MINISTER: This the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We have gathered here together to witness and to participate in a ceremony celebrating the public acknowledgement of a love which _________ and _____________ have for each other, knowing that by our presence here with them, we are saying that they together are loved by many others. We have come to surround them as they stand before us in this ________________-, where now _____________ joins _____________ and they in essence say "Welcome to our Marriage, Welcome to this Celebration!"

MINISTER to Bride and Groom: ____________ and __________, you have presented yourselves here in the presence of God (Source, Presence, etc.) and these witnesses to be joined together in marriage. There are no human ties more meaningful than these which you are assuming. You have found companionship and satisfaction in each others company. Love based upon responsible understanding.  Each of the other will help you as you continue to create out of your two separate lives a marriage and a happiness you will share together. Stand fast in confidence, believing in yourselves and believing in each other.

TRUE MARRIAGE is the holiest of all earthly unions. It should be entered into reverently, thoughtfully and with full understanding of its sacredness. Marriage to be complete must first be Spiritual from the inner stand of conscious unity to thought, in purpose, in plan and in action. There comes an outer state corresponding to it, making the outer like the inner peaceful and harmonious.

From THE PROPHET, written by Kahil Gibran:

It says on Marriage: Love one another, but make not a bond of love. Let it rather be as a moving Sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each others cup, but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together, and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same Music. Give your hearts but not into each others keeping, for only the hand of life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together, for the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each others shadow.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

MINISTER: Who gives this woman to be married to this man?

Will you please join your right hands and repeat after me:

GROOM: I, ___________ take you _________ as my friend and love, beside me and apart from me, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and serenity, asking that you be no other than yourself. Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not know, in all the ways that life may find us.

BRIDE: same

MINISTER: What token do you give each other of your sincerity?

RINGS: Rings have been used to seal important covenants since the beginning of time and that is what these rings will be used for this day. The wedding ring is a perfect circle that has neither a beginning nor an end. It symbolizes unending love and a visible symbol which represents your inner commitment to one another. May there be no end to the happiness that comes to you today as you unite your lives together before GOD, family and friends.

BLESS O GOD these rings that they who wear them may ever abide in peace, living together in unity, in love and in happiness. Let these rings serve not as locks binding you together, but as keys unlocking the secrets of your hearts for each other to know, and thus bringing you closer together, living together forever in unity and in happiness.

MINISTER: _______________ take this ring as a token of love and respect for _________ and place it on her finger and repeat after me:

GROOM: ____________, I give you this ring to wear upon your hand as a symbol of our unity and love.

BRIDE: _____________, I give you this ring to wear upon your hand as a symbol of our unity and love.

MINISTER: Truly marriage is the clasping of hands, the blending of lives, its two people walking up the hill of life to meet the dawn. The thing that is unique and good about this is you dont have to do these things alone. The vast potential of the things that lye before you are harmless, as you go hand in hand, two by two.

Let Us Pray!

Indeed this is an enjoyable day you've come together before God, your friends and family. We have witnessed you saying your vows, giving and receiving rings.

To your witnesses, who stand with you today, I encourage you to be there with them in their days of joy and times of difficulty. You should be there to support them.

______________ and _____________ , you are invited now to cultivate the seeds of beauty in each other until the full flower radiates. I give you each a Red Rose. The Red Rose is a gift of purity, it is a state of love. The red is a symbol of vitality of the relationship to each other. The unfolding petals are a symbol of the unfolding consciousness of each other and your marriage. Roses express their inner beauty. Allow yourselves to do this for each other each anniversary.

In as much as __________- and ___________ have consented together in the bonds of marriage and witnessed the same before God, those present here, and have pledged their faith, each to the other, it is my joy and pleasure to pronounce them HUSBAND and WIFE.

What GOD has joined together, let no man ever separate.