Multiple Elements

Sample Weddings

Spiritual But Not Religious
Unitarian Universalist
Non-denominational Christian
Contemporary Jewish
Multiple Elements
African American
A Celtic Flavor
On The Beach
Civil / Secular
New Year's Theme
Commitment Service
Build a Beach Wedding
If I Had it to Do Over

Multi-Element Wedding I

• Presentation of the Bride
• Opening Words with Flower Presentation
• Reading: Love by Chief Dan George
• Affirmation of Marriage
• 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.  Without 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.” 

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)?

Exchange of Vows

______

Today I marry my friend, 

the one I will live with, dream with, and love.

I ______ take you to be my wife/husband.

From this day forward

I will cherish you,

I will look with joy

down the path of our tomorrows

knowing we will walk it together

side by side, hand in hand and heart to heart.

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.

Multi-Element Wedding II

• 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
• Butterfly Release
• 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.

Butterfly Release

The caterpillar is a lowly being, bound to the earth and bemoaned as an indiscriminate consumer of abundant vegetation. Yet this homely creature, with patience, care and sustenance becomes a venerated symbol of dignity and beauty.

We now ask that you open the envelopes presented to you when you arrived today. The release of these butterflies is important to (bride) and (groom) because it demonstrates their commitment to the cycle of life.

What is held captive cannot thrive. But when granted freedom in an environment of opportunity and respect, lives to bring about another generation. May (bride) and (groom's) marriage last as long as the offspring of these butterflies endure in grace and liberty.

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.