My aunt and her long time boyfriend/fiance, Rich, tied the knot on 10/9/10. They asked me to officiate the wedding back in June and of course I agreed. Apparently in Massachusetts you can apply for a one day marriage officiating license. We did it and they approved it. They give those things out to anyone!
Anywho, I took the stuff that my aunt gave to me, added a spiel of my own, tweeked the vows, & this is how it ended up.
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Dearly Beloved, we are gathered together today in the presence of God – and in the face of family and friends – to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony.
Marriage is the union of heart, body and, mind. It is intended for mutual joy and for the help and comfort given to another in both times of prosperity and adversity. Love endures all things.
Through marriage, Richard Wendell Riley and Vicki Ann Bell will make a commitment together to face their disappointments, embrace their dreams, realize their hopes, and accept each other’s failures and shortcomings. Rich and Vicki will promise one another to aspire to these ideals throughout their life together, through mutual understanding, openness, and sensitivity to each other.
I wish that I had even a year of marriage experience under my belt so that I could share some profound words of wisdom with you and yet I do not. And, seeing as this is my first (and probably my last) time officiating a wedding, I do not have any poetic words to share or funny stories to tell. In fact, I do not even know much about what it is like to be in love but what I do know of love, I wish to share with you today. For that, I will turn to the Bible, God's Holy Word, to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, known by many and to most as "The Love Chapter" for it's thorough definition of love. It is all-encompassing and, quite frankly, just perfect.
"Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always 'me first,' Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. For right now we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."
It would be foolish for me to stand up here today and say that love is easy, because it is not, so I will not. Love is difficult. That it is why it surpasses both hope and faith. We walk by faith and not by sight, we hope in things not seen, but we love by that which we do see and by that which we feel. People often say that love is blind but someone once said that love is not blind- it sees more not less but because it sees more it is willing to see less. Love covers a multitude of sins, a multitude of hardships, a multitude of sorrows. Love will prevail in the face of all these things. So, I will dare you, exhort you, challenge you to love one another extravagantly, to hold nothing of yourselves back. Today is a day to celebrate the union of two people, two lives converging into one.
As we gather together to celebrate this union, we bring with us all the wishes of happiness and our fondest hopes for Rich and Vicki and we assure them that our hearts are in tune with theirs. These moments are so meaningful to all of us, for what greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together, to strengthen each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness.
This relationship stands for love, loyalty, honesty and trust - but most of all for friendship. It was from this seed of friendship that brought them together.. Do not think that you can direct the course of love – for love, if it finds you worthy, shall direct you.
Marriage is an act of faith, a personal commitment, as well as a moral, and physical union between two people. Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between two people. It is the construction of their love and trust into a single growing energy of spiritual life. It is a commitment that requires and deserves daily attention.
We are here today, before God, because marriage is the oldest and most sacred union between two people. God Himself declared that a marriage was the joining of two beings into one flesh. This occasion marks the celebration of love and commitment with which Rich and Vicki will begin their new life together. And now, through me, He joins you together in one of the holiest bonds.
Vicki and Rich have chosen to have their mothers by their sides as they make this commitment to one another today. I'd like to invite Virginia and Martha to come and stand with us.
And now, for the exchanging of the vows...
Rich, you will take the plunge first. Repeat after me…
I, Richard Wendell Riley, | take you Vicki Ann Bell to be my wife.|
In the presence of God, our family and our friends| I give you my solemn vow to be your faithful husband. | in sickness and in health | in good times and in bad | in joy, as well as sorrow | I promise to love you | to support you | to honor and respect you | to laugh with you and cry with you | and to cherish you as long as we both shall live.
I, Vicki Ann Bell,| take you Richard Wendell Riley to be my husband.|
In the presence of God, our family and our friends | I give you my solemn vow to be your faithful wife. | in sickness and in health | in good times and in bad | in joy, as well as sorrow | I promise to love you | to support you | to honor and respect you | to laugh with you and cry with you | and to cherish you as long as we both shall live.
May I have the presentation of the rings please.
May these rings be blessed as the symbol of their unity. These two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever they go, may they always return to one another. May they grow in understanding and in compassion. May the home they establish together be such a place that others will find a friend. May these rings on their fingers symbolize the presence of God and the spirit of love in their hearts for each other.
Rich, in placing this ring on Vicki’s finger, repeat after me:
Vicki Ann Bell | you are now my wife | I give you this ring as a pledge of my love | and as the symbol of our unity | and with this ring, I thee wed.
Vicki, in placing this ring on Vicki’s finger, repeat after me:
Richard Wendell Riley | you are now my husband | I give you this ring as a pledge of my love | and as the symbol of our unity | and with this ring, I thee wed.
May you always share with each other the gifts of love. Be one in heart and in mind. May you always create a home together that puts in your hearts love, generosity, and kindness.
In as much as Rich and Vicki have consented together in marriage before us and our Heavenly Father, having pledged their faith to one another, and declared their unity by giving and receiving these rings, they are now joined.
What, therefore, God has joined together, let no man separate..
And so, by the power vested in me by the State of Massachusetts and Almighty God, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Now, the moment that we've all been waiting for... You may now seal this union with a kiss.
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