Dear Friends,
We are gathered here as the people of God to witness the marriage of _____________________, share in their joy and ask God to bless them.
Marriage is a gift of God, sealed by a sacred covenant. God's gift is human love, given that wife and husband may know each other with mutual care and companionship. God's gift is joy, given that wife and husband may share new life with their neighbors as Christ shared new wine at the wedding at Cana.
With our love and our prayers, we come to support _________________, as they now freely give themselves to each other.
Let us pray:
Gracious God, always faithful in your love for us, we rejoice in your presence. You create love and out of loneliness, unite us in one human presence. You offer your word and lead us in light. You open your loving arms and embrace us with strength. May the presence of Christ fill our hearts with new joy and make new the lives of your servants whose marriage we celebrate. Bless all creation through this sign of your love given in their love for each other. May the power of your Holy Spirit sustain them and all of us, in love that knows no end. Amen
Scripture
Declaration of Intent
God has called you to the covenent of marriage. Before God and this congregation, I ask you to affirm your willingness to enter this new relationship and share all its joys and sorrows, whatever the future may hold.
(To The groom) ________, will you have _______ to be your wife and will you love her faithfully as long as you both shall live?
Groom: I will, with the help of God
(To the bride) ________, will you have _________ to be your husband and will you love him faithfully as long as you both shall live?
Bride: I will, with the help of God
Will the families of ________________________ please (stand/answer) in support of this couple. Do you offer your prayerful blessing and loving support to this marriage? If so, please say "I do".
Family Members: I do.
Will you join your right hands and repeat after me what you promise to each other, before God and your friends:
Groom: In the presence of God and before these witnesses, I, ____________, take you, __________ to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; in joy and in sorrow; to love and to cherish and to be faithful to you alone, as long as we both shall live.
Bride: In the presence of God and before these witnesses, I, ____________, take you, __________ to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; in joy and in sorrow; to love and to cherish and to be faithful to you alone, as long as we both shall live.
Presentation of the Rings
Repeat after me:
I give you this ring
that you may wear it as a symbol
of the vows we have made this day
(Repeat of two rings are used)
_____________________, you have committed yourselves to each other in this joyous and sacred covenant. Become one. Fulfill your promises. Love and serve God, honor Christ and each other, and rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit.
By their promises made before us this day, ______________________ have united themselves as wife and husband in sacred covenant. Those whom God has joined, let no one separate.
If you are so inclined, seal this covenant with a kiss.
Lighting of the Unity Candle
Let us pray:
Most gracious God, we give you thanks for your tender love. You sent Jesus Christ to come among us, to be born of a human mother, and to make the way of the cross into the way of life. We thank you, too, for consecrating the union of a man and a woman in Christ's name, by the power of your Holy Spirit, pour out the abundance of your blessing on ____________________.
Defend them from every enemy. Lead them in peace. Let their love for each other be a seal upon their hearts, a mantle about their shoulders, and a crown upon their heads. Bless them in their work and in their play, in their sleeping and waking, in their joys and in their sorrows, in their lives and in their death.
Silent Prayer
The Lord's Prayer
The Benediction