Blessing
Officiant: (Greeting)
We are here today to witness and to celebrate the marriage of _______ and _______. ________ and ________ have invited me to lead their wedding ceremony, and for that, I thank them. The words and form of the ceremony were determined by them, and express their understanding of marriage and what they wish to say to their families, to their friends and to each other. We are gathered here in celebration of the moment when they join together in the bonds of love, honor, respect and responsibility -- into the unity that is marriage.
__________ and _________, this is your day and your time. Today you declare the love and commitment you have expressed to each other many times before. We are concerned here with something more beautiful than just romance. You two have decided to make the journey through life together and to help each other make as much of it as two unique individuals can. Your families, who have given you life and sustenance, are here with you. Your friends are here, standing with you. Through all these people, you have become the two you are. All of them support you as you join your lives together into one.
For you, the families of these two young people, this is a special day in your lives as well. You have gathered to celebrate this joyous occasion with your children, but they are no longer children. Those who look to you for love have become sources of new love. ________ and ______ are accepting the responsibility of this marriage for themselves, to build together a life and tradition; as you, their families have prepared them. Their marriage will bring together your two families, drawing together the wisdom of many lives to build their own life.
The rest of you are special friends of _________ and ______, and you have become even more special by being here to share in this celebration. You have been as family with whom they have shared the good times and the bad times. The qualities of your friendship have enriched the quality of their lives. Now you will witness and confirm the uniqueness of their friendship and love for each other.
All of us here wish to give ________ and ________ the gift of happiness. However, we are limited in our ability to provide such a gift. Happiness is the fulfillment that comes from building their marriage together. Marriage is more than words or ceremony. It is a commitment to be reaffirmed each and every day. Happiness is the product of contentment that each has the strength to accept in their lives what cannot be changed, and the love to change what cannot be accepted.
You can make your marriage a living thing. It will be you who begin every day making choices -- to express caring or avoiding it; to reveal love or to be too busy; to acknowledge respect and to take joy from one another or build walls -- and through those daily choices, to renew the wedding vows you will make today. It will be you, also, who shapes what is possible for each other, allowing each other the space and the privacy to be unique individuals.
When you follow the leading of your own personalities and talents, then each of you will have strength upon which both can depend. So it is that you come together, ready to give of yourselves and to accept each other, valuing each other's special gifts, prepared to work and to trust.
_________ and _______ have chosen some readings that have special meaning to them.
Officiant:
Now ______________, would like to read a poem called Two Birds
to read a poem called Two Birds.
Two Birds
Two birds begin a journey long,
From different points in far off lands;
With a luring urge - in heart a song,
Two novices heed life's commands.
As they make their great migration,
Their feeble feet turn to taloned hands;
And the two reach their destination.
As seasoned travelers in the northern lands.
Still unaware that the other lives,
Each alights upon the very same tree;
And there the two, as if guided by God,
Fall madly in love and marry.
Thus so it is with ______ and _________;
Two birds which Heaven's winds did blow.
To this blessed rendezvous of life.
Officiant: Now ___________, would like to read a excerpt from The Little Prince
The Little Prince
One morning, as the little prince was exploring the earth, he happened upon a
blossoming rose garden.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Good morning,” said the roses.
The little prince gazed at them. All of them looked like his single flower, back home on his tiny planet. And he felt very unhappy. His flower had told him she was the only one of her kind in the whole universe. And here were five thousand of them, all alike, in just one garden.
“I thought I was rich because I had just one flower, and all I own is an ordinary rose.”
And he lay down in the grass and wept.
It was then that the fox appeared.
“Good morning,” said the fox.
“Good morning,” the little prince answered politely. “Come and play with me,” he proposed. “I’m feeling so sad.”
“I can’t play with you,” the fox said. “I’m not tamed.”
“What does tamed mean?” “It means ‘to create ties’.
For me you’re only a little boy just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you have no need of me, either. But if you tame me, we’ll need each other. You’ll be the only boy in the world for me. I’ll be the only fox in the world for you…”
“I’m beginning to understand,” the little prince said. “There’s a flower…I think she’s tamed me…”
The fox added, “If you tame me, my life will be filled with sunshine.”
The fox eventually convinced the little prince to tame him, which he did gradually. Soon, they were the best of friends.
But then the time to leave was near. “The fox said, “Go look at the roses again. You’ll understand that yours is the only rose in all the world. Then come back to say good-bye, and I’ll make you the gift of a secret.”
The little prince went to look at the roses again.
“You’re not at all like my rose. You’re nothing at all yet,” he told them. “No one has tamed you and you haven’t tamed anyone. You’re the way my fox was. He was just a fox like a hundred thousand others. But I’ve made him my friend, and now he’s the only fox in all the world. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she’s the one I’ve watered. Since she’s the one I put under glass. Since she’s the one I sheltered behind a screen. Since she’s my rose.” And he went back to the fox. “Good-bye,” he said.
“Good-bye,” said the fox. “Here is my secret. It’s quite simple: Anything essential is invisible to the eyes. One sees clearly only with the heart.”
Officiant:
________ and ______ have chosen to write their own vows to each other.
Wedding Vows
Officiant: Exchange of Rings
The wedding ring is an unbroken, never-ending circle, as your commitment and love for each other is never-ending. These simple bands are not of great value in themselves, but are made precious by what they represent. They are a symbol to you and to the world of your union. Your rings say that you are two individuals bound together. When you look at these rings, remember the commitment that you are making to each other today.
_________, place the ring on _________ finger, and repeat after me:
I, ______ take you _____ To be my husband/wife my partner in life
and 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.
As I have given you my hand to hold,
So I give you my life to keep
_______, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I marry you.
Officiant:
__________, place the ring on ________ finger, and repeat after me:
I, ______ take you _____ To be my husband/wife my partner in life
and 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.
As I have given you my hand to hold,
So I give you my life to keep
__________, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I marry you.
Sand Ceremony
_______ and ______, you have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings, and this covenant is a relationship pledge 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. Today, this relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand, one representing you, ______, and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other representing you, _______, and all that you were and 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.
Officiant:
__________will read the Blessing of the Apaches.
Blessing of the Apaches
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years, May happiness be your companion and may your days together be good and long upon the earth.
Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.
Officiant: Pronouncement
May the love that you feel and share today continue to grow deeper and stronger all the days of your lives. Having declared yourselves to each other among your families and friends, I now pronounce you married under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You may now seal your vows with a kiss.
