Wedding Ceremony
Every couple has a unique story. I’ve officiated weddings for couples in lots of different settings: multifaith, traditional Christian, civil, LGBT, non-denominational ceremonies and more. My passion is helping couples celebrate their love with a wedding ceremony that they and their guests will remember: turning an ordinary wedding ceremony into the extraordinary.
No matter what kind of wedding ceremony you want, my goal at Seattle Wedding Officiants is to help you tell your story just the way you want to on your special day. I will help you decide what you want your ceremony to look and feel like—and then take you through the steps to make it happen—just the way you dreamed it would. Below are two different sample ceremonies for you to enjoy!
Sample Ceremonies
Wedding Ceremony of Anna and David
Greeting
On behalf of Anna and David, welcome!
In marriage, we give ourselves freely and generously into the hands of the one we love, and in doing so, each of us receives the love and trust of the other as our most precious gift. But even as that gift is shared by two people who are in love, it also touches the friends and family members who in various ways support and contribute to the relationship. All of you are Anna and David’s community, and each of you has played some part in bringing them to this moment. This is why gathering as a community is such an important part of a wedding ceremony. Because Anna and David are now taking a new form as a married couple, and in this form, they become part of their community in a new way.
Let us now join together to celebrate the union of these two lives.
Reflections on Marriage
Marriage is one of the most important obligations that any two people commit to in their lifetime. Marriage offers the greatest challenges to overcome, but in return, marriage gives us love, strength and support from one another. It is the couple who perseveres and demonstrates unrelenting patience and faith who obtains the highest form of happiness within their marriage. A good marriage is dependent upon many factors, but the first prerequisite is a strong bond of friendship and respect for one another. Your love for each other will grow deeper with the passing of each day, but genuine liking for each other, the willingness to accept each other’s strong and weak points with understanding and respect is the foundation for a strong marriage.
Vows
Anna and David, please step forward and extend your hands, each to the other. The holding of hands represents the bond you two will share for the rest of your lives. May you always delight in the warmth of the other’s touch and affections. The promises you will now repeat are a statement of present intent and commitment. They cannot endure unless you make them endure, with the resources you will draw from deep within yourselves.
David, please repeat after me: I, David, take you Anna to be my wife. I promise above all else to live in truth with you and to communicate fully and fearlessly. I give you my hand and my heart as a sanctuary of warmth and peace, and pledge my love, devotion, faith and honor as I join my life to yours.
Anna, please repeat after me: I, Anna, take you David to be my husband. I promise above all else to live in truth with you and to communicate fully and fearlessly. I give you my hand and my heart as a sanctuary of warmth and peace, and pledge my love, devotion, faith and honor as I join my life to yours.
Ring Exchange
For thousands of years lovers have exchanged rings as a token of their vows. Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together. Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a present as well as a past, and that, its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight.
May we have the rings?
David, as you place the ring on Anna’s finger, please repeat after me: With this ring I thee wed. I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness. May all that see know that you have been touched by my love.
Anna, as you place the ring on David’s finger, please repeat after me: With this ring I thee wed. I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness. May all that see know that you have been touched by my love.
Blessing or Well Wishes for the future couples.
May you love deeply, laugh heartily, practice patience, and smile often. May you dream together, grow, give, give in, and trust enough to take. May you see many sunrises, listen to the rain, and savor special moments. May you rediscover each other, listen carefully and always have open hearts.
Pronouncement
And now, as you have been bound by your vows and have declared the same by giving and receiving your rings, I pronounce that you are husband and wife!
Kiss
You may seal your vows with a kiss.
Presentation
It is my pleasure to be the first to present David and Anna as husband and wife!
Please note: There are several combinations of the above ceremony, and it would be my pleasure to help you craft something perfect for your wedding day!
Wedding Ceremony of Michael and Peter
Greeting
Welcome friends and family to the ceremony that will unite Michael and Peter as a legally married couple.
Reflections on Marriage
Michael and Peter, today you are surrounded by your family and friends, all of whom are gathered to witness your marriage and to share in the joy of this occasion, which should be one of the most memorable and happiest days of your life. You each bring to this marriage your own personality and spirit to form a union created by friendship, respect and love.
Marriage is a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other relationship can equal. It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime. Within the charmed circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life’s most important relationships. Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher, commitment is stronger, even anger is felt more strongly, and passes away more quickly. Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences, and new ways of expressing a love that is deeper than life. When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spirit unique unto themselves which binds them closer than any spoken or written words. Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people who love each other and takes a lifetime to fulfill.
Introduction to Vows
Michael and Peter, as you know, no minister, priest, rabbi or public official can marry you. Only you can marry each other by making a mutual commitment to each other. The vows you are about to exchange represent your pledge to each other. For it is not the words that bind you together as one, but it is the love and commitment each of you feel deep within your soul.
Please join hands.
Vows
Michael, will you take Peter to be your spouse? Will you commit your life to him, embracing all joys and sorrows, all triumphs and hardships? Will you be there for him when he needs your support? (“I will”)
Peter, will you take Michael to be your spouse? Will you commit your life to him, embracing all joys and sorrows, all triumphs and hardships? Will you be there for him when he needs your support? (“I will”)
Rings
Do you have rings to exchange?
Michael, as you place the ring on Peter’s finger, please repeat after me: With this ring I thee wed. I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness. May all that witness know that you have been touched by my love.
Peter, as you place the ring on Michael’s finger, please repeat after me: With this ring I thee wed. I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness. May all that witness know that you have been touched by my love.
Blessing or Well Wishes for the Future Couple
When two people find in each other new beauty in everyday living, and open their hearts to each other by trusting and sharing and giving; when two people share with each other a life of contentment and fun; when they know that they are meant for each other, then the two are truly one.
In as much as Michael and Peter this day have consented together in this ceremony, and have given and pledged their love to each other in the presence of this company, I now pronounce them a legally married couple.
Kiss
You may celebrate with a kiss!
Presentation
I present to you Michael and Peter, joyfully chosen and legally bound partners for life.
Please note: There are several combinations of the above ceremony, and it would be my pleasure to help you craft something perfect for your wedding day!
Please note: There are several combinations of the above ceremonies,
and it would be my pleasure to help you
craft something perfect for your wedding day!
Learn more about my services by continuing on to my
Small, Elope or Last Minute Wedding
