Ceremony...
Bride enters (not totally sure yet, kind of thinking either: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQpe0Iw6XiM or something...)
Officiant:
Welcome family and friends as we celebrate the marriage of Billy and Sarah. These two have spent the last 8 years together, and have now entered into a partnership that will last forever. They welcome you, and thank you for your love and support on this happiest of days. We begin with a moment of pause to remember the friends and family who could not be here with us today, as we honor their spirit and their memory. (pause)
Weddings are a celebration of love and of uniting of families. The love that Billy and Sarah celebrate today will be nourished by the support of those around them, and will become even stronger. It is fitting, then, for them to plant the seeds for a flower to bloom like their love, with the help of their loved ones. First, they would like for us to begin by having their respective parents each read a portion of the blessing "When Two People Are at One" from the I Ching. As each comes forward, they will add soil to the pot, as their love has given them a foundation for their own love to flourish.
Parents:
When two people are at one in their inmost hearts
They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze;
And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts
Their words are sweet and strong like the fragrance of orchids.
Officiant:
Parents, do you offer your blessing to Sarah and Billy as they begin their life together as one in heart?
Parents:
We do.
Officiant: Thank you. Both Sarah and Billy are the eldest child in their family, and were each blessed to have 2 siblings to challenge them, laugh with them, and grow with them. They have chosen a reading for each set of siblings to read in parts. As each pair comes forward, they will add seeds to the pot, as the friendship they shared with their siblings taught them the love they needed to find each other.
Kevin/Katie:
From "Still Life With Woodpecker" by Tom Robbins
Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.
Kyle/Chris:
From "The Irrational Season" by Madeline L'Engle
To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take…If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation…It takes a lifetime to learn another person…When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling, and which implies such risk that it is often rejected.
Officiant: Siblings, do you give your blessing to the love of Sarah and Billy, which is without strings and is the love of participation?
Siblings: We do.
Officiant: Thank you. Now Sarah and Billy, hearing these words that describe your love from your family, you come together, having helped the seed of your love grow through your patience, care, and respect for each other. After you add your water to the pot, please repeat your vows after me.
Billy/Sarah vows.
Now that you have expressed your devotion to each other, you will seal that devotion with the exchange of rings. The ring is a perfect symbol of love, because like love, it is a circle that is unbroken. It continues forever as your love will continue forever. Billy, please place the ring on Sarah's finger and repeat after me: "With this ring, I thee wed" Sarah, please place the ring on Billy's finger and repeat after me: "With this ring, I thee wed".
You are now joined together before your friends and family, as one heart in two bodies. You may now seal your marriage with a kiss.
The end!
Officiant:
Welcome family and friends as we celebrate the marriage of Billy and Sarah. These two have spent the last 8 years together, and have now entered into a partnership that will last forever. They welcome you, and thank you for your love and support on this happiest of days. We begin with a moment of pause to remember the friends and family who could not be here with us today, as we honor their spirit and their memory. (pause)
Weddings are a celebration of love and of uniting of families. The love that Billy and Sarah celebrate today will be nourished by the support of those around them, and will become even stronger. It is fitting, then, for them to plant the seeds for a flower to bloom like their love, with the help of their loved ones. First, they would like for us to begin by having their respective parents each read a portion of the blessing "When Two People Are at One" from the I Ching. As each comes forward, they will add soil to the pot, as their love has given them a foundation for their own love to flourish.
Parents:
When two people are at one in their inmost hearts
They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze;
And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts
Their words are sweet and strong like the fragrance of orchids.
Officiant:
Parents, do you offer your blessing to Sarah and Billy as they begin their life together as one in heart?
Parents:
We do.
Officiant: Thank you. Both Sarah and Billy are the eldest child in their family, and were each blessed to have 2 siblings to challenge them, laugh with them, and grow with them. They have chosen a reading for each set of siblings to read in parts. As each pair comes forward, they will add seeds to the pot, as the friendship they shared with their siblings taught them the love they needed to find each other.
Kevin/Katie:
From "Still Life With Woodpecker" by Tom Robbins
Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.
Kyle/Chris:
From "The Irrational Season" by Madeline L'Engle
To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take…If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation…It takes a lifetime to learn another person…When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling, and which implies such risk that it is often rejected.
Officiant: Siblings, do you give your blessing to the love of Sarah and Billy, which is without strings and is the love of participation?
Siblings: We do.
Officiant: Thank you. Now Sarah and Billy, hearing these words that describe your love from your family, you come together, having helped the seed of your love grow through your patience, care, and respect for each other. After you add your water to the pot, please repeat your vows after me.
Billy/Sarah vows.
Now that you have expressed your devotion to each other, you will seal that devotion with the exchange of rings. The ring is a perfect symbol of love, because like love, it is a circle that is unbroken. It continues forever as your love will continue forever. Billy, please place the ring on Sarah's finger and repeat after me: "With this ring, I thee wed" Sarah, please place the ring on Billy's finger and repeat after me: "With this ring, I thee wed".
You are now joined together before your friends and family, as one heart in two bodies. You may now seal your marriage with a kiss.
The end!