hour,

as a symbol of a love

that is complete, beautiful, and endless.

Bread, Salt, Wine and Coin

(Bride) and (Groom) you have just just sealed your relationship by the exchange of vows and the giving and receiving of rings. Today we wish to bless this union and bestow upon you the best gifts life has to offer. Please come forward together and share in this ritual of blessing and good will.

<Bride and groom each taste a piece of the bread on the altar/table>

May your home never know the pangs of hunger and always experience the fullness of life.

<Bride and groom each sip a little wine from the wine goblet on the altar/table>

May your union always bring you the sweetness that life has to offer.

<Bride and groom each place a spec of salt on their tongue>

May your family enable you to overcome the bitterness life may bring.

<Bride and groom hold the silver coin between their right hands together>

May you be wealthy in good health and never succumb to financial distress.

Marriage Blessing

(Bride) and (Grooom), may your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace. May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase. May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past. May your hands be forever clasped in friendship and your hearts joined forever in love. May infinite blessings rest upon you and fill all your coming days.

Declaration of Marriage

(Bride) and (Grooom), you have publicly pledged your intent to live together as husband and wife, symbolized by the giving and receiving of rings and blessed by the love of those who have gathered this day to witness your vows. What your love has brought together let no turn of time or fortune break asunder. As a minister in the state of Florida it is my joy and privilege to pronounce you husband and wife. (Groom), please kiss your bride.

Ceremony Three

• Processional and Presentation of the Bride

• Opening Words

• Honoring the Parents

• Reading (Extemporaneous Speaking)

• Affirmation of Marriage

• Exchange of Vows

• Blessing of the Rings

• Exchange of Rings

• Reading

• Sand Ceremony

• Reading

• Closing Words

• Declaration of Marriage

• Introduction of the Couple

Processional and Presentation of the Bride

Bride places a rose for her father on an empty chair and Groom steps forward to take his bride….and then he begins to cry.

Opening Words 

We are gathered here this day, not to witness a beginning of what shall be, but to celebrate and affirm what already is. Bride and Groom have invited you to share the public declaration of what has already been united in their hearts. This is, of course, apparent to all of you who have waited such a long time for this day to finally arrive. Their wedding today celebrates the joy and beauty of life. Our setting by the beach today clearly serves as a beautiful metaphor for marriage. (We had to move the wedding inside just as it was about to begin because of high winds and a threatening wall of rain on the horizon.) Just as the conditions on the sea range from a blissful calm to a raging storm, so our relationships change through time. The shore absorbs the pounding of the surf as our love endures the pressures of change and growth. It is a strength that binds yet ennobles our human experience.

Bride and Groom, the joy you feel now is a solemn joy as marriage is an estate weighty with consequences both social and personal. Your marriage requires love, a word often used too freely and with weak sentimentality. For your marriage, love must be something very real, but not binding. Love between a husband and wife results in surprising freedom and enriching fulfillment. Your love allows you to see things we cannot see. You see beneath the surface and observe qualities in one another that make you different and dearer than all others. Bride, you have shared how much you admire Groom’s passion about his beliefs, values and convictions. Groom, you have shared how you are moved by Bride’s compassion and caring of others. Besides these gifts you give to all of the people in your lives, your loving eyes view the inner beauty in one another and see and know what is seen and known by no other.

Honoring the Parents

When two people come together, it is right and good that they give thanks to those who nurtured them. Today, Bride and Groom would like to give honor to their parents and all those whose love and support have made this day possible. We keep (Bride’s father) in our hearts. Although he is no longer among us, his blessings and support are present in spirit and loving memory.

Reading

I invite (close friend) to come forward at this time with some words he has prepared for our celebration today.

He emailed the two of them to ask about the other and reported some rather funny interests and hobbies. There was a lot of laughter and not a few blushes. He also informed them their alma mater was losing a big football game at the half.

Minister hands Groom a linen handkerchief. Bride and bridesmaids are left to fend for themselves.

Affirmation of Marriage

Bride and Groom, your love is dynamic. You must not fear, but rather embrace the changes that come with the growth of your love. The love of husband and wife generates the courage and confidence needed to live together within the embracing bond of marriage. Cultivate your affection and consideration for one another to give you strength when drawing upon your capacity for self-sacrifice, patience and forbearance,

Marriage is a dedication. You give yourself, your life and your love into the trusting hands of the one you love. You bestow this gift generously. Likewise, each of you receives this boundless gift, the life and love of the other. A gift you received from your families who nurtured you and your friends who are joined in loving friendship and support for your marriage.

Something you shared with me bodes well for your future. When they first met in junior high school, Groom thought Bride very pretty but probably a bit stuck up. Bride thought Groom was the biggest dork. These humble beginnings may not have indicated an enduring and beautiful relationship, but I must tell you this is exactly what my parents thought when they were first introduced on a blind date. I am very pleased to tell you they are celebrating their forty-fifth wedding anniversary next month so obviously something works well with this formula.

On a more serious note, when you told me that accepting imperfections, anticipating there will be challenges in your marriage and maintaining open communication were what you considered important to the success of a healthy marriage I felt the maturity and dedication you both bring to your partnership. Bride and Groom, the promises you declare now will cross the years and touch the lives of many people and help them to develop a true sense of love, honor and commitment. Do you intend to pledge yourselves to one another in the exalted estate of marriage?

We do.

Exchange of Vows

Bride and Groom, it is a great joy for me to be standing here with you on this day, sharing in you marriage ceremony and witnessing to the commitment you make to one another.

I remind you that the vows you are about to exchange belong entirely to you. Only you, by the integrity and diligence of your life, can make these vows last. So it is not to lofty words or institutions that we appeal at this hour of commitment, but to the resources which you draw from deep within yourselves…the deep well of human need, the need to live united and loving and complete in an imperfect world.

So will you now please join hands and in so doing join your hearts.

Groom, please look into Bride’s eyes as you repeat after me.

Before these witnesses

I, Groom,

vow to love you, Bride,

and care for you

as long as we both shall live.

I take you, with all your faults and your strengths,

as I offer myself to you

with my faults and my strengths. (whines, but I don't have any faults)

I will help you when you need help,

and will turn to you when I need help.

I choose you as the person

with whom I will spend my life.

Bride, please look into Groom’s eyes as you repeat after me.

Before these witnesses

I, Bride,

vow to love you, Groom,

and care for you

as long as we both shall live.

I take you, with all your faults and your strengths, (emphasizes "your faults")

as I offer myself to you

with my faults and my strengths.

I will help you when you need help,

and will turn to you when I need help.

I choose you as the person

with whom I will spend my life.

Blessing of the Rings

Do we have the rings?

Marriage is a state in which two people come together and create a union greater than the sum of its parts. It is difficult to express in words the profound relationship that is love. The ring has long been a symbol of the sincerity and permanence of a couple's love for one another and regard for their marriage. As the circle can begin anew at any point, so a good marriage can pick any point to renew itself. These rings are symbols of your eternal love.

Exchange of Rings

Groom, please look into Bride’s eyes as you place the ring on your beloved’s left hand repeating after me.

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.

Bride, please look into Groom’s eyes as you place the ring on your beloved’s left hand repeating after me.

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.

Reading

I invite the Groom’s sister to come forward at this time and read from Corelli’s Mandolin by Louise De Bernieres.

Instead she reads Foundations of Marriage by Regina Hill.

Love, trust, and forgiveness are the foundations of marriage. In marriage, many days will bring happiness, while other days may be sad. But together, two hearts can overcome everything...In marriage, all of the moments won't be exciting or romantic, and sometimes worries and anxiety will be overwhelming. But together, two hearts that accept will find comfort together. Recollections of past joys, pains, and shared feelings will be the glue that holds everything together during even the worst and most insecure moments. Reaching out to each other as a friend, and becoming the confidant and companion that the other one needs, is the true magic and beauty of any two people together. It's inspiring in each other a dream or a feeling, and having faith in each other and not giving up... even when all the odds say to quit. It's allowing each other to be vulnerable, to be himself or herself, even when the opinions or thoughts aren't in total agreement or exactly what you'd like them to be. It's getting involved and showing interest in each other, really listening and being available, the way any best friend should be. Exactly three things need to be remembered in a marriage if it is to be a mutual bond of sharing, caring, and loving throughout life: love, trust, and forgiveness. 

Sand Ceremony

Bride and Groom, will you now step up to the table and hold close to your heart the container of sand representing the essence of all that you are and all that you bring to this union. As you do so, remember that like these grains of sand your differences and uniqueness are a wonderful gift that you give to one another, as important to your relationship as your commonality and the strength of your togetherness. Once this sand is poured it can never be separated, for it has moved on to create something new and beautiful, that shall be forever shared, much in that same way that your marriage will forever join your lives. Will you now pour the sand that is to represent both your individuality and your togetherness within your union? 

Bride and Groom intermingle their sand.

As you pour remember marriage is a promise to be together in harmony and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. To empower each other and allow your relationship to evolve to it's highest purpose. To sing and dance together and be joyful. To care for one another, share your lives with one another and to unite in spirits with every fiber of your being. Bring your union to the foreground of your thoughts always and through all of your moments together, so that in the triumphs and trials that lie ahead, you will you will feel just as you do now - happy to be in love and married to one another. Be at peace and live more and more in the present, which is beautiful and stretches away beyond the limits of the past and towards the horizons of the future. 

Reading

I invite the Bride’s step-father to come forward at this time and read from Corelli’s Mandolin by Louise De Bernieres.

Instead he reads The Art of Marriage by Wilferd Peterson.

A good marriage must be created.

In the 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 having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is standing together and facing the world.

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

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

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

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

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

It is not only marrying the right person.

It is being the right partner.

Closing Words (no closing words were written into the original ceremony)

For Bride and Groom, I am not about to let this ceremony conclude without reading from Corelli’s Mandolin by Louise De Bernieres.

"Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion... That is just being "in love," which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident."

Declaration of Marriage

Bride and Groom, you have pledged yourselves to one another in love, compassion, righteousness and truth and symbolized your vows with the giving and receiving of rings. In the presence of these witnesses it is my honor and joy as a member of the clergy in the state of Florida to pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.

Introduction of the Couple

It is my joy and honor to introduce for the first time, Bride and Groom Surname!

Ceremony Four

(Groom), you may take your bride.

Opening Words   

It is with great joy we gather today to witness the joining of two hands, and two hearts in holy matrimony.  These two people, (Groom) and (Bride), have fallen in love so deeply, so completely, that today, they make a bond, a sacred covenant before God, whereby their hearts, their bodies, and their souls shall be united as one in marriage for the rest of their days.  

(Groom) and (Bride)’s respective families, together with their friends, each represent a circle of love where members care for, and nurture each other, in times of joy and in times of sorrow. Today, they join their lives together to make a new circle of love, one that overlaps with, and is made stronger by those from which it has emerged.  You have been invited here because of their special relationship with you, to witness the solemnization of this sacred bond.  

Affirmation of Marriage 

(Groom) and (Bride) when I asked your vision of being married to the other you both mentioned love, of course, but then one of you said commitment and the other dedication. I could not be more thrilled. This speaks of a maturity that bodes well for your future.

Love alone does not inspire us to live lives full of compassion and service to one another. It requires dedication, commitment, trust and faith. We derive the strength to nurture this love in the context of the marriage bond and our community. Therefore, I remind your friends and family here today that they too play an important role in supporting you as you face the challenges every marriage encounters over time.

(Groom) and (Bride), marriage is a voluntary partnership that will indeed constantly challenge and test the depth of your commitment. Love brought you together and will make your marriage richer and sweeter. It is a mutual dedication and a willingness to trust that each of you is committed to the health and success of your relationship that will make your marriage endure. 

Exchange of Vows

 I ask you to turn to one another, join hands and in so doing, join your hearts. 

(Bride), please look into (Groom)’s eyes repeating after me:

I, (Bride’s Full Name)

take you (Groom’s Full Name),

to be my beloved husband,

to have and to hold,

to honor and to treasure,

to be at your side

in sorrow and in joy,

in the good times and in the bad,

and to love and cherish always.

I make these promises from my heart

from this day forward.

(Groom), please look into (Bride)’s eyes repeating after me:

I, (Groom’s Full Name),

take you (Bride’s Full Name),

to be my beloved wife,

to have and to hold,

to honor and to treasure,

to be at your side

in sorrow and in joy,

in the good times and in the bad,

and to love and cherish always.

I make these promises from my heart

from this day forward. 

Blessing of the Rings

Do we have the rings?

Lord, we ask you to bless these rings that (Bride) and (Groom) are about to exchange and the rings of (Groom’s ancestor) and (Bride’s ancestor). They represent the continuation of love down through the generations as well as the uniting of these two families with their hopes for a new generation nurtured by this love.  

May these rings forever remind (Groom) and (Bride) of their covenant with one another, as well as the circle of love they have publicly created here today.  May their regard for one another be like these rings, with no beginning and no end.  May the precious metal remind them of their precious commitment, and if either begins to tarnish, may they joyfully undertake the sacred duty to make it shine brightly again. May these rings always belong to their hands, and their love always belong in each other’s hearts. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen .

Exchange of Rings

(Groom), please look into (Bride)’s eyes as you place the ring on her finger repeating after me.

With this ring, I marry you.

Wear it as a symbol

of our love and commitment.

(Bride), please look into (Groom)’s eyes as you place the ring on his finger repeating after me.

With this ring, I marry you.

Wear it as a symbol

of our love and commitment. 

Sand Ceremony

At this time I invite (Groom) and (Bride)’s mothers to come forward with their containers of sand and stand beside their children. They bring forth sand from (where groom was raised) and (where bride was raised) representing the families who raised and nurtured this man and this woman.  I therefore ask the families, do you give your blessings to (Groom) and (Bride) as they enter into this new relationship, and do you aspire in the days and years ahead to give them your deepest love, understanding, and support during both good times and bad?

We do.

Please hand your child the container of sand.  

(Groom) and (Bride), will you now hold close to your heart the container of sand representing the essence of all that you are and all that you bring to this union. As you do so, remember that like these grains of sand your differences and uniqueness are a wonderful gift that you give to one another, as important to your relationship as your commonality and the strength of your togetherness. Once this sand is poured it can never be separated, for it has moved on to create something new and beautiful, that shall be forever shared, much in that same way that your marriage will forever join your lives. 

Will you now pour the sand that represents both your individuality and your togetherness within your union? 

Blessing of the Marriage

Dear heavenly Father, our hearts are filled with great happiness on (Bride) and (Groom)’s wedding day, as they come before You pledging their hearts and lives to one another. Grant that they may be ever true and loving, living together in such a way as to never bring shame or heartbreak into their marriage. Temper their hearts with kindness and understanding, rid them of all pretense of jealousy. Help them to remember to be each other's sweetheart, helpmate, friend and guide, so that together they may meet the cares and problems of life more bravely. And with the passage of time, may the home they are creating today, truly be a place of love and harmony, where your spirit is ever present.  Bless this union we pray, and walk beside (Groom) and (Bride) throughout their lives together. In the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit; Amen.

Declaration of Marriage

What love has brought together, let no one break asunder. For as much as you, (Groom) and (Bride), have pledged to live together in the holy state of matrimony, symbolized your intent with the giving and receiving of rings, it is my privilege as a minister in the state of Florida to hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.

Surprise Butterfly Release

At this time I invite (family member) to come forward. She said a few words about remembering the family and read the Native American reading traditionally associated with butterfly releases.

Introduction of the Couple

It is my joy and honor to introduce for the first time, (Groom) and (Bride) Surname!