Sample Wedding Ceremony

A key component of my work as an Atlanta area wedding minister is to help you find the words that are meaningful to you on your wedding day. This sample ceremony articulates much of what I find important in a wedding ceremony; however, ultimately the most important thing is that the words spoken on your wedding day connect you to your partner and your highest vision for your life together. As your Atlanta wedding officiant, I will help you find what is meaningful to you.

To Audience: Let us begin this time of celebration and transformation, by each in our own way, turning within for a moment….

Allowing ourselves to become fully present to this moment, and to the significance of this sacred ceremony for which we have gathered.

To Couple: _____ and _____ as you turn within become aware of the divine presence within you, knowing that as you do so, blessings are being poured out upon you both…And through the presence and the power, and the activity of God, we, your friends and loved ones gathered here, see you blessed in your commitment to each other and to the divine idea of love.

Amen.

To Audience: Friends, we have been invited to share with _____ and _____ a most important moment in their lives, for they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife……True marriage is more than an outer joining in matrimony of two persons….. In its right relation, it is the uniting of two souls already attuned to each other who are committed to walking a spiritual path together….When such a bond exists, it is proper that an outer acknowledgement be made….This is the primary purpose of our ceremony…We are here to bear witness to the entry into the closer relationship of husband and wife of these two beloved friends, who are already one in Spirit.

_____ and _____, your souls have been drawn together for a spiritual purpose. Marriage is a spiritual practice that invites both husband and wife to each reveal themselves in their most personal and difficult aspects, as well as in the transcendent aspect of Self which is universal and unconditional. Your marriage reflects the true essence of your heart's desire to grow in its capacity to be an expression of unconditional love. Loving unconditionally is no easy task. The commitment of husband and wife creates a container in which all the ways you might resist giving and receiving love are illuminated so that they might be transformed. This is the challenge and the gift of marriage. Rilke describes this path in the following passage. He writes,

“For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation. Loving does not at first mean merging, surrendering, and uniting with another person; it is a high inducement for the individual to ripen, to become something in themselves. It is a great, demanding claim on them, something that chooses them and calls them to vast distances.”

And now _____ and _____ with this assurance in mind, I'm going to ask that you once again, just for a moment, close your eyes, turn within, and, at this time, silently and meaningfully, consecrate and dedicate your lives to one another… and to the spiritual purpose for which this union has been established… Would you do this now please?

Let us pray…. God, we are grateful for your presence here with us now as we celebrate the uniting of these souls. All love originates in You, and we are grateful to you for the love now being expressed in this holy union. We acknowledge Your blessing now being poured upon _____ and _____. May your divine love ever bless their home, making it a delivering place of your light, life, peace, and joy. This we do now affirm through the power of the living presence of the divine. Amen.

To Groom: _____, will you take _____ to be your wedded wife? Will you love and respect and be honest with her? Will you seek always to nurture her most sacred Self and to embrace in faith all that your marriage brings for as long as you both shall live?

....If so, please answer: "I will."

To Bride: _____, will you take _____ to be your wedded husband? Will you love and respect and be honest with him? Will you seek always to nurture his most sacred Self and to embrace in faith all that your marriage brings for as long as you both shall live?

….. If so, please answer, “I will.”

May I have the rings please?

These rings, as you can see, are in the shape of a circle. The circle is a universal symbol of that which is without beginning or end. The rings you share with each other today symbolize the complete and unending love, which shall always exist between you.

To Groom: _____, will you now place this ring on the third finger of _____'s left hand and holding it there, will you repeat after me:

“With this ring….I thee wed……..and with it I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart and hands.”

To Bride: _____, will you now place this ring on the third finger of _____'s left hand and holding it there, will you repeat after me,

“With this ring…..I thee wed…….and with it I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hands.”

_____ and _____, the commitment you have made to each other and to the spiritual purpose for which this marriage has been established, draws you now into an experience of life and love which was not possible before this moment. Know that you are blessed now and always in having made this stand together…Know too that there may be times when it seems difficult to live up to the promises made here today. In those moments, I invite you to let the energy of your conflicts be as a fire, refining and strengthening the quality of your commitment to your marriage.

I would like to suggest that you remember the vows you have spoken to each other here today. To love, respect and be honest with each other, to nurture each other's highest Self, and to embrace in faith all that your marriage may bring. Remember these vows and rededicate yourselves to them whenever you seek inspiration and renewal in your marriage.

And now, _____ and _____, through the grace of the universe and by the power vested in me by the State of Georgia , I now pronounce you husband and wife.