Blessed Ceremony's Petite Wedding Ceremony

BLESSED CEREMONY'S "PETITE" WEDDING CEREMONY

Reverend Debby: Welcome everyone! Although this is groom and bride’s day, it is also a tribute to all of you. For knowing you and interacting with you has helped to make groom and bride who they needed to be to find each other. They would like to thank you all for that. All of you are the threads of which are woven the tapestry of their lives. Each one of you is an important piece in the story it tells. It is the fabric that they wrap around themselves and take comfort in when the world seems cold. And on days like today when everything is right in their world, that tapestry is proudly spread out and displayed for everyone to see, with all the glorious colors and textures that your diversity adds. You all hold a place in their hearts reserved for those that they have chosen to call 'Family' and “Friends” and they are deeply grateful for each and every one of you here today

groom and bride, marriage is a sacred union, and not to be undertaken lightly. The commitment and vows that you make to each other today are to be treated with reverence and respect. From this day forward, may your lives be filled with love, laughter and the delight of sharing life together.

Silent Blessing

Reverend Debby: Would everyone please join with me now as we bow our heads and close our eyes and bring to mind any loved ones who could not be here today. Though they are absent physically, we invoke, through our thought and prayers, their loving presence. We pray that God might multiply beyond measure the blessings from these loved ones to this loving couple, and any children who might one day be a part of this union. Now, from our hearts, we ourselves visualize and sanctify all the blessings we would bestow on groom and bride in their lives as a couple and a family. And in our sincere desire to bless, we in turn, are blessed also. Blessed Be.

Declaration of Consent to Marriage

Reverend Debby:

Now, in the presence of these people who will witness your promises, I ask you:
groom, will you have this woman bride, to be your wife, to live together in the sacred union of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, and pledge to be faithful to her for as long as you both shall live?

groom: I Will.

bride, will you have this man groom, to be your husband, to live together in the sacred union of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, and pledge to be faithful to him for as long as you both shall live?

bride: I Will.

Reverend Debby’s Marriage Charge to the Couple

bride, groom is God’s gift to you, but he is not a gift for you alone. It is God’s will that in your love, this man might find within himself a greater sense of who he is meant to be. You are asked by God to see the good in this man, to accept him for whom he is and whom he shall be, that thus he might be healed and made strong. In this way God’s purpose shall be accomplished in this relationship. May this man find, literally, the kingdom of heaven through the love you share.

And so it is with you also groom, that although bride is God’s gift to you, she is not a gift intended for you alone. You are asked by God to so love this woman, that in your love she might find herself as God has created her, so beautiful and strong and brave and true, that the entire world might be blessed by the presence of a woman who shines so. May she relax in your arms as she has never relaxed before. May she know, from now on, that there is one on whose love she can depend forever.

From this point forward, your beloved’s needs carry the same priority as your own. May you find in your love profound acceptance and complete release. You shall not be as two conflicting or competing forces, but rather the energies of your lives shall blend into harmony and oneness through the grace of God.

Presentation of the rings

Reverend Debby: The wedding ring is a symbol of eternity as it has no beginning and no end. It is an outward sign of the inward and spiritual bond uniting two hearts in endless love. You have chosen rings as symbols of your promises to each other on this day.

Vows of Matrimony

Reverend Debby first turns to the Groom:

“groom, please repeat after me”:

bride, with this ring,
I give you my promise that from this day forward you shall not walk alone. I will love you through the good and the bad, through the joy and the sorrow. I will try to be understanding, and to trust in you completely. We will share all of life's experiences together. I accept you not only for who you are, but also for who you are yet to become. With all my heart, I take you to be my wife.

He places the ring on her finger.

“bride, please repeat after me”:

groom, with this ring,
I give you my promise that from this day forward you shall not walk alone. I will love you through the good and the bad, through the joy and the sorrow. I will try to be understanding, and to trust in you completely. We will share all of life's experiences together. I accept you not only for who you are, but also for who you are yet to become. With all my heart, I take you to be my husband.

She places the ring on his finger.

Final Prayer and Pronouncement of Marriage

Reverend Debby: I’d now like to ask you all to pray with me:

Dear God,

Please bless this couple. May their love be nurtured by You, always and forever.

May this marriage be held in Your hands and ministered unto by Your angels.

May all the world be blessed hereby.

And so it is.

Amen.

groom and bride, in the presence of your family and friends, you have spoken the words and performed the rites which unite your lives. It is my legal right as a minister vested through the State of Michigan and my greatest joy, honor and privilege to declare you husband and wife. As kisses are messengers of love, let soul meet soul on each other's lips.

groom, please kiss your Bride.!

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I now pronounce Mr. and Mrs. newlywed!