THE BEGINNING
Before the ceremony, the Officiator provides the participants the rings, emblems, and gems, and gives them time to examine and inscribe them.
It is customary to have the Officiator stand behind the participants, who face each other.Guests then stand or sit in a semi-circle around them, at a respectful distance.Guests may be asked to make short speeches before the ceremony begins.
Officiator: Welcome, friends and family of and ! Let us begin.
OF FREE WILL
Officiator: , are you here of your own free will?
Bride: Yes
Officiator: , are you here of your own free will?
Groom: Yes
Officiator: Are there any here who have legitimate cause to oppose this marriage?
[Pause]
THE GROOM\'s VOWS
Officiator: , do you take to be your lawfully wedded wife?
Groom: I do.
Officiator: Do you pledge to love, cherish and honor her, through all your time in Dereth?
Groom: I do.
Officiator: Do you promise to remain faithful unto her, to support her, to be her finest friend, through all trials and tribulations, joys and victories?
Groom: I do.
Officiator: What seal do you place upon your vows?
Groom: The seal of [my own honor/the name of a higher authority].
THE BRIDE\'S VOWS
Officiator: , do you take to be your lawfully wedded husband?
Bride: I do.
Officiator: Do you pledge to love, cherish, and honor him, through all your time in Dereth?
Bride: I do.
Officiator: Do you promise to remain faithful unto him, to support him, to be his finest friend, through all trials and tribulations, joys and victories?
Bride: I do.
Officiator: What seal do you place upon your vows?
Bride: The seal of [my own honor/the name of a higher authority].
THE INTENTIONS
Officiator: , please share with us your loving intentions toward .
Bride: [Speak about how you will love and cherish the groom.It helps to have this prepared beforehand.]
Officiator: , please share with use [sic] your loving intentions toward .
Groom: [Speak about how you will love and cherish the groom.It helps to have this prepared beforehand.]
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Officiator: You who stand here as witnees are the friends and family of the bride and groom.You are charged with the task of helping them in their new role as wife and husband, to support them in their times of need, and to do all that you can to make their marriage a bleed and happy union.
THE RINGS
Officiator: Please exchange the rings.
Groom: With this ring, I thee wed.
Bride: With this ring, I thee wed.
THE PRONOUNCEMENT
Officiator: You have made your vows under the seals of that which you hold important.
Officiator: Before the witnees of your friends and family, you are now pronounced husband and wife.May your marriage bring you great happine.
[Guests may now congratulate the married couple.Emote freely.Save celebratory gems for use outside.]
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Minister:
We are gathered here today to witne the coming together of two people, ____________ and ____________, whose hearts and spirits are entwined as one.They now desire to profe before all the world their intention henceforth to walk the road of life together.
To these two young people, this marriage signifies the birth of a new spirit, a spirit which is a part of each of us, yet not of any one of us alone.This \"birth of spirit\" reminds us of spring, the season when all life is reborn and looms again.It is appropriate, therefore, that this wedding of ____________ and ____________ be in the spring, and that it be under the open sky, where we are close to the earth and to the unity of life, the totality of living things of which we are part.
The beliefs and thoughts about love which motivate these two people are perhaps best expreed in the words of poet Kahlil Gibran:
\"You were born to be together, and together you shall be forevermore.You shall be together when the wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in your silent memory.
But let there be spaces in your togetherne,
And let the winds of the heaven dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bondage of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other\\\'s cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not of the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone, though they quiver with the same music.Give your hearts, but not into each other\\\'s keeping,
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together,
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypre grow not in shadow.\"
Minister to Bride:
Do you ____________, knowing this man\\\'s love for you and returning it, realizing his strengths and learning from them, recognizing his weaknees and helping him to overcome them, take ____________ to be your lawfully wedded husband?
Bride:
I do.
Minister:
Place the ring on his finger.
Minister to Groom:
Do you ____________, knowing this woman\\\'s love for you and returning it, realizing her strengths and learning form them, recognizing her weaknees and helping her to overcome them, take ____________ to be your lawfully wedded wife?
Groom:
I do.
Minister:
Place the ring on her finger.Let these rings serve as locks–not binding you together–but as keys, unlocking the secrets of your hearts for each other to know, and thus bringing you closer together forever.
And now ____________ and ____________, seeking the fulfillment of love and marriage, find again that the poet Gibran speaks for them:
\"Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks to another day of loving.To rest at the noon hour and meditate love\\\'s ecstasy;
To return home eventide with gratitude, and then sleep with a prayer
For the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.\"
I now pronounce you husband and wife.
