Family and Friends, Please Be Seated Until the Bride Arrives

Rev Lucinda Martin

Wedding Officiant

Maria and Martin’s Wedding Ceremony

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Family and friends, please be seated until the bride arrives.

[Bride begins procession]

Please rise.

Minister asks father of the bride:

“Who gives this woman to be married?”

“Quien da a esta mujer en matrimonio?”

Father answers “Yo su papa.” Mother answers “Yo su mama.”

Please be seated

Invocation:

Maria and Martin, we welcome you to this very special occasion. Take a moment to look at each other. Take a deep breath and allow yourself to be right here, right now.

Now look at this community of family and friends gathered here for you. You are truly surrounded by those you love and those who love you.

Please join me as we take a moment and take a breath right into our hearts. You may close your eyes if you wish. We breathe in the beauty of Mother Nature surrounding us. We acknowledge the sun a manifestation of God, the sacred source of all life. From the east, where the sun rises, signals hope for the union about to take place.

We exhale and send love right from our hearts into this sacred gathering. Our collective prayers sanctify this space and time. We take a deep breath and allow the exhale to become fully present.

Welcome

Friends and family, I welcome you on behalf of Maria and Martin. Queridos familiares y amigos. Les doy la bienvenida en el nombre de Maria y Martin.

I am Reverend Lucinda Martin, an Ordained Interfaith Minister. And as such, I have been educated and believe all paths lead to the one source of Life, I know has God.

Thank you all for being a part of this day. Gracias por ser parte de un dia tan especial como este.

Maria you will become a wife, and Martin, you will become a husband, and you will embark on perhaps the ultimate life adventure together. It is so important that we all gather this day to celebrate the union of Maria and Martin.

Reading

We have learned from an excerpt of, Corinthian’s 13, a bible verse about love; “Love is patient and kind; Love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never gives up. Love is eternal. Love never ends.”

And now, Melina has a special reading she created as a surprise for Maria and Martin. (English and Spanish )

Intent

Marriage is the bonding of those who were strangers, made familiar through the miracle of love. Destined to find a path to friendship and joy in one another’s company; a journey to the growing feelings of love for each other - a decision to marry and spend your lives together and now to create a family together.

Martin, will you have Maria to be your wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the estate of holy matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as you both shall live?

[Martin answers “I DO”]

Maria, will you have Martin, to be your wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the estate of holy matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as you both shall live?

[Maria answers “I DO”]

Arras Ritual

Maria’s mother, Bertha, will now bring me the Arras Coins.

[Bertha brings the tray of coins to the Minister]

Thank you, please be seated.

The Arras consists of 13 golden coins that are blessed. This is a wedding family and this ritual is a sign of Martin’s dedication to his wife’s well-being and that of their children.

[Minister pours the coins into Martin’s hands. Martin holds the coins and recites the following:]

Yo con la a ayuda de dios me comprometo a que nunca falte nada en nuestro hogar.

And now, as Martin pours the 13 coins into Maria’s hands, this symbolizes Maria’s responsibilities managing the home and the wellbeing of the families’ finances.

[Martin pours the coins into Maria’s hands]

[Maria recites, while holding the coins.

“Yo me comprometo a cuidar y aministrar para que en nuestro jogar nunca nos falte nada.

[Maria pours coins onto the tray]

Bertha, please take the tray. Thank you, you may take your seat.

Lazo Ritual

Martin’s mother, Juanita, will now bring the Lazo.

Martin and Maria have chosen to incorporate the Lazo ritual into their wedding ceremony today. The Lazo is a wedding ritual in which the couple is bound together with a ceremonial rosary. Lassoing is a declaration of intent, where the bride and groom clearly state that they are marrying of their own free will.

Juanita, will now place the Lazo in a figure 8 around the couple.

[Juanita wrap s the cord, beginning with Martin’s left shoulder, and then around Maria’s shoulders. She then takes her seat.]

Martin and Maria, since your lives have crossed in this life, you have formed eternal and sacred bonds. As you enter this state of matrimony it is of great importance you strive to make real the ideals that give meaning to this ceremony and to the institution of marriage.

With full awareness, know that within this Lazo you are declaring your intent to be bound together before your friends and family.

The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union and will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth.

Maria and Martin, I ask you to hold hands and look into each other’s eyes.

Will you honor and respect one another, and seek to never break that honor?

Will you share each other's pain and seek to ease it?

Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union?

Will you share each other's laughter, and look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other?

[Maria and Martin: We will.]

Maria and Martin , as you are bound together now, so too your lives and spirits are joined in a union of everlasting love and trust. Above you are the stars and below you is the earth. Like the stars may your love be a constant source of light, and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow.

Melina’s Prayer

Melina, will now offer a special prayer for her parents.

Diocito Tu que te encuentras en todo lugar.

Bendice este acto que vamos a precenciar.

Papa Diocito te doy las gracias por el matrimonio de mis papas.

Haslo que este lleno de felicidad, amor comprecion y ternura.

Proteje su union para que dure toda una vida.

Que su matrimonio este lleno de alegria, risas, y amor.

Que nunca les falta el respecto y la felicidad.

Diocito bendice sus caminos y bendice nuestro hogar.

Sobre todo bendice el amor de mi papa y mi mama.

Te Quiero mucho

Personal Vows

Martin, have you any words you wish to share with Maria at this time?

[“yes”…..]

Maria, have you any words you wish to share with Martin at this time?

[“yes”…..]

[Juanita, please remove the lasso and take your seat.]

Ring Exchange With Vows

Adrian please bring the ring.

[ Adrian steps back and remains standing.]

Martin, please place the ring on Maria’s finger and repeat after me;

I, Martin, take thee Maria, to be my lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish.

Maria, please accept the ring now.

Melina, please bring the ring.

[Melina steps back and remains standing.]

Maria, please place the ring on Martin’s finger and repeat after me;

I, Maria, take thee Martin, to be my lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish.

Martin please accept the ring.

Pronouncement

Martin and Maria, you are now husband and wife. Go in peace; as two yet one. May your unity last through all your life together, through the trials and triumphs that lie ahead so that at the end, you may feel just as you do now – happy to be in love and married. Go then, in peace, and live more and more in the present which is beautiful and stretches away beyond the limits of the past and the future.

You may now kiss the bride.

Family and friends, may I now present to you as husband and wife;

Mr. and Mrs. Ceja

[Doves are released]

www.vowsandkisses.com

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