Spiritual Spring Theme
Wedding Ceremony

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 spirit 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.

{Let us bless this joyous union with prayer.}

Two lives, two people, so very different, yet so similar. Together they stand as one, sharing their future as it comes. The past is that - past. Buds are blossoming. With care and trust, the best is yet to be revealed. Honesty and kindness are the fruits of love. God, bless this day and always enrich Bride and Groom so their love will never end.

This is a reading from the Songs of Solomon...

My beloved spoke, and said to me: "Rise up my love, my fair one, And come away. For lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, And the vines with tender grapes Give a good scent. Rise up my love, my fair one, And come away!" "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely." My beloved is mine, and I am his. Rise up my love, my fair one, And come away!

{Now, Groom & Bride will make public their intention to marry.}

Groom, do you here in the presence of God and 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 God and 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!

{And now Groom and Bride will recite their wedding vows}

Groom, please repeat after me...

Bride, please repeat after me...

God, bless the giving and receiving of these rings. May Bride and Groom abide in your peace and be forever true to this union.

{And now, Groom & Bride will exchange their wedding rings}

Groom, please repeat after me...

Bride, please repeat after me...

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 and 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.

{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 sacred vows and through the giving and receiving of your wedding rings, I pronounce you husband and wife. Those whom God has joined together may he generously bless forever.

Congratulations, you may kiss!

Bride and Groom, may the spirits watch over you as long as the grass grows and the rivers flow.

Ladies and gentlemen, It is my pleasure to present to you...

Mr. & Mrs. _________________________