WELCOME STATEMENT
Minister:
Welcome: On behalf of BRIDE and GROOM, I would like to welcome all of you here today. Each of you has given something of yourself into their lives, and they want you to know that they will always treasure your love, your encouragement, and your support. And, because you are all so special to them, they feel that it is important that you be here with them today as they begin this new and exciting chapter in their lives.

GIVING OF THE BRIDE
Minister:
Who presents this woman to be married to this man?
(Father of BRIDE replies: "I do!")

OPENING PRAYER
Minister:

Since we are gathered together today in the sight of God to witness and to bless the marriage of GROOM and BRIDE. It’s appropriate that we begin with a prayer:

O Lord, this is a happy day for all of us because this is the wedding day of GROOM and BRIDE. They have come now before You, pledging their lives and their hearts to one another. We ask that they always be as true and loving as they are at this moment and that You fill their hearts with kindness and understanding. Help them to be sweetheart, helpmate, friend, and guide to one another; so that together they may meet everything that life has to offer. May their home be a place of love and harmony and bless this day, their wedding day, and walk beside them forever. Amen

OFFICIANTS EXHORTATION
Minister:
A poet once wrote these words:

Suddenly there's no more mystery
It feels like you're the other half of me
We've only just begun
Our two hearts beat as one.

Today I'd like to talk more about the union that you are both entering into today. To symbolize this union, I'd like for both of you to join hands as you face one another. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need strength, comfort when you seek comfort, tenderness when you long for tenderness. 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 hold all of those who you love. These are the hands of your best friend, holding your hands on your wedding day, as you promise to love one another and work together to build your future.

GROOM and BRIDE, you've gathered your friends and family together to celebrate this special day with you. And, I can tell just from their faces that they love you both very much, and that's important. We need the love, encouragement, and the support of our friends and our relatives. But, I think that a minister should say a few words and I do have some advice I'd like to share. But What I'd like to say today is more than just “common sense” and more than just “my experience” because what I’d like to share with you today is Biblical. Because, if nothing more, the Bible is a record of people living together and forming relationships. The Bible says that a strong and long-lasting relationship is founded on love. And I think that’s important, because as important as this ceremony is for many reasons, we would not be here today if you two did not already love one another. You would not be about to pledge your lives to one another, if you did not already love one another. So, I think it’s important that I say a few words about what love is, and there is no better definition of Love than that which is found, once again, in the Bible where in 1st Corinthians 13 the Apostle Paul, describing love, tell us:

Love endures and is kind.
Love is not envious or jealous.
Love wants not for itself.
Love is not puffed up, nor does it behave wrongly.
Love seeks not for it's own.
Love is not easily provoked.
Love is not rude.
Love thinks No evil.
Love does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, endures all things, and love never fails.

So, a marriage that lasts is not just two people living together; and it’s much more than just signing names to a license or certificate. No, a marriage that lasts is MUCH more that this. It’s an agreement between two people who have pledged to love each other, to trust each other, and to face all that life has to offer, together.

And though marriage is a moral commitment –it is not intended to give one person possession or ownership in any way over the other, but just the opposite; to allow freedom for both of you as your merge your two lives and personalities together. It is built on the basic elements of who you are in no way subtracting from who you are, but adding each of you to a new union which becomes more than the sum of the two parts.

GROOM and BRIDE, another way of thinking about this relationship is to think of a good friend, because a good friend is someone you like to be with, go places with, laugh with, cry with…. But a best friend is even more than this, because with your best friend you can discuss your ideas, your hopes and dreams, and you understand each other’s thoughts and needs. Your best friend somehow understands your needs better than you do. Sometimes, just being together is what you need. Sometimes, holding hands is what you need. Remember always that it is the privilege of both the husband and the wife to enjoy the company of each other. So in many ways, this love that you share is a “best friendship;” but it is a LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP THAT HAS CAUGHT FIRE and soars over everything else on earth.

You know, that wherever you go and whatever you do, you two are a team facing life together. And even though I know that you cannot always be physically together, the bond that I’m talking about is not the bond of your bodies, but the bond of your spirits, your hearts and your love. And when you CAN be together, it’s always a privilege of the husband and the wife to enjoy the company of the other person. And here you stand today to say your wedding vows to one another. It's important that you both understand that the vows that you are about to make cannot be undertaken lightly but with a great deal of consideration and respect. With that in mind, I am going to ask you to answer a question and then repeat your vows after me to one another.

EXCHANGE OF VOWS
Minister:
GROOM do you take BRIDE to be your wife; to live together in holy marriage, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in health and in sickness, and forsaking all others be faithful to her for as long as you both shall live?
(Groom answers: "I do".)

BRIDE do you take GROOM to be your husband; to live together in holy marriage, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in health and in sickness, and forsaking all others be faithful to him for as long as you both shall live?
(Bride answers: "I do.")

GROOM, are you ready to give your wedding vows to BRIDE?
(Groom answers: "Yes".)

Then please repeat the following words to her after me:

I, GROOM, take you BRIDE to be my wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, I promise to be your true and loving husband, and to love and honor you always. I do this because I love you today I will love you tomorrow and I will love you forever.

BRIDE, are you ready to give your wedding vows to GROOM?
(Bride answers: "Yes.")

Then please repeat the following words to him after me:

 

I, BRIDE, take you GROOM to be my husband. To have and to hold from this day forward. I promise to be your true and loving wife. and to love and honor you always. I do this because I love you today I will love you tomorrow and I will love you forever.

RING EXCHANGE
Minister:
Throughout time, the ring has been a symbol of unending love, because like time, the ring has no beginning and no end. It is a circle -- the emblem of eternity. Wedding rings are made of precious metals, the purest metal, and the type that is least tarnished and most enduring; to show how lasting and imperishable is the faith which is now mutually pledged.

GROOM, do you have such a symbol of you love for BRIDE?
(Groom answers, "Yes.")

Then as you place the ring on her finger, please repeat the following words to her after me:

BRIDE, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and as a reminder that I have chosen you to be the one to share my life.

BRIDE, do you have such a symbol of your love for GROOM?
(Bride answers, "Yes.")

Then as you place the ring on his finger, please repeat the following words to him after me:

GROOM, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and as a reminder that I have chosen you to be the one to share my life.

SAND CEREMONY
Minister:
GROOM and BRIDE you have just sealed your relationship by giving vows and exchanging rings symbolizing your life-long promise to each other. Here on this table are three containers of sand and I'd like to ask each of you to stand on one side of the table.
(Bride and Groom stand next to table)

The container of sand closest to you represents all that you are and all that you’ll ever be as an individual. It also represents your life before today. As these two containers of sand are poured into the third container, you blend your lives together into one union. In unison, please pour the sand into the center container.

I think it’s also exciting to realize that the containers are made of glass – just as glass itself is made of sand. I’d like to think that these vessels of glass represent the sands of time that have brought you together to this moment in time. Each grain of sand in your separate container represents a special moment, a decision, a feeling or something that helped shape you into who you are today. As you pour your separate containers of sand into a common vessel, you as a separate and independent individual no longer exists. Instead, you blend together into a loving and supportive marital union.

But you can see that the individual grains do not cease to exist just because you have poured them from one container into another. In much the same way, your memories, your feelings, your experiences -- everything that makes you who you are now -- are still there. You do not become any less of who you are because of your new union in marriage. You will always be who you are, but you are now united in a team. From this time on, all of the memories, feelings and experiences will be shared by both of you and you will become stronger as you face all that life has to offer -- together.
(pouring is finished)

BRIDE and GROOM, after today the individual you no longer exists, just as your container of sand no longer exists. You are joined together and are now one. And just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so you are in the covenant that you have formed here today.

CLOSING PRAYER (Option 1 of 2 options)
Minister:
Let us pray:
We ask you, Lord, to bless this couple whose lives are now joined in an unbroken circle, much like these rings that now encircle their fingers. I ask that they may find in one another, the love that all men and all women hunger to find. May they continue to grow in their understanding of this love, their understanding of one another, and their understanding of You too, Lord, for the rest of their lives. May these rings on their fingers symbolize the touch of Your spirit of love in their hearts forever.

Amen

Or

CLOSING PRAYER (Option 2 of 2 options)
Minister:

Let us pray:

Almighty God and Heavenly Father, we thank your giving us the blessing of having been here today to witness the joining together of GROOM & BRIDE in Holy Matrimony. Father, since GROOM & BRIDE are now embarking on a new and wondrous journey together through life, we pray that as the years pass, that they will call upon you together as Husband and wife for direction in their lives.

Father we ask that you would daily strengthen their love and commitment to each other, equipping them with the patience, the kindness, the forgiveness, the slowness to speak and eagerness to listen to each other as they travel the road of life together. And Father, If you should bless them with children, we ask that they would be born in good health and that you would bestow upon GROOM & BRIDE the wisdom, the patience and love they will need as stewards of that blessing.

And now, Father, for the friends and family who are here today, we ask that you would help them to fulfill their responsibility to hold GROOM & BRIDE accountable to the vows they have made to each other and to you on this joyous day.

We ask these things in the name of the Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

PRONOUNCEMENT
Minister:
GROOM and BRIDE, you have made your vows before each other; and, you have sealed your vows with the giving and receiving of these rings. So now, by the power vested in me as an ordained minister by the State of {Insert State Name} I pronounce you to be HUSBAND AND WIFE and I invite you to kiss one another.

PRESENTATION
Minister:

Family and Friends, It is my great honor and privilege to present to you for the very first time, Mr. & Mrs. [Groom First Name] And [Bride First Name] + [Groom's Surname]

 

 

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