Below are three sample wedding ceremonies.
I have an abundance of information for you to mix, match and choose from
to create the wedding ceremony of your dreams.
a Wedding Your Way.

 

Sample

Wedding Ceremony #1

 

OPENING:

On behalf of Bride and Groom, I welcome you to this celebration of their commitment to each other.
By our presence here today, we offer best wishes and affirm our support of the promises Bride and Groom are about to make to each other.
We are gathered here today to witness and to celebrate the coming together of two separate lives and to witness the making of a covenant expressed in solemn vows and promises.  We have come to join Bride and Groom in marriage; to be with them and rejoice with them in the making of this important commitment.  The essence of this commitment is the taking of another person in his or her entirety, as companion, friend and partner.  It is therefore a decision to be undertaken with great consideration and respect for both the other person and oneself.
To this moment Bride and Groom bring the dreams which bind them together.  They bring that particular personality and spirit which is uniquely their own, and out of which will grow the reality of their life together.
Perhaps these moments will offer each of you the opportunity to review and reflect upon your life commitments and important relationships.  May this time facilitate the renewal of your commitments and covenants to family, friends, and community.

 

PRESENT WOMAN FOR MARRIAGE:

Who presents this woman for marriage?
Parents say: “We do.”

 

MAIN BODY:

Bride and Groom, today your friends and families are here to witness your marriage, your lifetime commitment to one another.  They will hear the vows you are soon to make.  They will share with you this joyous occasion and will be there to guide and support you ... knowing that marriage is one of the most important obligations that any two people will ever swear to uphold. 
Marriage is a challenge, but so too … it is love.  Marriage is patience and giving and caring and faith.  It is honesty and openness and thoughtfulness and truth … in that your understanding of one another will lead to a greater understanding of yourself.  Marriage is friendship and respect.  It is the willingness to accept your partner’s qualities and differences, weak and strong.  It is a promise made … and a lasting, successful, caring marriage is a promise kept … again and again and again.

 

QUESTIONS OF INTENT:

Bride, will you have Groom to be your wedded husband?  Will you love him, comfort him and respect him:  and will you share with him your fears and your failures, your aspirations and triumphs, your hopes and dreams from this day forward?
Bride says, "I will".

Groom, will you have Bride to be your wedded wife?  Will you love her, comfort her, cherish her and will you share with her your fears and failures and aspirations and triumphs, your hopes and dreams from this day forward?
Groom says, "I will."

 

VOWS:

The vows which you are about to exchange serve as a verbal representation of the love you pledge to each other.  For it is not the words which you will speak today which will bond you together as one, but it is the inner sense of love and commitment that each of you feels within your soul. 
Please face each other, join hands, and repeat after me.

 

"I, Bride, will love and support you, Groom, for who you are today, and all that you will become.  I embark upon this marriage with a complete commitment of trust, honesty, openness, and understanding, so that we may reach our fullest potential in life together.  I choose you to be my husband, my partner, my friend, and my lover.  I will love and cherish you all the days of my life."

 

"I, Groom, will love and support you, Bride, for who you are today, and all that you will become.  I embark upon this marriage with a complete commitment of trust, honesty, openness, and understanding, so that we may reach our fullest potential in life together.  I choose you to be my wife, my partner, my friend, and my lover.  I will love and cherish you all the days of my life."

 

EXCHANGE OF RINGS:

[Officiant get rings from best man]
While these rings are beautiful in their own right, it is the bond of love that they represent which truly makes them priceless.  Rings are worn as a symbol for all the world to see that each of you have already committed your love to that one person who means more to you than life itself.  But the outward symbol of the rings becomes meaningless if it is not supported by a strong inner conviction of eternal commitment.

Groom, as you place this ring on Bride’s left hand, please repeat after me:
Groom:  “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Bride, as you place this ring on Groom’s left hand, please repeat after me:
Bride:  “With this ring, I thee wed.”

 

[Any special ceremonies would be at included here.  Such as including children from a previous marriage, the sand ceremony, etc.]

 

DECLARATION:

So, Bride and Groom, in keeping with your desires, wishes, and promises and the vows which you have made to each other today, I now pronounce you husband and wife. 
You may now kiss!

 

IRISH BLESSING:

And now I offer you this Irish blessing.
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

 

DECLARATION:

Please face your guests.
And now it is with great pleasure that I present to you: 
Bride and Groom!

 

 

SAMPLE

WEDDING CEREMONY #2

 

OPENING:

Welcome everyone.  We are gathered here today to celebrate and share in the happiness of Bride and Groom.  Family and friends are the most important people in the world to Bride and Groom.  You have been invited here to be a part of the coming together of these two separate lives, these two people filled with love for each other.  We acknowledge and honor the love that you have given them over the years.  I know your presence here blesses the beginning of their marriage.  For this is their wedding day, the miraculous day when two separate lives join together in a union older than recorded history, carrying with it the reverence of countless generations and cultures the world over. People in all places at all times have witnessed in awe what you will witness here today: two people who become one union, transformed by their love and intention.
Actually, your role is more than merely being witnesses. You represent the people who will know Bride and Groom as married couple.  The hopes, desires, beliefs and vision that you bring to this experience today will help form the foundation of their married life together.  So, as participants to this wonderful celebration union, Bride and Groom ask that you continue to give them your love and your support and that you affirm the ever-growing love that they have for each other in your own hearts.

 

MAIN BODY:

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Bride and Groom, there are no ties on earth so sweet as those to which you now commit yourselves.  This union is to be undertaken with great consideration and with respect for both your partner and yourself.  There is no human relationship on earth more holy than the one you are about to enter.  This is one of the most important decisions you will ever make . Out of all the world, you have chosen each other to be your life partner.  Whether you realize it or not at this moment, you will change most remarkably because of this decision.
To be willing to enter into this marriage, you make yourselves available to a process of transformation.  By the little and big joys and the little and big annoyances that you cause each other, you will each be like sandpaper on the edges that bump into each other.  In fact, by choosing this particular person to love and make your life with, you have chosen to make an intimate, safe world in which you both can smooth out all the rough edges of your selves and heal any bruises on your souls.  You have been unconsciously drawn to exactly the person who has those skills, attributes, frustrating traits, and blessed qualities that you need to be affected by in order to change into the person that you want and need to become.  So as you promise your lives to each other today, you enter a path of no return, because personal evolution is always for expansion and further expression.
Simply put, life will never be the same for you.  For no matter how long and how well you have known each other, there will be a deepening that is profound, especially if you welcome it.  I encourage you to give yourselves with abandon to this marriage.  Love deeply; don't hold back, and believe that in sharing your two lives in complete trust, openness, passion, compassion, and courage, surprising blessings will pour into the container that is your marriage.  Your marriage will change through the years as you both change, but the unchanging commitment of your mutual love will allow both of you to share life's magnificence in ways that you have not known before.

 

Before you make your promises to each other, take a moment as single people for the last time to look out at your family and friends who love you and who support your togetherness.  I would like to speak of some of the things that all of us wish for you.
First, we wish a love for you that makes both of you happy people, that continues to give you a joy and a zest for living through the years.
We wish for you that the vision you have of one another at this moment will never be dimmed.  We wish that your vision of each other will deepen and grow in respect and love.  We wish that this vision will expand in peace and harmony so that your home is blessed and your larger circle of friends and acquaintances is blessed.  May it be that the power of your loving marriage expands and contributes to greater peace for the whole world.
Finally, we wish that throughout your life together you will individually be able to love yourselves more deeply because you are treasured by your mate, and that you come to see the light in everyone more easily because you can see the light so clearly in your beloved.

 

QUESTIONS OF INTENT:

Bride and Groom, today your separate lives with their individual memories, dreams, and desires merge into one.  Today you enter a new life together that will draw both of you up to new levels of joy, sensitivity, and challenge.  This is the moment in which you offer the fullness of your hearts to bless one another. You have found each other, and the whole world is blessed by your union.  Are you ready to make your marriage promises to each other?"
Both: "I am."

 

Will you Bride and you Groom bring the very best that you are into this marriage for your own sake and for the sake of the other?
Both: "I will."

 

Will you please join hands and face each other?

 

(to groom): Groom, do you take Bride, whose hands you hold, choosing her alone to be your wedded wife?  Do you promise to live with her, talk with her, love her, comfort her, work with her, play with her, honor her at all times and be faithful to her?"
Groom: "I do."

 

(to bride): Bride, do you take Groom, whose hands you hold, choosing him alone to be your wedded husband?  Do you promise to live with him, talk with him, love him, comfort him, work with him, play with him, honor him at all times and be faithful to him?"
Bride: "I do."

 

VOWS: 

[To the Bride/Groom]:  __________, you have shared with me your desire to journey forward in life with ____________.  Please repeat after me.
[Bride & Groom repeat one at a time.]
"_____________, I promise to walk this path beside you,
neither leading nor following but as equals.
I will share in the adventure of new places and ideas
and respect the different strengths we each bring.
I will be with you in the darkness
and be a light for you when all other lights go out.
I will share your joy and laughter
and give you the gift of my smile.
I will love you to the end of our journey
and rejoice that my life has been blessed with your love."

 

RINGS:

What symbols do you bring as a reminder of the promises given and received today?
(Minister gets rings from the best man.)

 

A circle is the symbol of the Sun, and the Earth, and the universe.  It is a symbol of holiness, and of perfection and peace.  It is also the symbol of the eternality of spiritual truth, love, and life ... that which has no beginning and no end.  And in this moment, Bride and Groom choose for it to also be a symbol of unity, but not of possession; of joining, but not of restricting; of encirclement, but not of entrapment.  For love cannot be possessed, nor can it be restricted. And the soul can never be entrapped.

 

Now Bride and Groom please take these rings which you give, one to the other.
(Bride and Groom take each other’s rings.)
Groom, place this ring on Bride 's left hand and holding the ring there, please repeat after me:
"Of all the people I have known on my journey, it’s with you I choose to share the rest of this journey.  With you and your life I choose to weave the strands of my life.  I celebrate the gift of this relationship and the work of receiving that gift."

 

Bride, place this ring on Groom 's left hand and holding the ring there, please repeat after me:
"Of all the people I have known on my journey, it’s with you I choose to share the rest of this journey.  With you and your life I choose to weave the strands of my life.  I celebrate the gift of this relationship and the work of receiving that gift." 

 

READING

Art of Marriage by William Peterson
It’s knowing that the little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,
dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

 

PRONOUNCEMENT:

We recognize with full awareness that only a couple can administer the sacrament of marriage to each other, and only a couple can sanctify it.  Neither a church, nor any power vested in me by the State, can grant me the authority to declare what only two hearts can declare, and what only two souls can make real.
And so now, inasmuch as you, Bride, and you, Groom, have announced the truths that are already in your hearts, and have witnessed the same in the presence of these, your friends, and the One Living Spirit – we observe joyfully that you have declared yourself to be … husband and wife.
(Bride and Groom kiss.)

 

BLESSING:

May all that you have already become, which has brought you to this day, and all you will become as a consequence of it, in the lifelong joining of your hearts and minds continue to show you your purpose.

 

May you always be brought most beautifully and steadfastly into the presence of yourselves and of one another, and may you live long and happily fulfilling all that you are.

 

PRESENTATION:

Please face your guests.
Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you: _________ and _______ _________.

 

 

 

 

 

SAMPLE #3

ELOPEMENT CEREMONY

 

OPENING:

Love is the substance of the soul. It’s the glue of the universe, the harmonizing element that creates and expresses through all forms. Today is a very special day. It’s the day we are brought together in love to celebrate and witness your commitment to each other.

 

MAIN BODY:

I welcome you to this very special event, the culmination of your courtship, and I offer you this Celtic blessing:

 

May your souls always bathe in the truth and light of understanding.
May your love always lift your head to the heavens,
While your feet remain deeply rooted in the earth.
May your love be not only of your minds but of your hearts,
And may your hearts always be open to one another.
May your love be a sanctuary for one another and all you hold sacred.

 

QUESTIONS OF INTENT:

After each question, please respond with “I do” or “I will.”

 

Do you, __________, choose ___________ as your wife {lifelong partner}? Will you love her with all your heart and soul and mind and body? Do you promise to work, to play, to dream with her and to do your best to make those dreams come true. Do you promise to share your tears and your laughter and to allow ________ to share yours? Do you promise to respect both yourself and ________ and to celebrate the ways you are different from each other? Do you promise to be forgiving and patient? Will you be a loyal, honest, trustworthy and faithful partner?

 

After each question, please respond with “I do” or “I will.”

 

Do you, __________, choose ___________ as your husband {lifelong partner}? Will you love him with all your heart and soul and mind and body? Do you promise to work, to play, to dream with him and to do your best to make those dreams come true. Do you promise to share your tears and your laughter and to allow ________ to share yours? Do you promise to respect both yourself and ________ and to celebrate the ways you are different from each other? Do you promise to be forgiving and patient? Will you be a loyal, honest, trustworthy and faithful partner?

 

EXCHANGE OF RINGS:

Do you have rings for each other?

 

As you place the ring on your partner’s hand please say,
“With this ring I thee wed.”

 

BLESSING:

May you be blessed every step of your path together.
May the wind be always at your back.
May your heart sing, your hearth be warm,
and your every day be filled with joy
as you grow forever young together.

 

DECLARATION:

Since you have promised your love to each other and have exchanged these symbols of your love and commitment, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

 

Congratulations! You may now kiss.