Sample Ceremony II – Rachel Edwards and Peter Bloom

Example of a wedding ceremony incorporating the pieces from New Words for Weddings Volume 1. This ceremony is quite long but it does provide an idea of how different members of the wedding party, and families and friends, can take part in a service

Celebrant:

Good afternoon everyone. We are here today to join Rachel and Peter in marriage.

Rachel and Peter, you care deeply for one another and you see this wedding as the opportunity to declare before us all your love and your intention to live together as husband and wife.

Rachel and Peter have chosen words written by Melanie James, to help express the way they feel today as they commence their married life.

The first reading they have chosen to lead into the ceremony is Marriage For Life:

Marriage is a commitment for life,
and in many ways is a commitment to life.  
It offers opportunities for sharing
and knowing one another
that no other relationship can equal.
Sometimes,
as we travel through this life,
another person chooses to walk our path.
The path may not always be easily travelled,
but as Two instead of One,
the load is shared,
and one can light the way for the other.

Before we proceed further I am obliged to inform you that I am duly authorised by law to conduct marriages according to the law.

Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am obliged to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are about to enter.

Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

Peter and Rachel will now read a passage called Why You are Here.

Peter and Rachel share the reading:

You may be our friends
You may be our family
You may be strangers to each other,
But not to us.
You are all here witnesses.
You maybe mentors and guides;
You know your part
And why you’re here with us;
You are all most welcome.
We honour you, truly.
You may have made us;
You may have shaped us;
You’re being here to share our wedding
Means everything to us;
You’ve each had a role to play
In reaching this special moment
We have all shared today.

Peter and Rachel, you have invited some family members to read some words that they themselves have chosen to help celebrate your wedding.  I’d like to invite the Father of the Bride, Frank, to read Tree of Life.

Frank:
Today is not the culmination but

Just the beginning of a growing love;

Today just plants the seed from which will grow

A new tree of life yet untried, untested.

Possibly a tall eucalyptus tree,

Able to bend with the winds and storms;

Maybe a wattle, reliably bright –

' Symbol of nation, of what’s right and true.

Or may be a new breed to us yet unknown

Which finds meaning and purpose anew.

Today’s wedding is just the tree’s planting.

Our friendship and love provide the rich soil,

Our best wishes add the right warmth and light;

Your life until now has just tilled the earth,

Working together from here makes love grow.

Celebrant:
Thank you, Frank. Peter’s sister, Teresa, has chosen to read Door of Love:

Teresa:
I would like to read this as Peter would read it to his bride:

I knocked on the door of love
And you answered;
You invited me into your heart,
You asked me to drink from your cup,
And eat honey from your fingers.
You sat me down and plumped a cushion
Under weary feet,
You rubbed the tension from my shoulders
And played sweet songs about love.
You told me tall tales and true
And made me laugh till I ached;
But you made the hurt go away.
You asked if I was okay,
You lit the fire,
You cradled me in such tenderness
You cracked open my hard shell.
You saw inside my soul
And dived right in -
You revelled in sharing our love;
You showed me
That I was home.

Celebrant:
Thank you Teresa.

Peter and Rachel, before we proceed, I ask you whether you are both here today giving yourself freely to one another in marriage.

Peter and Rachel: We are.

Celebrant:
Rachel, before you take your vows you have asked me to read Marrying You Today Honours Me:

Marrying you today honours me -
Validates my life.

Touches my core.

Let’s love flow like hot lava,

Surrounding,

Enveloping,

With futures

And possibilities.

Marrying you today honours me -

Renews me,

Fresh like a deep bush pool.

Makes my soul sing

Makes me deeply happy,

Feels so right.

Peter, before you take your vows you have asked me to read Loving in Public:

Celebrant to Peter:

Peter Bloom, do you take Rachel Edwards to be your lawful wedded wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honour and keep her, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, keep only unto her, so long as you both shall live?

Peter: I do

Celebrant to Rachel:

Rachel Edwards, do you take Peter Bloom to be your lawful wedded husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honour and keep him, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, keep only unto him, so long as you both shall live?

Rachel: I do

Celebrant:

I ask now that you face each other and hold hands as you take your vows.

Peter, please repeat after me:

I call upon the persons here present to witness that I Peter Andrew Bloom, take you, Rachel Alice Edwards, to be my lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish for as long as we both shall live.

Rachel, please repeat after me:

I call upon the persons here present to witness that I Rachel Alice Edwards, take you, Peter Andrew Bloom, to be my lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish for as long as we both shall live.

Symbols of Unity

Peter and Rachel, you have exchanged vows declaring your commitment as husband and wife, I now ask you to exchange the wedding rings that are a symbol of your love and unity.

Peter:
Rachel, with this ring I wed you. Take it and wear it as a sign of my love and fidelity.

Rachel:
Peter, with this ring I wed you. Take it and wear it as a sign of my love and fidelity.

Celebrant:
You have chosen your next reading, This Ring:

This ring on my finger Tells the world that

Today you loved me

Enough to marry me.

This ring on my finger

Makes me the happiest person alive.

This ring on my finger

Will stay with me

And hold the energy

Of our wedding day.

This ring on my finger

Honours me and makes me

Proud to be your spouse.

I’d now like to ask the Mother of the Bride, Joan, to read her chosen poem, Have No Illusions:

Joan:
Have no illusions –
Life is challenging
Have no illusions –
Marriage is not easy
Have no illusions –
Sometimes you’ll question
Have no illusions –
You will find fault
Have no illusions –
This is marriage
Have no illusions –
You will work it out
Have no illusions –
Hardship brings strength
Have no illusions –
You are each other’s rock
Have no illusions –
Love will endure.

And now Peter’s best man, Robert, will read New World.

Robert:
They say that the age
of great explorers is past.
I don’t agree.
As each couple weds,
a new world emerges.
With no map to mark out
the scenic route
or places of interest;
With no indication
of where the challenges lie.
Oh, there are broad descriptions
of the terrain,
But they are just guides,
As no-one before you
Has explored your new world.

We'll now close with Love’s Path:

Celebrant:

Today, as the sunlight

Whitened the countryside,

You married your true love.

The path here

Was sometimes rocky;

The path ahead

no doubt too.

But as you walk

Together on life’s road,

You carry always

The light of today’s joy.

And so Peter and Rachel have declared before us today their commitment to each other.

They have made special promises and have symbolised their union with the exchanging of rings.

By the power vested in me as an authorised marriage celebrant, I now declare Peter and Rachel to be husband and wife.

Peter, you may now kiss the bride.

Ladies and Gentleman, please congratulate the bride and groom, Mr and Mrs Bloom.

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