Preparation for the Vows
Preparation for the Vows
Marriage is not a legal document. No pastor or priest or justice of the peace can create a marriage because a marriage, truly, is nothing except the promises made and kept by two individuals. Today ____ and ____ stand before us to publicly declare their love and to share with us their marriage promises.
Selection #2
Today, your wedding day, is one brief day in time, and although your vows are spoken in a matter of minutes, they are promises that will last a lifetime.
Selection #3
This moment is the anchor that holds your past and your future together. Tonight you are beginning a journey together that will last the rest of your lives. And like any journey, there will be amazing experiences on mountaintops, today hopefully being one such experience. Sometimes you will walk through valleys and have trouble finding your way. But no matter where you go, and no matter how long the journey is or how difficult, the person beside you will make your journey worthwhile. And let me just remind you that love and loyalty are the essence of a happy and enduring marriage. No other human ties are more tender, and certainly none are more sacred than those that you share with each other now.
Selection #4
The formal exchange of your wedding vows is the most ancient part of a wedding ceremony. These are the words that couples for centuries have spoken to one another and, while they are very simple words, they have extraordinary meaning and importance. As you speak them to one another, you will discover that these are truly sacred promises, and sacred promises must be kept forever. I am going to speak these words to you now, and ask that you speak them to each other.
Selection #5 _____ and ____, life is given to each of us as individuals, and yet we must learn to live together. Love is given to us by our family or by our friends. We learn to love by being loved. Learning to love and living together is one of the greatest challenges of life – and is the shared goal of a married life.
You are now taking into your care and keeping the happiness of the one person in all the world whom you love best. You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust as well. You are agreeing to share strength, responsibilities and to share love.
Today, your wedding day, is one brief day in time, and although your vows are spoken in a matter of minutes, they are promises that will last a lifetime.
The formal exchange of your wedding vows is the most ancient part of a wedding ceremony. These are the words that couples for centuries have spoken to one another and, while they are very simple words, they have extraordinary meaning and importance. As you speak them to one another, you will discover that these are truly sacred promises, and sacred promises must be kept forever. I am going to speak these words to you now, and ask that you speak them to each other.
Selection #6 ______ and _____, the vows that you are about to exchange serve as a verbal representation of the love you have promised to each other. For it is not the words that you speak today which will unite you together as one, but the inner sense of love and commitment that each of you feels within your soul.
Selection #7
"Union" by Robert Fulghum
You have known each other for years, through the first glance of acquaintance
to this moment of commitment. At some moment, you decided to marry.
From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been
making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those
conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long
walks - all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and
continued with “I will" and "you will" and "we will” - those late night talks
that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” - and all those
promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. Just two people working
out what they want, what they believe, what they hope for each other.
All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The
symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one
another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and
dreamed - well, I meant it all, every word.”
Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this
moment you have been many things to one another - acquaintance,
friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have
learned much from one another in these last few years. You have learned
that good company and friendship count for more than wealth, good looks
or position. And you’ve learned that marriage is a maze into which we
wander – a maze that is best got through with a great companion.
Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and
things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows,
you shall say to the world, this - is my husband, this - is my wife.
Marriage is not a legal document. No pastor or priest or justice of the peace can create a marriage because a marriage, truly, is nothing except the promises made and kept by two individuals. Today ____ and ____ stand before us to publicly declare their love and to share with us their marriage promises.
Selection #2
Today, your wedding day, is one brief day in time, and although your vows are spoken in a matter of minutes, they are promises that will last a lifetime.
Selection #3
This moment is the anchor that holds your past and your future together. Tonight you are beginning a journey together that will last the rest of your lives. And like any journey, there will be amazing experiences on mountaintops, today hopefully being one such experience. Sometimes you will walk through valleys and have trouble finding your way. But no matter where you go, and no matter how long the journey is or how difficult, the person beside you will make your journey worthwhile. And let me just remind you that love and loyalty are the essence of a happy and enduring marriage. No other human ties are more tender, and certainly none are more sacred than those that you share with each other now.
Selection #4
The formal exchange of your wedding vows is the most ancient part of a wedding ceremony. These are the words that couples for centuries have spoken to one another and, while they are very simple words, they have extraordinary meaning and importance. As you speak them to one another, you will discover that these are truly sacred promises, and sacred promises must be kept forever. I am going to speak these words to you now, and ask that you speak them to each other.
Selection #5 _____ and ____, life is given to each of us as individuals, and yet we must learn to live together. Love is given to us by our family or by our friends. We learn to love by being loved. Learning to love and living together is one of the greatest challenges of life – and is the shared goal of a married life.
You are now taking into your care and keeping the happiness of the one person in all the world whom you love best. You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust as well. You are agreeing to share strength, responsibilities and to share love.
Today, your wedding day, is one brief day in time, and although your vows are spoken in a matter of minutes, they are promises that will last a lifetime.
The formal exchange of your wedding vows is the most ancient part of a wedding ceremony. These are the words that couples for centuries have spoken to one another and, while they are very simple words, they have extraordinary meaning and importance. As you speak them to one another, you will discover that these are truly sacred promises, and sacred promises must be kept forever. I am going to speak these words to you now, and ask that you speak them to each other.
Selection #6 ______ and _____, the vows that you are about to exchange serve as a verbal representation of the love you have promised to each other. For it is not the words that you speak today which will unite you together as one, but the inner sense of love and commitment that each of you feels within your soul.
Selection #7
"Union" by Robert Fulghum
You have known each other for years, through the first glance of acquaintance
to this moment of commitment. At some moment, you decided to marry.
From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been
making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those
conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long
walks - all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and
continued with “I will" and "you will" and "we will” - those late night talks
that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” - and all those
promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. Just two people working
out what they want, what they believe, what they hope for each other.
All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The
symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one
another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and
dreamed - well, I meant it all, every word.”
Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this
moment you have been many things to one another - acquaintance,
friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have
learned much from one another in these last few years. You have learned
that good company and friendship count for more than wealth, good looks
or position. And you’ve learned that marriage is a maze into which we
wander – a maze that is best got through with a great companion.
Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and
things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows,
you shall say to the world, this - is my husband, this - is my wife.