Introduction
On behalf of Gareth and Victoria, I welcome you all here this afternoon, and thank you for coming to support them on this very special day.
We are gathered here to share in the marriage of these two people. Marriage is the communion of souls and the community of selves. Marriage means that each partner may help and support the other; it means the sharing of joys as well as sorrow. It is the growing together in a closer and richer bond of love and respect for one another, while acknowledging the other�s individuality. It requires the ability to give and take, and the willingness to forgive and go forward in love and trust. In choosing to weave their lives together in the relationship of marriage, Gareth and Victoria are making the most important and sacred commitment that two people can make to one another. Their commitment today is made knowing each other�s strengths and weaknesses and loving each other for them both. They accept that over time they will change, but the commitment they make today for a loving and enduring relationship will not change.
Decleration of Intent
Celebrant:
Gareth and Victoria, you have decided to share your lives together, and you have invited us to share in and witness your commitment to each other.
Do you promise to devote your lives to a relationship of love, tenderness and laughter?
Both: We do.
Celebrant:
Will you stand by each other�s individuality, understand each other needs, accept each other�s changes and enjoy each other�s love for always?
Both: We will.
Giving Away Ritual
Celebrant (To all parents) Do you, Forrest, Debbie, Bob and Annette, give your blessing and love to Gareth and Victoria as they begin their marriage?
Parents: We do.
The Reading, Read by John
Love is a friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad. It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weakness. Love is content with the present. It hopes for the future and it doesn�t brood over the past. It�s the day in and day out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don�t have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough, so search for it, ask God for it and share it.
Exchange of Vows
Gareth�s Vows
Victoria, I ask you to be my wife knowing that:
You cannot posses me for I belong to my self.
But while we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give.
You can not command me for I am a free person.
But I shall serve you in those ways you require.
And the honeycomb will taste sweeter coming from my hand.
I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry allowed at night.
And the eyes into which I smile in the morning.
I pledge to you the first bite from my meat.
And the first drink from my cup.
I pledge to you my living and my dying, equally in your care.
This is my wedding vow to you.
This is a marriage of equals.
Victoria�s Vows
Gareth I ask you to be my husband and with that:
I promise to give you the best of myself,
And to ask of you no more than you can give.
I promise to respect you as your own person,
And to realize that your interests, desires and needs,
Are no less important than my own.
I promise to share with you my time and my attention,
And to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.
I promise to keep myself open to you,
To let you see through the window of my world into my innermost,
Fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.
I promise to grow along with you,
To be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship alive and, exciting.
I promise to love you in good times and bad,
With all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how.
Completely and forever.
Celebrant:
With these vows, do you Gareth and Victoria; swear by the gods your people swear by.
To be full partners each to the other.
If one drops the load, the other will pick it up.
And that these vows supersede all others?
Gareth/Victoria:
We Do.
Exchange of Rings
Victoria/Gareth:
Gareth/Victoria I offer you this ring as a symbol of my love and my devotion to life with you.
Pronouncement
Gareth and Victoria you have expressed your love and affection you have for each other. Your commitment today is made knowing each other�s strengths and weaknesses and loving each other for both of them. There will be times when it seems so difficult that you will be tempted to give up. At such times, recall the earnestness and sincerity of the vows you have made today, and draw strength from them.
On behalf of us all gathered here, I extend to you our good wishes, our friendship, and our love, in support of the commitment that you have made to each other. May your love deepen and grow through all the triumphs and trials life has to offer you. Let the world recognise that you are now husband and wife together
Signing the Register
Words of Farewell
May each day you share be as precious to you as the days when you first fell in love. May you always see and encourage the best in each other. May your love deepen and grow through all the trials that life has to offer you. May the challenges life brings your way make your marriage even stronger, and may you always be each other�s best friend and love
Celtic Pebble Tradition
Instead of the traditional throwing of rice or confetti, we are going to ask you, as guests, to make a wish for the couple on the pebble near your chair and drop this into the vase on the table that they will keep with them always.