Processional
Opening Words
Welcome to the ceremony that will unite Bride's Full Name and Groom's Full Name in marriage. We have gathered today in the midst of lush spring, a time for new beginnings in relationships, as well as in nature. Yet while the flowers of spring are gorgeous to behold and compellingly sweet to the senses, we know that it takes several seasons, much tender care, and the weathering of many storms for the fruit of those perennial flowers to grow and ripen. In the same way, it takes time for love to mature and reach its rightful completion. This spring wedding ought to remind us that, like the seasons, human life - the life of the psyche and the emotions -- moves in cycles. To be in a loving relationship does not guarantee an eternal summer. To make a sincere and honest commitment does not promise an end to all struggle. What a good relationship does offer, is opportunity for renewal. It recognizes the abiding, shared hope that after every winter, spring will come again. In marriage we make a commitment to weather patiently the cold and bitter times, to protect and tend to that original love-seed until it bursts into bloom again. We are here to celebrate beginnings, and to acknowledge that love, just as anything else we would like to have abide for long, requires sustaining care and nurture. In making this declaration to their family and friends, Bride and Groom express their eagerness to take up this lifelong challenge in seriousness and in joy.
Expression of Intent
{Now, Groom & Bride will make public their intention to marry.}
Groom, do you here in the presence of these witnesses declare your commitment to Bride and choose her as the one with whom you wish to spend your life? Do you give yourself to her and accept the gift of self which she gives to you? Do you pledge to endure all of the difficulties which life may offer, even as you look forward to sharing the joys to be experienced together?
Groom: I do!
Bride, do you here in the presence of these witnesses declare your commitment to Groom and choose him as the one with whom you wish to spend your life? Do you give yourself to him and accept the gift of self which he gives to you? Do you pledge to endure all of the difficulties which life may offer, even as you look forward to sharing the joys to be experienced together?
Bride: I do!
Vows
{And now Groom and Bride will recite their wedding vows}
Groom, please repeat after me...
Bride, our love is reflected in the bloom of a flower, and the strength of a towering tree -always growing, always searching for perfection, just as the trees reach to the skys, and the blooms open their faces to the sun. Just as the flowers and trees thrive in the spring, so may our union continue always to thrive until death do us part from this earth.
Bride, please repeat after me...
Groom, I offer you the flower of my heart as my wedding gift to you. This flower is pure and innocent, beautiful and eternal. It needs the care and nourishment that only you can give it. Place this flower within your own heart - love it, keep it safe, and give it light, and may it bloom forever from this day forward as I commit it to you with my eternal love as your wife.
Blessing of the Rings
Your wedding rings are an enduring symbol that remind you of the pledges you have made to each other and of your responsibility to honor each other by honoring your promises. Now, you will exchange your wedding rings to seal the vows of your marriage.
Exchange Of The Rings
{And now, Groom & Bride will exchange their wedding rings}
Groom, please repeat after me...
With this ring I thee wed and pledge my love now and forever.
Bride, please repeat after me...
With this ring I thee wed and pledge my love now and forever.
Flower Ritual
It is only out of families that new families emerge. Now, Groom & Bride would like to celebrate a flower ceremony with their closest family, as the two families unite as one through their marriage. At this time, I ask the Bride & Groom's families to come up and place the flowers they are holding into these two separate vases.
[Family members place flowers in vases and return to their seats]
The flowers that were just placed here from both of your families symbolize your separate lives and your two individual families. Groom & Bride, you come to this moment from these two families, and the new emerges from the old, the present from the past. Now, I ask that each of you take one of the flowers and together place them in the center vase...
[Bride and Groom take individual flowers and place them in the center vase]
The center vase with the flowers signify that your two lives are now joined as one, and represents the joining together of your two families as one. From now on your thoughts shall be for each other rather than for your individual selves. Your joys and sorrows shall be shared alike. Today a new family makes its beginning.
Pronouncement of Marriage
{At this time we come to the Pronouncement of Marriage. The Pronouncement is my public, and legal, proclamation that Bride and Groom are married. It is the exact moment of Marriage...}
Now that you, Groom, and you, Bride, have promised to give yourselves to one another and to love each other through your vows and through the giving and receiving of your wedding rings, I pronounce you husband and wife.
Permission to Kiss
Congratulations, you may kiss!
Good Wishes
Bride and Groom, May beauty surround you both on the journey ahead and through all the years. May you dare to dream dreams not yet dreamt. May you find constant reward and challenge as you pursue the ongoing adventure of learning who you are and where you want to go. May you always have a special sense of your mission in life together. And may your love grow like a beautiful tree, sending roots deep and branches high, with new beauty every season of your life together.
Presentation of the New Couple
Ladies and gentlemen, It is my pleasure to present to you...
Mr. & Mrs. _________________________
Recessional
