Contemporary

OPENING WORDS

In marriage you make the most beautiful commitment in life; to love each other forever.

You will share work and play, happiness and sadness, goals and values, family and friends, excitement and boredom.

You will build a life, which is stronger because you are now part of a team, a team that will go through life holding hands, always rooting for each other.

We have come together so this man and this woman might bear witness before you and to the world of the oneness that has grown up between them.

As they now exist as one in their own eyes, so may they exist in your eyes. The mysterious union of two persons in marriage has already occurred in them in the giving and receiving of their love.

In witness to this mystery they do pledge their love and the sharing of their lives.

You are all especially welcome here because you form a circle of love. Groom and Bride are who they are, in part, because they have loved and been loved by all of you.

HANDS OF THE BRIDE AND GROOM

TO BRIDE

Bride, please face Groom, and hold his hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you.

These are the hands of your best friend, strong and vibrant with love, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to love you forever.

These are the hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief wracks your mind.

These are the hands that will tenderly lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into his eyes: eyes that filled completely with his overwhelming love and desire for you.

TO GROOM

Groom, please hold Bride’s hands, palms up, where you may see the gift that they are to you.

These are the hands of your best friend, soft and tender with love, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as she pledges her love and commitment to you forever.

These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times.

These are the hands that will comfort you when you are sick, or console you when you are grieving.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.

These are the hands that will give you support as she encourages you to chase down your dreams.

Blessing

God, bless these hands that you see before you this day. May they always be held by one another. Give them the strength to hold on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. Keep them tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love. Help these hands to continue building a relationship founded in your grace, rich in caring, and devoted in reaching for your perfection. May Groom and Bride see their four hands as healer, protector, shelter and guide. We ask this in your name. Amen.

QUESTION OF INTENT

Will you, Groom, be truly a partner in marriage, taking Bride as your wife?

Will you share your innermost thoughts and feelings, nurturing the intimacy between you?

Will you welcome her friends, share her interests, share your interests with her, and give her freedom to be herself?

Will you be her beloved, her friend, her confidant, her comforter?

Will you be open, honest and faithful?

Will you be there when she needs you, to talk to, to listen; to help and reassure her; to challenge her; to shield her with your love?

Will you love her day after day?

Will you reach out to touch and to hold her hand, awake and asleep?

Will you remember when life seems burdensome, to bring her a flower, to laugh with tenderness, to be often gentle.

I Will

Will you, Bride, be truly a partner in marriage, taking Groom as your husband?

Will you share your innermost thoughts and feelings, nurturing the intimacy between you?

Will you welcome his friends, share his interests, share your interests with him, and give him freedom to be himself?

Will you be his beloved, his friend, his confidant, his comforter?

Will you be open, honest and faithful?

Will you be there when he needs you, to talk to, to listen, to help and reassure him; to challenge him; to shield him with your love?

Will you love him day after day?

Will you reach out to touch and to hold his hand, awake and asleep?

Will you remember when life seems burdensome, to bring him a flower, to laugh with tenderness, to be often gentle.

I Will

MINISTER: Come now my friends and share your vows to each other.

VOWS

Groom: Bride, I choose you this day to be my wife. When you came into my life, everything changed. You’ve filled my heart with your love and as we marry this day, my life is finally complete. I will always be there for you. I promise to devote the rest of my life to you, as a faithful and loving husband, always putting you first, caring for you, and loving you through all the ups and downs of life from this day forward.

Bride: Groom, I choose you this day to be my husband. When you came into my life, everything changed. You’ve filled my heart with your love and as we marry this day, my life is finally complete. I will always be there for you. I promise to devote the rest of my life to you, as a faithful and loving wife, always putting you first, caring for you, and loving you through all the ups and downs of life from this day forward.

RING VOWS-

Groom:

With This ring, I wed you – for today, for tomorrow and for all the years to come. Please wear it as a sign of my unending love and devotion and a notice to all the world that I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.

Bride:

THE WINE CEREMONY AND THE BREAKING OF THE GLASS

Two small glasses – one of red wine and one of white wine in are placed next to an empty, larger wineglass on a small table nearby.

MINISTER:

One of the most beautiful wedding traditions is the drinking of the wine and the breaking of the glass. It is a joyous ceremony. This ritual serves to remind us of two very important aspects of a marriage. These marriage vows are irrevocable – just as permanent and final as the breaking of this glass is unchangeable. But the breaking of the glass also symbolizes the frailty of a marriage. The glass is broken to protect this marriage with the implied prayer… May your bond of love be as difficult to break as it would be to put together the pieces of a broken glass.

After Groom & Bride break the glass, I invite everyone to shout Good Luck or Mazel Tov. Applause is perfectly appropriate.

1. Groom & Bride go to the table. Bride takes the glass of white wine and Groom picks up the glass of red wine.

2. Groom & Bride pour their glasses of wine into the larger, empty wineglass.

3. Groom then offers the glass with the combined wine to Bride.

4. Bride sips the combined wine and says: “Now Our Lives Are One”

5. Bride then offers the glass with the combined wine to Groom.

6. Groom sips the combined wine and says: “Now Our Lives Are One”

7. Groom places the wineglass back on the table and both face back to Minister.

MINISTER:

This Ceremony represents the two individual lives are now combined like the two wines into one single life. May you remember this day of commitment you have sealed with drinking of the new wine joining your lives as one.”

BRIDE- Bride takes the wrapped glass from the table and places it on the ground in front of Groom.

GROOM- Groom raises is foot high and stomps on the glass.

BLESSING-

MINISTER:

Most gracious God: We thank you for the beauty of this moment. Send your richest blessing upon Groom and Bride, whom we bless in your name, that they may love, honor, and cherish each other, amid the ever-changing scenes of this life. Look favorably upon them, that their home may be a haven of blessing and a place of peace. Grant them fullness of years. Guide them by the wise counsel of your word, and when their earthly life is complete, give them entrance into your everlasting kingdom.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. Amen

May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. Amen

May the Lord lift up his countenance unto you and give you peace. Amen.

MINISTER:

Whom love has joined together, let no one break asunder. For as much as you two have consented to live together in marriage, have pledged yourself to each other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving rings, and by joining hands,

By the power vested in me, and as witnessed by your families, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

You may seal your vows with a kiss.

BIG KISS

MINISTER: It is my honor and privilege to present to you Mr. & Mrs. Groom!