Preludes (classical music mix)
Entrance of Ben, Groomsmen and entry of Faron and cell phone announcement
Would everyone please rise for the entrance of the Bridal Party?
PROCESSIONAL ( Music from “The Motorcycle Diaries” Leyendo En El Hospital – bridesmaids, Sendero – bride; both by Gustavo Santaolalla)
OPENING WORDS OF THE OFFICIANT
Good afternoon! My name is Reverend Faron Langdon and I have the privilege of performing this marriage ceremony today. On behalf of Benjamin and Margaret, I welcome and thank you for being here. They are thrilled that you are here today to share in their joy during this wonderful moment in their lives. By your presence, you celebrate with them the love they have discovered in each other and you support their decision to commit themselves to one another for the rest of their lives. Please be seated.
Introduction of the Couple and Charge to the Guests
Many writings have specific meanings to individuals or couples as they take hold of them and claim them for their own. Charles Augustus Lindbergh wrote these words specifically with Maggie and Ben in mind.
“This was love at first sight, love everlasting: a feeling unknown, unhoped for, unexpected--in so far as it could be a matter of conscious awareness; it took entire possession of (them), and (they) understood, with joyous amazement, that this was for life.”
There is nothing more encouraging in life then the union of two people whose love for each other has intensified over the years. Seven years ago, across a pool table, two sets of eyes met. Today, these two young souls are coming together as one to take the next step in their journey towards a lifetime of joy and companionship. Ben and Maggie, as you take your vows this day to cherish one another, you also pledge patience and sacrifice for the good of each other. Together, united by love, you complement and strengthen the qualities that you each bring to this marriage.
For Ben and Maggie, this ceremony today is an affirmation of the love they have for one another. This is also an opportunity for Ben and Maggie to share their commitment to each other with the people they consider to be most important – those who have loved and supported them through their lives. This union brings together different family traditions in the hope that a new family tree will become strong and fruitful. Theirs is a personal choice and a decision for which they are primarily responsible, yet their lives will be enriched by support from the families from which each one comes. I offer my congratulations to all of you and may you be blessed in these new found friendships.
CHARGE TO THE COUPLE
Although this is but one moment in what will be many years of loving exchange between you, this moment is different from all those before and after. It is this difference that we are here to acknowledge and celebrate. We all know marriage is more than two people repeating vows. It certainly is more than a piece of paper. When vows of marriage are exchanged, two lives become permanently woven together. Marriage is a life long promise to love, trust and compromise: a promise to give to a shared future while respecting each other’s differences. It is providing each other a nurturing, positive and accepting environment, where each of you, secure in your knowledge that you are loved and supported, can grow as individuals, and together as a couple.
AN OPENING PRAYER OR READING
Now a reading that expresses the sense of joy and love on this occasion; it is “MY LOVE” by Linda Lee Elrod .
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 (that)
loving you (has) 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.
WEDDING VOWS
Marriage is often thought of as a change in status of two individuals, however, it is an extension of their current relationship as they pledge before others what they have already pledged in their hearts to one another. Maggie and Ben, you know the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations of one another. These things are your future, both individually and together as a couple.
You must not pledge yourselves thinking that you can change each other. That is disrespectful, for no one has the right to change another. You must not pledge yourselves thinking that there will be no strife between you. That is fantasy, for you are two and not one, and there will inevitably come conflict. You must not pledge yourselves thinking that all will be well from this moment on. That is a dream, and dreamers must eventually wake. You must come to this joining fully ready, committed, and respectful of each other. May your days together be long upon the earth, and blessed with joy in each other.
Margaret and Benjamin, Will you, as an expression that your hearts are joined together, please turn and join your hands together?
Benjamin, do you take Margaret to be your wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, to love her, comfort her and keep her, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, forever and beyond? [Ben says I do]
Benjamin, I would ask you now to affirm your commitment to Margaret through your vows.
[BEN SPEAKS] In the presence of our family and friends, I Benjamin choose you Margaret to be my wife. I take you, with all your faults and your strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and my strengths. I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I loved you before this ceremony and love you more because of it. I don't ask you to fulfill all my dreams, but to share them with me and allow me to share your dreams with you. From this day forward, I will walk beside you, protecting and caring for the love we have, the tears we save and all that we are together. I pledge my life and soul to you. I give you my solemn vow today in front of everyone who matters most, my family, my friends and you, the woman who completes the story of my life.
Margaret, do you take Benjamin to be your wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, to love him, comfort him, and keep him, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, forever and beyond? [Margaret says I do]
Margaret, I would ask you now to affirm your commitment to Benjamin through your vows.
[MARGARET SPEAKS] In the presence of our family and friends, I Margaret choose you Benjamin to be my husband. I take you, with all your faults and your strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and my strengths. I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I loved you before this ceremony and love you more because of it. I don't ask you to fulfill all my dreams, but to share them with me and allow me to share your dreams with you. From this day forward, I will walk beside you, protecting and caring for the love we have, the tears we save and all that we are together. I pledge my life and soul to you. I give you my solemn vow today in front of everyone who matters most, my family, my friends and you, the man who completes the story of my life.
SECOND READING OR SONG
“Blessing of the Hands" Author unknown
“These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. 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 help you to hold your family as one. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.”
EXCHANGE OF RINGS OR GIFTS
May I have the rings please.
The wedding band is a sacred token of oneness, continuity, and completeness. The ring itself forms a perfect circle, which symbolizes unending love. We make rings from precious metals, as they reflect the beauty and purity that is to be found in a marriage relationship. From the elements of the earth, through work and faith, was wrested the material for these rings, just as from the elements of life and emotion came your desire for this marriage. These rings were worked and refined by those who knew their value, until what they have became what they are today - beautiful symbols of triumph and unity, without beginning and without end.
Ben, now please take Margaret’s engagement ring. This ring is a symbol of promise and intent. Now, the intention is realized, and the promise fulfilled.
Benjamin, Please repeat after me.
Margaret, please accept this simple gold band as an indication of my love – uncomplicated and neverending. I give you this ring, that you may wear it, as a symbol of the vows, we have made this day. I ask you to wear this ring as a constant reminder of my love for you, now and forever. With this ring, I thee wed.
[Ben repeats]
Benjamin, please place Margaret’s engagement ring above her wedding band to symbolize that the love which brought you together will always protect and sustain your marriage.
Margaret, Please repeat after me.
Benjamin I give you this ring that you may wear it as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. Wear this ring in faith and love, and with pride. These rings are not a warning to others. They do not shout “Keep away, we are taken.” They are a celebration, to tell the rest of the world that we both love and are loved. With this ring, I thee wed.
[Margaret repeats]
By the giving and receiving of rings, you will be known to all as husband and wife. These rings are symbols of the love that the two of you have promised to each other and today you proclaim that love not only to the people present here today, but before all mankind. May those who wear these rings live in love all their days.
ROSE CEREMONY
When Ben and Maggie first met, they were both students. Maggie was a technical theatre production student and Ben, a chef in training. Both kept long hours and one night, in the first few months of their relationship, during a particularly busy school period, Ben showed up at Maggie’s apartment late at night, knowing she would be up working. She was surprised to see him and even more surprised when he pulled a carton of ice cream and a single rose out of his backpack. She asked him what the special occasion was and he said “I just miss you”. It was that night that Maggie just knew she was going to marry him.
In this spirit, Maggie and Ben have chosen to include a rose ceremony in their wedding.
[BEN AND MAGGIE PICK UP THE ROSES]
In the past the rose has been considered a symbol of love, and a single rose has always meant only one thing – the words “I love you”. So it is appropriate that for your first gift as husband and wife, your gift to each other is a single rose.
PLEASE EXCHANGE YOUR FIRST GIFT AS HUSBAND AND WIFE.
In some ways it seems that you have done very little at all, for just a moment ago you were holding a single rose, and now you are still holding a single rose. In some ways the marriage ceremony has changed your relationship very little at all. In some ways, tomorrow is going to be no different than yesterday. It is up to you two, to make your vows an integral part of your relationship, to make the symbolic nature of today’s ceremony impact everyday of your future.
Benjamin and Margaret, I would ask that you pick one very special location for the roses in your home, so that on each anniversary of this wonderful occasion, you both may take a rose to that spot as a recommitment to your marriage, and a recommitment that this be a marriage based upon love.
In every marriage there are times when it is difficult to find the right words. It is easiest to hurt and be hurt by those whom we most love. It might be difficult some time to find the words that say “I am sorry” or “I forgive you”; “I need you” or “I am hurting”. If this should happen, if you simply can not find these words, leave a rose at that spot that you both have selected, for that rose then says what matters most of all and should overpower all other things and all other words.
The rose will speak the words “I still love you.” The other person should accept this rose for the words that cannot be found, and to remember the love and hope that you both share today.
CLOSING
A joining is a partnership, not two people becoming one. Two minds cannot fuse, two souls cannot merge, two hearts cannot keep the same time. You are two who choose to walk the same path, to bridge the differences between you with love. You must remember and respect those differences, for they are part of what made you come to love in the first place. Love is patient, love is willing to compromise - love is willing to admit it is wrong. There will be hard times; you must face them side by side. There will be pain - but pain shared is pain halved, as joy shared is joy doubled.
Benjamin and Margaret, we who have gathered together here today have heard your vows of love and commitment of one to the other in marriage. Therefore by the power vested in me by the Marriage Act of Ontario it gives me immense pleasure to pronounce Benjamin and Margaret as husband and wife.
This ends the formal aspect of the wedding ceremony. The Bride and Groom and their witnesses will now sign the marriage register. Those who wish to take photographs of the signing are invited to join us but please be mindful of the wedding photographers.
During the switch over from ceremony to dinner setup, you are welcome to remain in this room and play some pool, find your seats and mingle with the other guests. For those of you who will be leaving to explore the area, the cocktail hour will begin at 6pm; dinner will be served at 7pm.
Immediately following the ceremony, Ben and Maggie have requested that you all stand and turn to face the photographer, as they would love a photograph of all those who joined them in this special moment.
[GO SIGN REGISTER, RETURN TO CENTRE STAGE] (cello music: Sicilliene by Maria Theresia Von Paradis; played Jacqueline du Pre)
In closing, a marriage is a big step in life. But it is not always a “beginning”. For Ben and Maggie, it is the next step in an already well established relationship; one rich with love and humour. Move forward through your lives together keeping those feelings alive and you will only deepen and strengthen the bonds that have held you together all these years.
In the words of Shel Silverstein,
"I will not play at tug o' war. I'd rather play at hug o' war, where everyone hugs instead of tugs, where everyone giggles, and rolls on the rug, where everyone kisses, and everyone grins, and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.”
[Turn and face your guests.]
Ladies and Gentlemen: It now gives me great pleasure to be able to introduce to you the newlywed couple Mr. and Mrs. Hunter. Congratulations to you both. Benjamin you may kiss your bride!
Recessional
(music: “For the Beauty of the Earth” by BarlowGirl)