Okay, so our wedding was a while ago... It isn't brand new anymore. And if you've already had enough, you should probably stop reading right now. (I can't get enough! It was the funnest day EVER!!) But I did have a request from one of my loyal readers to put our vows in the blog, and I thought it was a good opportunity to share our ceremony.
The day was beautiful, sunny, and calm. The scene was set...
and the music was playing.
The kids were adorable as always.
The crew started to make their entrance...
While my dad and I waited to make ours.
It was a little overwhelming to step out and see everything set up, and take it all in. I heard the music, and thought it was time to go, so even though Carolyn hadn't opened the curtain for us to come out, I pulled my dad along and we came flying through the curtains! (Or at least that's what it feels like in my memory!)
Seeing Chris when I came out of the gazebo was definitely a highlight of the day.
There was a lot of dust in the air that day.
We started the ceremony with some audience participation.
Rings have endured as a symbol of love and commitment because of their strength, durability and shape.
Let these rings be a sign that love has a past, a present, and a future—and that whenever there are sorrows, joy will come around again.
Let these rings give your marriage direction—wherever you go you will return to each other.
And let these rings be another everyday reminder of your love and commitment.
We will begin this ceremony by passing these rings around, and asking that each one of you warm the rings in your hand. Feel free to silently offer a prayer, a blessing, or your best wishes to the happy couple as you hold the rings.
Chris and Shelli have brought us together here
for an occasion of great joy
and a cause for great celebration.
I kept reminding myself to look around and take everything in!
Today is a celebration not of a beginning, but of a bond that already exists between you. In many ways, your lives are already joined. Today you declare your intention to make this joining deliberate and permanent.
We even heard from Kurt Vonnegut.
Okay, now let's have some fun. Let's talk about women. Freud said he didn't know what women wanted. I know what women want: a whole lot of people to talk to. What do they want to talk about? They want to talk about everything.
What do men want? They want a lot of pals, and they wish people wouldn't get so mad at them.
Why are so many people getting divorced today? It's because most of us don't have extended families anymore. It used to be that when a man and a woman got married, the bride got a lot more people to talk to about everything. The groom got a lot more pals to tell dumb jokes to.
A few Americans, but very few, still have extended families. The Navahos. The Kennedys.
But most of us, if we get married nowadays, are just one more person for the other person. The groom gets one more pal, but it's a woman. The woman gets one more person to talk to about everything, but it's a man.
When a couple has an argument nowadays, they may think it's about money or power or sex or how to raise the kids or whatever. What they're really saying to each other, though without realizing it, is this: "You are not enough people!"
A husband, a wife and some kids is not a family. It's a terribly vulnerable survival unit.
I met a man in Nigeria one time, an Ibo who had six hundred relatives he knew quite well. His wife had just had a baby, the best possible news in any extended family.
They were going to take it to meet all its relatives, Ibos of all ages and sizes and shapes. It would even meet other babies, cousins not much older than it was. Everybody who was big enough and steady enough was going to get to hold it, cuddle it, gurgle to it, and say how pretty or how handsome it was.
Wouldn't you have loved to be that baby?
Chris and Shelli selected this reading because you, each and every one of you, has made them feel as loved as that baby. They are so grateful to you all to have come all this way, some of you a few miles, some of you thousands of miles, to help them celebrate this joyous day. And you, community of friends and family, may be called upon to support this union as Shelli and Chris face new joys and challenges together. So, I ask, do you all give your blessing and offer your continued love and support to this couple? If you agree please answer “We do”
They did!
Catch hands now and face one another to make your vows.
Look at one another—remember this moment in time.
Shelli,
I stand before you honored that you have chosen to share your love and your life with me. Your loving spirit and positive energy graced my life and made me a better person. Just as everything lights up when you enter a room, my world lit up when you entered my life. I promise to always love you, respect you, and be honest with you. I promise to be your best friend, your lover, and a good father to our children. I promise to always be by your side, support you in times of need, and celebrate with you in times of joy. I promise to always do everything in my power to protect the bond that we share and the joy in our life together. I look forward to sharing my life with you, from the excitement of being a newlywed, to the magic of our golden years. I look forward to calling you my wife. Thank you for all that you have done, and all that you are.
Thank you for sharing your life with me.
Chris,
Since the night we met, there was something that told me we are meant to spend our lives together. I was happy beyond belief when I realized that you felt the same way. It makes me so happy that we can reaffirm this promise here, witnessed and blessed by the most important people in our lives.
It amazes me every day how much I love you.
Nothing is as good when I can't share it with you, not even pizza, or a good run in the park, or a hot cup of coffee. I wish I could think of a way to thank you for the joy you bring me or find a way to express how you just make the world better by being in it.
You have made my life and my soul complete.
I will stand by your side during the good times and the rough patches, knowing that we can get through anything together. I will believe in you, I will believe in us, I will try to make your days as special as you make mine, and love and cherish you unconditionally for the rest of our lives.
I love you so much. Thank you for sharing your life with me.
Your hands are the part of you that you use the most. Every day you look down at your hands as they do their job, and this is also why we wear a token of our wedding vows there. Every day, as you look down, you will see a brief flash of light, a sparkle as the ring placed on your finger today will shine. It will remind you, again and again, over and over, of your promise to your loved one. Every time you take hands, you will feel that wedding ring on your partner's hand and you will both be reminded again in turn. It will always be with you, visible, worn openly and with pride. It will say to the world that someone loves me enough to make me a promise to share a life.
Shelli, I give you this ring as a token of my eternal love for you.
Chris, I give you this ring as a token of my eternal love for you.
It is my joy to pronounce you husband and wife.
You may now share the first kiss of your marriage!
Are you done yet?
APACHE BLESSING
Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness,
for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons,
but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the
journey ahead and through all the years,
May happiness be your companion and
your days together be good and long upon the earth.
And now, let us shower Chris and Shelli with good wishes as they enter a new chapter of their lives together!
I might have to do another post about our portraits and reception! This one is way too long already. I enjoyed reliving the ceremony as I posted it.
