PLEASE NOTE
There
are two services on this page - similar in many respects, but also
different. Please read both if you're interested in this kind of
celebration
If you are interested in having the Eucharist celebrated at your
wedding, click on the 'With Eucharist' sublink;
If you're looking at interfaith weddings, click on either the
Jewish/Christian; Hindu/Chrstian; or Buddhist Christian
Service!
Denise and Steve
February 19, 2006
Prelude - Seating of the Guests
Attendant’s Processional –
Jesu
Joy of Man’s Desiring - J.S. Bach
Bride’s
Processional – Trumpet Voluntary – Jeremiah
Clarke
Welcome
–
Officiant
– Good Afternoon.
I’d like to welcome you to this graced day in Denise and
Steve’s life. Each of you is here because you are special
– in some way, your love and friendship has contributed to
making Denise or Steve, or maybe both of them, the people who they
are. In some way, each of you has helped bring them to this moment.
And because you’re special, they wanted you to be here to
celebrate this great, life-changing moment in their lives. Thanks
for being here.
Not all the special people in Denise and Steve’s life could
be here, though – some are separated from us by space, and
others by time. But in a deeply spiritual way, those special people
are with us too. In this space that we share – which is made
sacred by their love, I’d ask you to remember these other,
very special people and in particular, please remember
Steve’s dad Sylvester, his Aunt Clara, and Denise’s
grandparents Bob and Grace, and Ed, and her Aunt Frances.
Now, let us pray…
Gathering
Prayer –
Officiant:
Gracious and ever-living God, you have created us male and female
in your image; Look lovingly upon Steve and Denise who come to you
for your blessing, and assist them with your grace, that with true
fidelity and steadfast love they may honor and keep the promises
they make to each other today, through Jesus Christ, who has taught
us to love and sent us the spirit. He lives with you in the unity
of the spirit forever and ever.
Amen.
First
Reading
Perfect Love
Everyone
longs to give themselves completely to someone. To have a deep soul
relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively.
But God to the Christian says, "No, not until you're satisfied and
fulfilled and content with living; having an intensely personal and
unique relationship with Me alone.
"I
love you, My child, and until you discover that only in Me is your
satisfaction to be found, you will not be capable of the perfect
human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be
united with another until you are united with
Me.
"I
want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to bring it
to you. You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things.
Keep learning and listening to the things I tell you. You must
wait. Keep looking up to Me, or you’ll miss what I have to
show you.
"And
then, when you're ready, I'll surprise you with a love far more
wonderful than any you would ever dream. You see, until you are
ready and until the one I have for you is ready, you won't be able
to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me,
and this is perfect love.
"And
dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love. I want you
to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to
enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty and
perfection and love that I offer you with Myself. Know I love you.
I am God Almighty, believe and be satisfied."
Interlude:
Song of Songs 2:8-10.14,16; 8:6-7
…for lo, the
winter is past
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth,
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
And the vines are in blossom;
They give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away.
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.
Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.
Second
Reading Colossians
3: 12-17
As God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if
anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as
the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all,
clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in
perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one
another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in
word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through him.
This is the word of the Lord
Alleluia
Gospel
John 15: 9-12
As the Father loves me,
so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments,
you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s
commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so
that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my
commandment: love one another as I love you.
Reflection
Richard
Hasselbach
Exchange of Vows
Officiant:
Steve and
Denise, you have come here today, in the presence of your friends
and family, to declare your love for each other before God, and to
begin your life together as a married couple. Before you unite
yourselves as husband and wife, is there anything you would like to
say to each other?
Steve:
Denise, You are my breath,
My Joy
My Hope
My Shelter
My Friend
My Hunger
My Companion
My Abundant Wealth
My Food for the Journey, and
My Journey’s end.
Denise:
Steve, you are truly my sunshine…because you have so
brightened, my world. You lift me up when I need encouragement, and
even when I don’t, because that’s just who you are. You
are the perfect balance of depth and playfulness, of strength and
tenderness. You ‘get’ me, and all of me, and you love
me anyway. I am completely myself when I’m with you, and
I’m my best self because of you. The richness of your love
completely fills me and delights my senses. So I enter this
marriage consciously, and with much thought, but with no doubts.
You are my partner for life.
Officiant:
Since it is
your intention to unite yourself as husband and wife, I invite you
to exchange your marriage vows. (Please repeat after
me).
Steve:
I
Stephen, take you Denise, to be my wife. I promise to be true to
you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health; I will
love you and honor you all the days of my
life.
Denise:
I
Denise, take you Stephen, to be my husband. I promise to be true to
you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health; I will
love you and honor you all the days of my life.
Blessing
and Exchange of Rings:
Officiant:
Lord, bless these rings, and make them signs of love and enduring
faithfulness:
Steve:
Denise,
take this ring as a sign of my love and devotion; and wear it as a
symbol our commitment to each other, so that the world will know
that we are one.
Denise: Steve,
take this ring as a sign of my love and devotion; and wear it as a
symbol our commitment to each other, so that the world will know
that we are one.
Officiant: Will you who have
witnessed these promises do all in your power to uphold Steve and
Denise in the vows they make to each other today?
All:
We will.
Declaration
of Marriage
Officiant:
Now that Steve and Denise have given themselves to each other by
these solemn vows of marriage, I declare them to be husband and
wife. Those whom God has joined let no one put asunder.
Kiss
Our
Father
Blessing
of the Couple The
Celtic
Blessing
May the road
rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and the rains fall soft upon your fields.
May true be the hearts that love you;
May pure be the joys that surround you.
May you see your children’s children,
May the hand of a friend always be near.
May
you know nothing but happiness, from this day forward.
May God be with you and bless you,
May He hold you in the palm of His hand.
And may Almighty God
bless you, and all of us -
He is Father, + and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit
Concluding
Prayer and Dismissal
Officiant:
The service is almost over, but the marriage is just begun. Not
once and forever, but again and again, shall the mystery of two
people together in love touch the world. And so, blessed by Steve
and Denise’s enduring love, let each of us be renewed in
commitment to the loves of our own lives, let us pray…
O God, the giver of all that is true and lovely and gracious, we
give you thanks for Steve and Denise and their love for each other.
We ask you to give them wisdom for their journey together. Show
them your presence along the way. May they become one in heart and
soul, and live in faithfulness and peace, may they journey long in
the company of good friends and come, at last, to the kingdom you
have prepared for those who love you – where you live and
reign forever and ever.
Amen
Officiant
– The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us evermore. Amen. Our
service is over, go in peace and continue to
celebrate.
Recessional
--
Spring,
Antonio Vivaldi
Second
Example
Patricia and Thomas
October 16, 2004 11:30 AM
Prelude
-
Music
Seating
of the Mother’s –
“Air” (from Water Music Suite), George Frederic
Handel
Attendant’s
Processional –
“Canon in D”, Johann Pachelbel
Bride’s
Processional –
“Promenade” (from Pictures at an Exhibition), Modest
Mussorgsky
Welcome
–
Officiant – Good
morning.
I’d like to welcome you to this graced day in Patricia and
Thomas’ life. Each of you is here because, in some way, you
helped get them here. Your love and friendship, your commitment or
sense of family, your kindness, your wisdom shared, kindness, maybe
your forgiveness or understanding - something has contributed to
making Patricia or Thomas, or maybe both of them, who they are, and
if they weren't who they are, they might not be here. So, on their
behalf, I want to thank you - thank you for being here to share
this moment, but more importantly, thank you for who you have been
in their lives. And I want you to know that they love you.
Not all the special people in Patricia and Thomas life could be
here, though – some are separated from us by space, and
others by time. But in a deeply spiritual way, those special people
are with us not too. In this space that we share – which is
made sacred by their love, I’d ask you to remember these
other, very special people, too, and in particular, please remember
Thomas’ father Pasquale.
Now, let us pray…
Gathering
Prayer –
Officiant: Gracious and
ever-living God, you have created us male and female in your image;
Look lovingly upon Thomas and Patricia who come to you for your
blessing, and assist them with your grace, that with true fidelity
and steadfast love they may honor and keep the promises they make
to each other today, through Jesus Christ, who has taught us to
love and sent us the spirit. He lives with you in the unity of the
spirit forever and ever.
Reading
I – Sonnet
116,William Shakespeare
Let me not to
the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh, no! It is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken:
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unkown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and
cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Music
–
O Perfect Love
Reading
II – Ruth 1:
16-17
Don’t urge
me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,
and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and
your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be
buried beside you. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so
severely, if anything but death separates you and
me.
Gospel
– John 15:
9-12
As the Father
has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my
Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said
these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy
may be complete. This is my commandment, that you love one another
as I have loved you.
Reflection
Fr.
Richard Hasselbach
Exchange
of Vows
Officiant:
Thomas and
Patricia, you have come here today, in the presence of your friends
and family, to declare you love for each other before God, and to
begin your life together as a married couple. So if it is your
intention to unite yourselves as husband and wife, I invite you to
express this profound love that you have for each other. Please
repeat after me:
Thomas:
I
Thomas, take you, Patricia to be my wife. I promise to love you,
comfort you, honor and keep you, in sickness and in health;
forsaking all others to be faithful to you as long as we both shall
live.
Patricia:
I
Patricia, take you, Thomas to be my husband. I promise to love you,
comfort you, honor and keep you, in sickness and in health;
forsaking all others to be faithful to you as long as we both shall
live.
Blessing of the Rings
Officiant:
Lord, bless
these rings, and make them signs of love and enduring
faithfulness:
Thomas:
Patricia, take
this ring as a sign of my love and devotion, and wear it as a
symbol of our commitment to each other, so that the world will know
that we are one.
Patricia:
Thomas, take
this ring as a sign of my love and devotion, and wear it as a
symbol of our commitment to each other, so that the world will know
that we are one.
Officiant:
Will
you who have witnessed these promises do all in your power to
uphold Thomas and Patricia in the vows they make to each other
today?
All:
We
will.
Declaration
of Marriage
Officiant:
Now
that Thomas and Patricia have given themselves to each other by
these solemn vows of marriage, I declare them to be husband and
wife. Those whom God has joined let no one put asunder.
Music
– Violin
solo, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Blessing
of the Couple from The
Gayan
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day
of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a
song of praise on your lips.
May your days be good and long upon the earth
And may almighty God bless you + the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit
Concluding
Prayer and Dismissal
Officiant:
O
God, the giver of all that is true and loving and gracious, we give
you thanks for Thomas and Patricia and their love for each other.
We ask you to give them wisdom for their journey together. Show
them your presence along the way. May they become one in hear and
soul, and live in faithfulness and peace, may they journey long in
the company for good friends and come, at last, to the kingdom you
have prepared for those who love you – where you live and
reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Officiant:
The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us evermore. Amen. Our
service is over, go in peace and continue to
celebrate.
Recessional
–
“Le Rejouissance”, George
Handel