Civil Wedding Ceremony

Officiant:  Dard Aller
(15 minutes)

Greeting

True marriage is more than the joining in the bonds of matrimony of two persons.  In its’ right relation, it is the uniting of two souls who are already attuned to each other.  When such a true bond already exists between a man and a woman, it’s fitting that on outer acknowledgment be made.  This acknowledgment is the prime object of this gathering and this ceremony.

We are here to bear witness to the entry into the closer relationship of husband and wife… of you two beloved friends who are already one in spirit.   You are now taking into your care and keeping the happiness of the one person in all the world whom you love best.  You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and the blessing of a deep trust as well.  You’re agreeing to share strengths, responsibilities and to share love.

Blessing

I would like to share with you a blessing for your marriage.

May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring. May life grant you also patience, tolerance and understanding.

May you always need one another… not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness.

May you want one another, but not out of lack.

May you entice one another, but not compel one another.

May you embrace one another, but not encircle one another.

May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.

Look for things to praise, often say, “I love you”, and take no notice of small faults.

May you have happiness and may you find it in making one another happy.

May you have love, and may you find it in loving one another.

Consent

Groom, do you give yourself totally to loving Bride, striving to do whatever you can to help her to feel happy and secure, treating her with kindness, understanding and respect for all the days before you?

Bride, do you give yourself totally to loving Groom, striving to do whatever you can to help him to feel happy and secure, treating him with kindness, understanding and respect for all the days before you?

Vows

I take you, Bride, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forth.  I promise to love you, to cherish you and honor you all the days of my life.

 I take you, Groom, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forth.  I promise to love you, to cherish and honor you all the days of my life.

Groom and Bride, nothing in life is easier than to say words, but nothing is harder than to actually live those words, day after day.  What you decide here today, really needs to be reconfirmed tomorrow and the tomorrow after that, and an endless string of tomorrows after that.  At the end of this ceremony in just a few moments, legally you will be husband and wife, but you still must decide every day that stretches before you, that you want to continue to grow in your marriage.  Make such a decision and then keep on making it for when all is done at the periphery of life, the two things that matter the most are to love and to be loved.

Rings

May I have the rings, please.

These rings, by their circular shape are a symbol:  they’re a symbol of the love that you feel in your hearts and that you give to each other this day, but they’re also a very important symbol of the unending love that will continue to exist in your lives and in your marriage. 

And as you place this ring upon her finger repeat after me:

“Bride, with this ring, I commit myself to love and cherish you for all the days before us.” 

“Groom, with this ring I commit myself to love and cherish you for all the days before us.”

You’re two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle.  Where ever you go, may you always return to one another in your togetherness.  May you two find in each other the love which all men and women yearn and long for.  May you grow in understanding and in compassion.  May the home that you enjoy together be such a place of sanctuary that many will find there a friend.

Pronunciation

Groom and Bride, under the authority of the State of Hawaii, and in the name of love, I do now pronounce you to be husband and wife.

Kiss

Would you like to seal your vows with a kiss?

Presentation

I now present to you Groom and Bride, husband and wife.

Recessional