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VINCENT & MOLLY
Wed
05-29-2011
Shilo Inn,
Richland, WA
Above photo by
Andrea of Daisy Digital Photography
The
Ceremony
Officiated by
Rev. Stacey K. Miles
Welcome, family, friends and loved ones. We gather here
today to celebrate the wedding of Molly and Vincent. We
share in this formal commitment they make to one another,
offer our love and support, so they may start their
married life together surrounded by the people dearest and
most important to them.
Vincent and Molly thank you for your presence today and
ask for your blessing, encouragement and lifelong support
to each other.
Let us bow our heads and begin with a blessing for this
union,
"Our hearts are filled with great happiness
on this the wedding day of Vincent and Molly.
They have come before you,
pledging their lives and their hearts to one another.
Grant that they may be ever true and loving,
living together in a way that shall ever nurture
the soul of their marriage.
Temper their hearts with kindness
and help them to be sweethearts, helpmates,
friend and guide,
So that together, may they meet the cares
and problems of life more bravely.
May their home truly be a place of love and harmony
where your Spirit is ever present.
Bless their wedding day, we pray,
and walk beside them, through all their life together.
Amen"
Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging
adventure. It must be built from love and patience,
dedication and perseverance, talking and listening.
Helping, supporting and believing in each other. Through
tenderness and laughter, learning to forgive and to
appreciate differences. By learning to make the important
things matter, and to let go of the rest.
Two people in love do not live in isolation. Their love is
a source of strength which may nourish not only each
other, but the world around them. And in turn, we, their
community of friends and family, have a responsibility to
Molly and Vincent. By our steadfast care, respect and
love, we must support their marriage and the new family
they are creating today.
No ceremony can create a marriage. What a ceremony can do
is witness and affirm the choice to stand together as life
mates and partners. So I ask now,
 Vincent,
will you take Molly to be your wedded wife?
Molly, will you take Vincent to be your wedded husband?
If you are able to keep the vows you take here today, not
because of any religious or civic law, but out of desire
to love and be loved without limitation, I ask you,
Vincent, to repeat the vows of your love and commitment
after me:
"Molly, today I give myself to you."
"I give you my heart and my soul."
"I thank you for accepting me for who I am,
for always being my best friend."
"Today, I make a promise to you."
"To love you in good times,
to comfort you in bad times."
"I will always be proud to call you my wife."
"You are my rock and my best friend."
"Today and all the days to come,
I will love you unconditionally."
Molly, if you will now
repeat the
vows of your love and commitment after me:
"Vincent, today, I give myself to you."
"I give you my heart and my soul."
"I thank you for accepting me for who I am,
for always being my best friend."
"Today, I make a promise to you."
"To love you in good times,
to comfort you in bad times."
"I will always be proud to call you my husband."
"You are my rock and my best friend."
"Today and all the days to come,
I will love you unconditionally."
Vincent, do
you have a ring for your bride?
Vincent,
please place this ring on Molly’s finger and repeat after
me. "I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my
love and lifelong commitment to you.
Molly, do you have a ring for your groom?
Please place this ring on Vincent’s finger and repeat
after me. "I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of
my love and lifelong commitment to you."
*Unity sand ceremony:
"Vincent, Molly, from this moment forth, your lives will
no longer be two, but one. You have chosen to symbolize
this joining. If you will please come to the sand table.
The sand in each individual container represents all that
you were, all that you are, and all that you ever will be.
When you pour the sand into the third container, the sand
will forever be inseparable, just as the union of your
hearts, your souls, your lives."
[Music Interlude-Marry Me by Train]
Molly, Vincent, your love, rooted in faith, trust and
acceptance, will be the foundation of an abiding and
deepening relationship. No other ties are more tender, no
other vows more sacred than those you now assume. Your
life will have joy and the home you establish will be a
place in which you both will find the direction of your
growth, your freedom and your responsibility.
Lee will you please bring Trace to join us? (Grandma Lee
brings baby Trace to gazebo) With children present,
marriage is more than the union of two people. It is the
proclaiming of a new family and a lifetime of caring for
one another. Vincent and Molly, you are making a promise
to love not only one another, but your son, Trace. It is a
promise that whatever may happen, good or bad, you will
always be there for one another. May we all be reminded
of the wonder and simplicity of love as you give Trace the
teddy bear you have chosen to symbolize this day and the
love in your hearts that will carry you through the rest
of your lives, and like a starlight, will never die. (give
trace stuffed animal & a hug)
Vincent and Molly, it is with great honor and by the power
of your love and commitment and the power vested in me, to
now pronounce you husband and wife!
Let us end with a prayer,
Dear God,
Please bless this family. Grant them a peaceful home. May
it be a refuge for their love, a harbor for their deepest
prayer. May they come to flourish within safe walls,
growing ever nearer to You. May they be blessed with
laughter and grace, and surprised by the comfort of
kinship. And when darkness falls, find them wrapped in
each other, ever warm. May they live each day in light of
time, realizing that their love is a gift from You. For to
love for the sake of being loved is human; but to love for
the sake of loving? This is divine.
Amen.
From this moment on, you will forever be Mr. and Mrs.
Vendetti. Vincent, you may kiss your bride!
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