Commencement
Welcome! We are assembled here today because love gathers us, and, especially, because love has found Heather and Billy and woven them together into the great web of life. We are gathered to remember and rejoice, to recount with one another that it is love, always love, that leads us to our true destination and to celebrate that Heather and Billy have finally arrived. We have come together also to honor the paradox that the choosing of one is the leaving of all others, the destination is the beginning, that the joy shall bring tears to our eyes. We are here to celebrate the marriage of Billy and Heather, to honor the beginning of their new life together.
Address
Swept up by attraction, attention, fantasy, hope, and a certain happy measure of recognition, we agree to come together for the mysterious future, to see where the journey will take us. This companionship on life's journey is the hallmark of marriage, its natural province, its sweetest and most primal gift. To be married means we belong to someone else, that we are no longer always alone, that we no longer must eat and sleep, dream, wake, walk, talk, think, and live alone. Instead there is a parallel presence and spirit in all that we undertake.
Some families are born into one another; others are made through love. Billy, not only are you entering into a marriage with Heather, you are entering into a new family circle, one which previously had its own boundaries. Children, you are expanding the boundaries of your family circle to include someone new. All of you are creating a new circle that will bind you together forever.
Vows
Today you choose to marry; to take one another forever into your hearts, and loving each other fully, you will promise that you shall be steadfast always in your love. You are choosing to take this journey with one another, wherever it leads, whatever the outcome, no matter what may befall you, through all the days of your lives. Are you now prepared to enter into this covenant of love? Both: Yes!
repeat
Heather: When I met you, I had no idea how much my life was about to be changed... But then, how could I have known? A love like ours happens once in a lifetime. You were a miracle to me, the one who was everything I had ever dreamed of, the one I thought existed only in my imagination. And when you came into my life, I realized that what I had always thought was Happiness couldn’t compare to the joy loving you brought me. You are a part of everything I think and do and feel, and with you by my side, I believe that anything is possible. This day gives me a chance to thank you for the miracle of you …you are, and always will be, the love of my life. I love you for you, now and for always.Billy: When I met you, I had no idea how much my life was about to be changed... But then, how could I have known? A love like ours happens once in a lifetime. You were a miracle to me, the one who was everything I had ever dreamed of, the one I thought existed only in my imagination. And when you came into my life, I realized that what I had always thought was Happiness couldn’t compare to the joy loving you brought me. You are a part of everything I think and do and feel, and with you by my side, I believe that anything is possible. This day gives me a chance to thank you for the miracle of you …you are, and always will be, the love of my life. I love you for you, now and for always.
Rings
The rings you have exchanged are gifts to each other to remind you always that you have pledged your love and commitment in marriage to each other. And when you have been together for a long, long time, you will look at these rings, you will feel the indentations they have made on your fingers, and you will know that these rings contain all the memories of what your lives and your relationship have been.
Each year on your anniversary, consider again giving your rings, repeating your vows and remembering why you fell in love; renew your commitment over the years. Love is a gift; but it doesn’t sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new. Like a ring, you have to work at keeping love polished and new, or else the grime of the passing years will hide the joy. Even though closeness can come and go in a marriage, commit to falling in love over and over again.
Blessings
We know not what the future may bring into your lives, but we hope that together you may be equal to the needs of your tomorrows. May you find patience in time of stress, strength in time of weakness, courage in time of discouragement, vision in time of doubt, and, in all time, a growing love. We who are here present, and those who are absent, thinking of you two people, hope that the inspiration of this hour will not be forgotten. May you continue to love one another forever.
Pronouncement
For as much as you have grown in knowledge and love of one another, and because you have agreed in your desire to go forward in life together, seeking an even richer, deepening relationship, and because you have pledged to meet sorrow and joy as one family, we rejoice to recognize you as husband and wife.
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