Our ceremony
Opening
Good Evening, my name is Terra Nevitt and it is my great honor to stand here on this significant and remarkable day to unite in marriage my close friends Ben and Lisa, two people whose selflessness, love, and energy is an inspiration to me.
On behalf of Ben and Lisa, I want to thank you all for coming and for being a part of this ceremony that that will join Lisa and Ben in marriage. We have come together tonight to celebrate their union and to honor their commitment to one another. Tonight we rejoice in their promise to walk through life together as equal partners and as best friends.
Each of you has loved and supported Ben and Lisa, and so you have contributed to bringing them to this moment. In joining together in marriage, tonight Lisa and Ben give unto each other their complete love and trust as their most precious gift. And though this gift is shared by these two people in love, it also touches the lives and hearts of the their friends and family. All of you make up Lisa and Ben's community and their lives as husband and wife will be enriched and strengthened by your support. And so, I ask you, their family and friends, to take the following vows:
Do you promise to continue to love and support Lisa and Ben as they grow in their marriage?
"Yes," sayeth the crowd.
Do you celebrate with them the decision they have made to bind their futures together?
Once again, "yes."
Do you promise to offer them your care and counsel in their times of struggle, as well as to celebrate with them in their times of joy?
"Yes!"
Thank you.
Vows and rings
Ben and Lisa, Mark Twain said that grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy, you must have somebody to divide it with. Tonight we celebrate the fact that you have found someone to share your joy with. Tonight you pledge your love and friendship to one another. And although the ceremony only takes place once, this pledge will be enacted every day so that your love will remain as solid and as firm as the earth. It is in that spirit that you exchange these vows:
Erin, may I have the rings please?
Ben, take Lisa's ring, place it on her finger, and repeat after me:
I, Ben, take you, Lisa, to be my wife,
To have and to hold from this day forward,
For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.
I promise to live with you in truth, to communicate openly
And, above all else, to love and to cherish you,
As we journey through life together.
Lisa, take Ben's ring, place it on his finger, and repeat after me:
I, Lisa, take you, Ben, to be my husband,
To have and to hold from this day forward,
For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.
I promise to live with you in truth, to communicate openly
And, above all else, to love and to cherish you,
As we journey through life together.
Unity Candle
Ben and Lisa, these two separate candles symbolize your individual lives. I ask that each of you take one of the lit candles and that together you light the center candle.
(We lit the center candle.)
Lighting the center candle represents that your two lives are joined to one light. I know that in your lives, a candle is often lit for those departed, those in pain, or those forgotton. Let this candle also symbolize your remembrance of and unity with all of humanity.
Marriage License
Lisa and Ben have asked all of you to be here tonight as witnesses to their commitment to bind their futures to one another. However, they have asked their grandmothers to be their legal witnesses in order to honor them and recognize the very special roles that they have played in each of their lives.
Lisa and Ben, would you please take this marriage certificate down to your grandmothers' tables and ask them to sign it?
Pronouncement
Ben and Lisa, although I am officiating here today, it is not my place to sanctify, legitimize, or bless your relationship; the two of you have already done that in your hearts. So by joining hands right now and looking into each other's eyes, let it be known that you are joined, body and soul in this lifetime, and that this bond is sacred.
(We kissed here.)
And now that you have stood before me and exchanged these rings and these vows, and have consented to be married, it gives me great pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife.
(We kissed here too.)