Wedding of: Click here to enter text.
Date and Time:Click here to enter text.
Venue and Address:Click here to enter text.
Reverend Betty Davis, Officiant; Riversong Weddings
(Please click to select items you wish to include and enter any text. Save the doc in your name and send to me at )
☐ Entry of Guests
If there are witnesses or guests, they gather round near the Officiant
☐Entry of Betrothed Couple
They enter together and come before the Officiant. Or other: Click here to enter text.
☐Gathering Words
We have come together in this special place to celebrate the love _____ and _____ have for each other. They have discovered something so precious, they want to claim it for a lifetime and declare it to the world by entering into marriage. They are fully aware that this commitment is not being entered into lightly but is one of the most important decisions of their lives. (Personal information – how you met or something special about your relationship or other gathering words:Click here to enter text.
☐Declaration of Support
When two people join in marriage, their families as well as their friends are joined into a larger circle of caring. All those you love are not present today but are an important part of the fabric of your lives and therefore of your marriage Tend to those you love well and allow them to help you keep your marriage strong.
☐Remembrance
At this time we would like to remember some special people who are present in Spirit though absent from this gathering. We remember Click here to enter text. They surely add their blessing to this union today.
☐Readings
Reading: Click here to enter text. Read by: enter name.
☐Song or Special Music:
Select which marriage address or write your own:
☐Marriage Address 1 -New Orleans theme
You’ve chosen New Orleans for your wedding so I’d like the city to give you a gift in return. The gift is a mosaic of symbolism to remind you in the years ahead of some qualities of a great marriage you will want to always have in your relationship. And maybe your awareness of their importance is why you chose New Orleans! To say this is a city of music is an understatement– music flows from every street corner and every venue – not just to please tourists but because the people of New Orleans are strong and resilient and use music to express what is most important in life. So take along in your marriage an indomitable spirit to stay positive and thankful – especially when the challenges are the hardest – because you have what is most important – each other and your love. New Orleans is a magical place of art and celebration – beautiful costumes, exquisite parades, - with endless reasons to celebrate….we even celebrate the tomato! So give yourselves fully to the art of loving, give the best efforts of your life to creating a beautiful marriage, let the simple things of life make you happiest, and allow your relationship to be a place of wild abandon where you thrive in the security of each other’s acceptance and love. Also, from this city of gorgeous French and Spanish architecture, be inspired to maintain well the structure of your relationship – which is built on the qualities and characteristics you bring individually to this marriage. Don’t spend your marital energy trying to renovate each other – instead be devoted to putting your best self forward – and you’ll remain irresistible to love. In your mosaic will be a “NOLA till I die” sign. You will see these around town expressing people’s commitment to this place. Let it remind you of the passion with which you declare your vows for a lifetime of loving. So hang your mosaic of New Orleans symbolism in the center of your home and may your success bring you an endless celebration of love.
Or
☐ Marriage Address 2 - Two streams converge…
A committed love is the crowning achievement of our lives and your marriage will become the pages on which you will write your great love story. How that story goes depends on the quality of your commitment to each other and the dedication with which you stay true to that commitment. You have been blessed to find someone who is such a wonderful match and someone who is helplessly in love with you! You have already entered into that magical place your love has created. From this time on, you must use all your best super powers to keep your relationship as true and devoted as it is at this moment. You will face challenges from the outside and challenges within your own selves. During those most trying times your love will deepen if you remember to share your feelings and fears, your hopes and dreams, to be vulnerable and to trust that you can get through anything together. Let the best work in your life and in your marriage be the work of achieving your highest self. If you both do that, you will remain irresistible to love and your marriage will be a beautiful place to live!
Two people joining in marriage are like two separate streams with different origins and paths merging into a single river, forging a new path you set together - where each of you maintain your individuality but are deepened and enriched by the presence of the other. You are more powerful and beautiful together and a source of hope for others who witness your lives. All happiness for the journey.
OR
☐ Marriage Address 3 - Two paths merge
To be an excellent partner to our chosen love should be our most prized achievement in life. So here you stand poised on the starting line of your marriage ready to charge into the future with great hopes and full assurance of your ability to make this relationship everything you’ve wished for. Your friends and families believe in you and cheer you on toward great success. You believe in each other and in the quality of each other’s commitment. To stay toned and strong for the course ahead requires a discipline but one that you both are highly motivated for. First, stay focused not on a finish line far ahead but on the present – living each day fully devoted to your relationship and keeping each other a priority. Stay positive and determined especially when the course is the most challenging by remembering your commitment and the reasons why you chose each other. Honor each other by your individual efforts to be a great partner: one who expresses love often; who accepts differences; who works through disappointments and forgives sincerely; who looks for the best in the other; who never gives cause for suspicion or worry; who solves problems with kindness and empathy; and who is just fun to be around!
Today the two separate paths representing your individual selves will merge into one road and you will set the direction and determine the quality of the journey together. May it be a long and happy road and may you walk it in peace. It is up to both of you to “make it so.”
OR
☐ Marriage Address 4 –WRITE YOUR OWN
OR
☐Handfasting Ceremony (see sample on website)
Wedding Vows(Turning toward each other and holding hands)
The words you are about to speak are some of the
most precious and important words you will ever speak.
Looking deeply into the eyes of your chosen love,
declare your vows with true conviction.
☐Write our own vows:
Groom’s Vows: Click here to enter text.
Bride’s Vows: Click here to enter text.
To Beloved 1: “Having professed your love and declared
your vows, do you take _____ to be your wedded partner?”
Answer: “I do.”
To Beloved 2: “Having professed your love and declared
your vows, do you take _____ to be your wedded partner?
Answer: “I do.”
OR
☐Use the traditional vows:
I, _____, receive you _____
To be my wedded partner / To have and to hold/
From this day forward.
For better, for worse/ For richer, for poorer/
In sickness and health/ To love and to cherish
Til death do us part.
I, ______, receive you ______
To be my wedded partner / To have and to hold/
From this day forward.
For better, for worse/ For richer, for poorer/
In sickness and health/ To love and to cherish
Til death do us part.
To Beloved 1: “Having professed your love and declared
your vows, do you take _____ to be your wedded partner?”
Answer: “I do.”
To Beloved 2: “Having professed your love and declared
your vows, do you take _____ to be your wedded partner?
Answer: “I do.”
This bond is a river of joy in your lives. May it grow deeper and sweeter with each passing year. May it be abundant enough to spill over to all who care about you. May your marriage show the heights and depths and joy of committed love.
Ring Exchange: (Bride gives bouquet to someone)
It is traditional to seal the vows with the exchange of rings. Before we exchange rings, let’s think about what it means to “give your hand” in marriage and the significance of these hands we place rings on to symbolize your love.
Option 1 to use before the ring exchange:
☐Look at these hands as the gift they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love. These are the hands that offer to uphold your life, to work alongside yours to build a future and realize your dreams together. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years. These hands will hold you up during life’s challenges. They will wipe away your tears and clap with pride at your achievements. These are the hands that will guide you as you search to be your best self. Always be thankful that you have the hand of your partner to hold through life’s fascinating journey.
Option 2 to use before the ring exchange:
☐Hand tying ceremony (see a sample on my website).
Please present the rings
☐Symbolism of the rings
These rings symbolize in the purity of the metal, the strength and purity of your love. As circles they represent your hope for aneverlasting commitment.
To Beloved 1: “_____, place the ring on _____’s finger and repeat after me:” / To Beloved 2: “_____, place the ring on _____’s finger and repeat after me:”______, I give you this ring / ______, I give you this ring
As a symbol of my love for you / As a symbol of my love for you
And as a pledge of my commitment to you / And as a pledge of my commitment to you
With this ring, I thee wed / With this ring, I thee wed
(Push ring onto her finger) / (Push ring onto his finger)
☐Unity Ceremony (choose a unity ceremony to include)
☐ Unity Candle (see a sample on my website)
☐ Sand Ceremony (see a sample on my website)
☐ Traditional Cultural Ceremony Click here to enter text.
☐ Other Ceremony Click here to enter text.
☐Pronouncement
Now, because you have chosen one another
And pledged to love each other
For all the days of your lives
Before God and this gathering of family and friends
By the power vested in me as a minister of the gospel
And the state of Louisiana
I now pronounce you united in marriage!
Marriage KISS:
☐ “Share your first kiss as married partners!”
PRESENTATION:
It is my great honor and privilege to present as a happily married couple Enter here how you wish to be presented
Signing of Documents (remember to bring them along with the original envelope)
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