A Wedding Ceremony
Good Evening Friends!
I recently had the privilege of performing the nuptial blessing for some dear friends. I have recently re-developed my basic wedding--of course i always edit significantly to suit the couple. I figured you might like to read it (I have removed the names of the couple for their privacy).
Groom And Bride Wedding
Bride Bride: Groom Groom
Prelude
o Entrance (5 Maids, 4 Men)-Prerecorded music-Color of Love.
o Bride's entrance-Live vocal.
Greeting
On this wonderful day,
May the grace of our Lord
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all!
As we open the festivities of this wedding, hear now Hear now these words from the First Letter of John 4:16.
“So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (NRSV).
May these words serve as the Pole Star by which to set this evening’s course.
Introduction
Friends,
We are gathered here today to witness and bless the joining together of Groom Groom and Bride Bride in the covenant of Christian Marriage.
Marriage is a three-way covenant between two people and God to be witnessed, publicly, by those most important to that couple.
And so, friends, here we are today.
We are the group of people that Bride and Groom chose to share this with.
We are here to surround them with our love and prayers;
and to ask God's blessing on the covenant of their matrimony.
We are here to strengthen their life together.
Let me add this. In the time that I have known this couple I have developed a deep love and respect for them. Groom and I met just a few years ago when we both found ourselves working at Apple Computer. Groom, let me say this. I don’t want to sound too terribly sappy; but, I have come to count you among my closest friends. I am honored to share this day with the both of you.
Prayer
Let's bow our heads in prayer:
Gracious God.
You are always faithful in your love for us.
Look with grace upon Groom and Bride who have come, on this day, to seek your blessing.
May your Holy Spirit rest upon them,
so that with steadfast love they may honor the promises that they will make on this day.
We pray these things not by might, or by power, but through the name of your son Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Scripture Reading
Listen now, to the words of the Apostle Paul as written to the church in Corinth.
While Paul speaks about the kind of love people must have for God, I believe that the same understanding of love must be true within the context of a healthy marriage.
The scripture is 1 Cor 13:1-13
We will be reading from Eugene Peterson’s
Modern language translation entitled, The Message.
3:1
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
13:2
If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
13:3
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
13:4
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head,
13:5
Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
13:6
Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
13:7
Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
13:8
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit.
13:9
We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete.
13:10
But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
13:11
When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
13:12
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13:13
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
Intent
Bride, understanding that God has created, ordered, and blessed the covenant of marriage, do you affirm your desire and intention to enter this covenant with Groom?
If so, say: I will, with the help of God.
Groom, I now ask you the same: Understanding that God has created, ordered, and blessed the covenant of marriage, do you affirm your desire and intention to enter this covenant with Bride?
If so, say: Fo Sho, with God's help.
Families:
I would now like to ask the families of Groom and Bride to state their intent. So, if i could have you all (if you are willing and able) stand for a moment:
The families of Groom and Bride: do you give your blessing to Bride and Groom today as they seek your blessing to enter the covenant of marriage. If so, say: We do.
Friends and the rest of the Congregation:
If I could have the rest of you all stand now. Friends and others so that all who are willing and able are standing.
Friends and guests. Groom and Bride have chosen to share this day with you and have come to ask your blessing on this marriage. Witnessing these vows, will you do everything in your power to uphold those vows and support them as, you are able, in their marriage?
If you will, signify so by a resounding: We will!
You may all be seated.
vows
Groom and Bride, since it is your intention to mary, turn to each other and join your right hands, and with your promises, bind yourselves to each other as husband and wife.
Ok Groom. You ready for this?
Repeat after me:
I, Groom, take you, Bride, to be my wife;
and I promise, before God and these witnesses,
to be your loving and faithful husband;
in plenty and in want;
in joy and in sorrow;
in sickness and in health;
as long as we both shall live.
Bride? You cool with that?
OK, repeat after me:
I, Bride, take you, Groom, to be my husband;
and I promise, before God and these witnesses,
to be your loving and faithful wife;
in plenty and in want;
in joy and in sorrow;
in sickness and in health;
as long as we both shall live.
Rings
Bride and Groom, what will you share to
Symbolize your love?
(Ring Bearer Comes Forward).
The couple has chosen to exchange rings to symbolize their bond of marriage.
Prayer
Eternal God,
who in the time of Noah, gave us a rainbow as a sign of promise we ask your blessing upon these symbols,
that they may also be signs of promises fulfilled in lives of faithful loving.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
(Groom places ring on Bride's finger)
Bride, I give you this ring
as a sign
of my love and faithfulness.
(Bride places ring on Groom's finger)
Groom,
I give you this ring
as a sign
of my love and faithfulness.
(Place ring on finger)
Candle Ceremony
Representing the love and support you have given Groom and Bride as they have grown, separately and together, they share with you the lighting of the unity candle. (front candle will be lit at this time) Each candle will be lit starting from the candle which I hold in my hand (representing God's place in this covenant).
From this Candle, Groom and Bride will light theirs (representing their acceptance of God into their marriage).
They will light the candles of the Maid of Honor and Best Man and so on and so forth until the light has moved throughout the entire assembled congregation. This represents the necessity for the support of an entire community to nurture a family.
Over the years you've shared their laughter, hopes, dreams, supported them during challenges and celebrated their success. On this day they celebrate joining their lives, their families and their friends.
Announcement
Let's have you guys hold hands once more.
Before God and in the presence of this congregation, Bride and Groom have made their solemn vows to each other.
They have confirmed their promises to each other by the joining of their hands, the exchanging of rings, and by sharing the light of God with each other and all of us.
Therefore, by the power vested in me by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Those whom God has joined together let no one separate.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord be kind and gracious to you.
The lord look upon you with favor,
and grant you peace.
Amen.
I recently had the privilege of performing the nuptial blessing for some dear friends. I have recently re-developed my basic wedding--of course i always edit significantly to suit the couple. I figured you might like to read it (I have removed the names of the couple for their privacy).
Groom And Bride Wedding
Bride Bride: Groom Groom
Prelude
o Entrance (5 Maids, 4 Men)-Prerecorded music-Color of Love.
o Bride's entrance-Live vocal.
Greeting
On this wonderful day,
May the grace of our Lord
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all!
As we open the festivities of this wedding, hear now Hear now these words from the First Letter of John 4:16.
“So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (NRSV).
May these words serve as the Pole Star by which to set this evening’s course.
Introduction
Friends,
We are gathered here today to witness and bless the joining together of Groom Groom and Bride Bride in the covenant of Christian Marriage.
Marriage is a three-way covenant between two people and God to be witnessed, publicly, by those most important to that couple.
And so, friends, here we are today.
We are the group of people that Bride and Groom chose to share this with.
We are here to surround them with our love and prayers;
and to ask God's blessing on the covenant of their matrimony.
We are here to strengthen their life together.
Let me add this. In the time that I have known this couple I have developed a deep love and respect for them. Groom and I met just a few years ago when we both found ourselves working at Apple Computer. Groom, let me say this. I don’t want to sound too terribly sappy; but, I have come to count you among my closest friends. I am honored to share this day with the both of you.
Prayer
Let's bow our heads in prayer:
Gracious God.
You are always faithful in your love for us.
Look with grace upon Groom and Bride who have come, on this day, to seek your blessing.
May your Holy Spirit rest upon them,
so that with steadfast love they may honor the promises that they will make on this day.
We pray these things not by might, or by power, but through the name of your son Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Scripture Reading
Listen now, to the words of the Apostle Paul as written to the church in Corinth.
While Paul speaks about the kind of love people must have for God, I believe that the same understanding of love must be true within the context of a healthy marriage.
The scripture is 1 Cor 13:1-13
We will be reading from Eugene Peterson’s
Modern language translation entitled, The Message.
3:1
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
13:2
If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
13:3
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
13:4
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head,
13:5
Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
13:6
Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
13:7
Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
13:8
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit.
13:9
We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete.
13:10
But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
13:11
When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
13:12
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13:13
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
Intent
Bride, understanding that God has created, ordered, and blessed the covenant of marriage, do you affirm your desire and intention to enter this covenant with Groom?
If so, say: I will, with the help of God.
Groom, I now ask you the same: Understanding that God has created, ordered, and blessed the covenant of marriage, do you affirm your desire and intention to enter this covenant with Bride?
If so, say: Fo Sho, with God's help.
Families:
I would now like to ask the families of Groom and Bride to state their intent. So, if i could have you all (if you are willing and able) stand for a moment:
The families of Groom and Bride: do you give your blessing to Bride and Groom today as they seek your blessing to enter the covenant of marriage. If so, say: We do.
Friends and the rest of the Congregation:
If I could have the rest of you all stand now. Friends and others so that all who are willing and able are standing.
Friends and guests. Groom and Bride have chosen to share this day with you and have come to ask your blessing on this marriage. Witnessing these vows, will you do everything in your power to uphold those vows and support them as, you are able, in their marriage?
If you will, signify so by a resounding: We will!
You may all be seated.
vows
Groom and Bride, since it is your intention to mary, turn to each other and join your right hands, and with your promises, bind yourselves to each other as husband and wife.
Ok Groom. You ready for this?
Repeat after me:
I, Groom, take you, Bride, to be my wife;
and I promise, before God and these witnesses,
to be your loving and faithful husband;
in plenty and in want;
in joy and in sorrow;
in sickness and in health;
as long as we both shall live.
Bride? You cool with that?
OK, repeat after me:
I, Bride, take you, Groom, to be my husband;
and I promise, before God and these witnesses,
to be your loving and faithful wife;
in plenty and in want;
in joy and in sorrow;
in sickness and in health;
as long as we both shall live.
Rings
Bride and Groom, what will you share to
Symbolize your love?
(Ring Bearer Comes Forward).
The couple has chosen to exchange rings to symbolize their bond of marriage.
Prayer
Eternal God,
who in the time of Noah, gave us a rainbow as a sign of promise we ask your blessing upon these symbols,
that they may also be signs of promises fulfilled in lives of faithful loving.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
(Groom places ring on Bride's finger)
Bride, I give you this ring
as a sign
of my love and faithfulness.
(Bride places ring on Groom's finger)
Groom,
I give you this ring
as a sign
of my love and faithfulness.
(Place ring on finger)
Candle Ceremony
Representing the love and support you have given Groom and Bride as they have grown, separately and together, they share with you the lighting of the unity candle. (front candle will be lit at this time) Each candle will be lit starting from the candle which I hold in my hand (representing God's place in this covenant).
From this Candle, Groom and Bride will light theirs (representing their acceptance of God into their marriage).
They will light the candles of the Maid of Honor and Best Man and so on and so forth until the light has moved throughout the entire assembled congregation. This represents the necessity for the support of an entire community to nurture a family.
Over the years you've shared their laughter, hopes, dreams, supported them during challenges and celebrated their success. On this day they celebrate joining their lives, their families and their friends.
Announcement
Let's have you guys hold hands once more.
Before God and in the presence of this congregation, Bride and Groom have made their solemn vows to each other.
They have confirmed their promises to each other by the joining of their hands, the exchanging of rings, and by sharing the light of God with each other and all of us.
Therefore, by the power vested in me by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Those whom God has joined together let no one separate.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord be kind and gracious to you.
The lord look upon you with favor,
and grant you peace.
Amen.