WhiteDoom Wedding: Ceremony

Pastor to people: Friends, we are gathered together in the sight of God to witness and bless the joining together of Jennifer and Travis in Christian marriage. The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given each other in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and the love of the Lord. Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God. Jennifer and Travis come to give themselves to one another in this holy covenant.

Declaration by the Man and the Woman

Pastor to Jennifer and Travis: Marriage begins in the giving of words. We cannot join ourselves to one another without giving our word. And this must be an unconditional giving, for in joining ourselves to one another we join ourselves to the unknown. I ask you now, in the presence of God and these people, to declare your intention to enter into union with one another.

Pastor to Jennifer: Jennifer, will you have Travis to be your husband, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?

Jennifer: I will.

Pastor to Travis: Travis, will you have Jennifer to be your wife, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?

Travis: I will.

Response of the Families and the People

Pastor to parents: The marriage of Jennifer and Travis unites their families and creates a new one. They ask for your blessing.

Parents: We rejoice in your union, and pray God's blessing upon you.

Pastor to people: Will all of you, by God's grace, do everything in your power to uphold and care for Jennifer and Travis in their marriage?

People: We will.

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: extemporaneous prayer, OR

Let us pray.
God of all peoples,
You are the true light illumining everyone.
You show us the way, the truth, and the life.
You love us even when we are disobedient.
You sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
We rejoice in your life in the midst of our lives.
We praise you for your presence with us, and especially in this act of solemn covenant;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Reading: Epithalamion by Richard Crashaw

Julie Orringer:
Long may this happy heaven-tied band
Exercise its most holy art,
Keeping her heart within his hand,
Keeping his hand upon her heart;
Except from her eyes
Feel he no charms;
Find she no joy
But in his arms;
May each maintain a well-fledged nest
Of winged loves in either's breast;
Be each of them a mutual sacrifice
Of either's eyes.

May their whole life a sweet song prove
Set to two well-composed parts
By music's noblest master, Love,
Played on the strings of both their hearts;
Whose mutual sound
May ever meet
In a just round
Not short though sweet;
Long may heaven listen to the song
And think it short though it be long;
Oh, prove't a well-set song indeed, which shows
Sweetest in the close.

Exchange of Vows:

The wife and husband join hands. The pastor may place a hand on or wrap a stole around, their joined hands.

Pastor to husband and wife: I ask you now to make your pledge, each to the other.

Travis: Jennifer, I vow to cherish you and our relationship, to honor and respect you, to challenge and encourage you. I vow to love you and nurture our love always, in both sorrow and in joy. This is my solemn oath.

Jennifer: Travis, I vow to cherish you and our relationship, to honor and respect you, to challenge and encourage you. I vow to love you and nurture our love always, in both sorrow and in joy. This is my solemn oath.

Blessing and Exchange of Rings:

Pastor: Rings are an ancient symbol, blessed and simple. Round like the sun, like the eye, like arms that embrace. Circles, for love that is given comes back round again and again. Therefore, may these symbols remind you that your love, like the sun, illumines; that your love, like the eye, must see clearly; and that your love, like arms that embrace, is a grace upon this world.

Jennifer: Travis, wear this ring as a symbol of our journey together. You are my love and my best friend. With this ring, I thee wed.

Travis: Jennifer, wear this ring as a symbol of our journey together. You are my love and my best friend. With this ring, I thee wed.

Pastor: These rings symbolize your marriage bond, by which you bind your lives together in devotion and faithfulness to one another. As often as either of you look at this symbol, be reminded of the commitment of love and faithfulness you have made to each other today.

Declaration of Marriage

The wife and husband join hands. The pastor may place a hand on or wrap a stole around, their joined hands.

Pastor to husband and wife: You have declared your consent and vows before God and the congregation. May God confirm your covenant and fill you both with grace. May I extend my joy to you on this happy occasion. Jennifer and Travis, you are about to take a new step forward in life. This day is made possible not only because of your love for each other, but through the grace of your parents and of the whole society. It is my hope that your fulfillment and joy in each other and in yourselves will increase with every passing year.

Unity Candle

Can we have everyone sing The Wedding Song while the unity candle is being lit? Or should the people be watching and not reading the words? If not, where do you suggest that we have the congregation sing it?

Reading: Apache Song

Brett Smith:

Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be a shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no loneliness for you;
now there is no more loneliness.
Now you are two bodies,
but there are three lives before you,
his life, her life, and your life together.
Go now to your dwelling place,
to enter into your days together.
And may your days be good
and long on this earth.

Blessing of the Marriage

The husband and wife may kneel, as the pastor prays.

Pastor: extemporaneous prayer

O God, send your blessing upon Jennifer and Travis, that they may surely keep their marriage covenant, and so grow in godliness together that their home may be a haven of blessing and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let all others honor them and the threshold of their house. May they establish a home filled with the spirit of faith, truth, and goodness. May they find here the good beginning of their married life and the fruitfulness of many years.

The Lord's Prayer

Dismissal with Blessing

Pastor to wife and husband: God the Eternal keep you in love with each other, so that the peace of Christ may abide in your home. Go to serve God and your neighbor in all that you do.

Pastor to people: Bear witness to the love of God in this world, so that those to whom love is a stranger will find in you generous friends. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Introduction of Couple

Pastor to people: Jennifer and Travis have chosen each other from the many men and women of the earth. They have declared their love and purpose before this gathering, and have made their pledge, each to the other, by solemn vows, with the joining of hands, and the exchanging of rings. Therefore, I declare that from this day forth, they are husband and wife. Those whom God has joined together, let no one put asunder. You may kiss the bride.

The Kiss

Recessional

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