The only essential and legal part of a wedding ceremony is the asking (I, AC, take you, DC, to be my legally married wife/husband and now wife/wife and husband/husband - Yay for gay marriages). Otherwise it is entirely up to you how you put your ceremony together. I will deliver whatever you write and advise you as your drafts come together. Below is one example. I have more than a hundred more from over ten years as a celebrant.
Allan and Jen * Wellington harbour * 6 March 2004
Welcome family and friends of Allan and Jen.
Thank you for being here with them on their wedding day.
Nine years have proven their relationship solid and their love strong. So why - after all this time - have they chose to get married?
There are historical, traditional and cultural precedents for marriage. Marriage is a part of all cultures, religions and legal systems. And yet today it is not a necessity, it is an option. So why have Allan and Jen decide to get married today?
It starts with the love Allan and Jen have for each other. For Allan and Jen - and indeed all couples in love - that love is life’s spice, its colour, the sun that gives it warmth and light. It provides drama, comedy, passion, fun, a challenge and a source of strength.
Traditionally the marriage ceremony was portrayed as a knot, a link, a binding together.
But for Allan and Jen, love isn’t a bind or knot. It’s something that’s given and accepted freely.
You can’t tie it down, cage it, pen it, or even control it.
For Allan and Jen the marriage ceremony is a reminder. A declaration to the world. A statement. A poem.
A letting go, freeing up. It’s about letting love take over. Moving beyond ties and bonds.
And under the sky and on the sea, surrendering to each other and the beauty of life together.
Poems
Jen to read a poem by Iain Sharp.
Hand in hand we skip
down Molesworth Street.
It’s good to be alone
in a capital city.
It’s good to steal flowers
from the parliamentary gardens
while the ministers are in session.
Ah, look at your face.
You’re as beautiful as jazz,
as jasmine.
We chuck pebbles at the night sky.
Cracks appear in the moon.
Allan to read poem he wrote himself
Edinburgh
I saw you
And you saw me
We said Hi
And talked
Till ten past three
The snow fell deep
And the world outside
Was buried
And I felt inside
Something new
My heart lit up
Like the moon above the hills
Yet I didn’t know that night
How much I would love you
We walked across town
Slipping on the frozen cobblestones
And under the clear black sky
I wondered when you’d kiss me again
The asking
Do you Allan Hugh Mainwaring take Jennifer Katherine Lane to be your legally married wife?
Do you Jennifer Katherine Lane take Allan Hugh Mainwaring to be your legally married husband?
Vows
I, Jennifer,
take you, Allan, to be my husband.
I now give you all that I am.
No matter what the future may bring
I will love and care for you,
respect and honour you
and be faithful to you
as long as we both shall live.
This is my solemn vow.
I, Allan,
take you, Jennifer, to be my wife.
I now give you all that I am.
No matter what the future may bring
I will love and care for you,
respect and honour you
and be faithful to you
as long as we both shall live.
This is my solemn vow.
Ring ceremony
May these rings be to Allan and Jen a symbol of the vows which the have made today.
Song
Damien to sing Hunters & Collectors’ ‘Throw your arms around me’
While Allan and Jen sign papers
Throwing of pebbles
If on deck Allan and Jen each throw a pebble into the sea.
Declaration
Friends!…
Allan and Jen have declared before all of us that they will live together in marriage.
They have made special promises to each other.
They have symbolised it by joining hands, taking vows, and by exchanging rings.
So therefore, on your behalf, and on behalf of the community…
I am thrilled to declare Allan and Jen - Husband and Wife.
Allan you may kiss your beautiful bride.
Welcome family and friends of Allan and Jen.
Thank you for being here with them on their wedding day.
Nine years have proven their relationship solid and their love strong. So why - after all this time - have they chose to get married?
There are historical, traditional and cultural precedents for marriage. Marriage is a part of all cultures, religions and legal systems. And yet today it is not a necessity, it is an option. So why have Allan and Jen decide to get married today?
It starts with the love Allan and Jen have for each other. For Allan and Jen - and indeed all couples in love - that love is life’s spice, its colour, the sun that gives it warmth and light. It provides drama, comedy, passion, fun, a challenge and a source of strength.
Traditionally the marriage ceremony was portrayed as a knot, a link, a binding together.
But for Allan and Jen, love isn’t a bind or knot. It’s something that’s given and accepted freely.
You can’t tie it down, cage it, pen it, or even control it.
For Allan and Jen the marriage ceremony is a reminder. A declaration to the world. A statement. A poem.
A letting go, freeing up. It’s about letting love take over. Moving beyond ties and bonds.
And under the sky and on the sea, surrendering to each other and the beauty of life together.
Poems
Jen to read a poem by Iain Sharp.
Hand in hand we skip
down Molesworth Street.
It’s good to be alone
in a capital city.
It’s good to steal flowers
from the parliamentary gardens
while the ministers are in session.
Ah, look at your face.
You’re as beautiful as jazz,
as jasmine.
We chuck pebbles at the night sky.
Cracks appear in the moon.
Allan to read poem he wrote himself
Edinburgh
I saw you
And you saw me
We said Hi
And talked
Till ten past three
The snow fell deep
And the world outside
Was buried
And I felt inside
Something new
My heart lit up
Like the moon above the hills
Yet I didn’t know that night
How much I would love you
We walked across town
Slipping on the frozen cobblestones
And under the clear black sky
I wondered when you’d kiss me again
The asking
Do you Allan Hugh Mainwaring take Jennifer Katherine Lane to be your legally married wife?
Do you Jennifer Katherine Lane take Allan Hugh Mainwaring to be your legally married husband?
Vows
I, Jennifer,
take you, Allan, to be my husband.
I now give you all that I am.
No matter what the future may bring
I will love and care for you,
respect and honour you
and be faithful to you
as long as we both shall live.
This is my solemn vow.
I, Allan,
take you, Jennifer, to be my wife.
I now give you all that I am.
No matter what the future may bring
I will love and care for you,
respect and honour you
and be faithful to you
as long as we both shall live.
This is my solemn vow.
Ring ceremony
May these rings be to Allan and Jen a symbol of the vows which the have made today.
Song
Damien to sing Hunters & Collectors’ ‘Throw your arms around me’
While Allan and Jen sign papers
Throwing of pebbles
If on deck Allan and Jen each throw a pebble into the sea.
Declaration
Friends!…
Allan and Jen have declared before all of us that they will live together in marriage.
They have made special promises to each other.
They have symbolised it by joining hands, taking vows, and by exchanging rings.
So therefore, on your behalf, and on behalf of the community…
I am thrilled to declare Allan and Jen - Husband and Wife.
Allan you may kiss your beautiful bride.