Wedding ceremonies

Ralph’s Regal Weddings

                                    More than just Wedding Officiants  

Wedding Ministers and Ceremony Officiants

Providing Ceremony Preparation, Staging and Direction

Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Copyright 2012 — Ralph J. Fishburn & Karen I. Fishburn

Conveniently located in Spokane, WA

near East 17th Avenue and Ray Street.

Also serving Coeur d’Alene, ID and Post Falls, ID

and other areas within Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho

To contact us:

Phone: 509-599-5632

E-mail: Info@RalphsRegalWeddings.com

             (Set your filters to allow email from this domain.)

Basic Civil Ceremony

Duke of Windsor Package &

Prince of Monaco Package

 

 

 

Officiant: Please stand.

 

(If Bride does not have an escort, or if couple does not want a processional, Bride and Groom stand in front of Officiant and face each other.  The two witnesses, Maid of Honor and Best Man, stand to either side of the couple.)

 

 

(If Bride has an escort (father or chosen escort), she processes up to Officiant with him.  They are preceded first by Officiant and Groom and then by the two witnesses, Maid of Honor and Best Man.)

 

(Bride's escort places her hand in Groom's hand.)

 

(Bride and Groom move forward to stand in front of Officiant.)

 

(Bride’s escort moves behind Bride and is seated.)

 

(Bride and Groom turn and face each other.)

 

(If Bride’s gown has a train, Maid of Honor straightens it.)

 

Officiant: Please be seated.

 

 

Welcome:

 

Officiant: Dear family and friends, out of affection for ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____, we have gathered here today to witness and celebrate their wedding.

 

Officiant: Marriage is an honorable estate revered since time immemorial as the most profound and tender of human relationships. It is designed to unite two sympathies and hopes into one; and it rests upon the mutual confidence and devotion of husband and wife.

 

Officiant: We rejoice with ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ that out of all the world they have found each other, and that in this union of two hearts, a union created by friendship, respect, and love, they will henceforth find the deeper meaning and richness of human life in sharing it with each other.

 

Officiant:  The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity.  Therefore marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and deliberately.  Into this honored estate these two persons come now to be joined.

 

 

Reading or Prayer: (Optional)

 

Officiant:  This is a reading from 1 Corinthians 13:2, 4-8, 13.

 

             . . . if I have all faith so as to move mountains,

             but do not have love, I am nothing. 

             Love is patient, love is kind.

             It is not jealous, love is not pompous,

             it is not inflated, it is not rude,

             it does not seek its own interests,

             it is not quick-tempered,

             it does not brood over injury,

             it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

             but rejoices with the truth.

             It bears all things, believes all things,

             hopes all things, endures all things.

             Love never fails.

             So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

             but the greatest of these is love.

 

 

Exchange of Vows:

 

Officiant (To couple):  Will you please join hands.

 

(If Bride has a bouquet, she turns and gives it to the Maid of Honor.)

 

Officiant:  No other human ties are more tender and no other vows more important than those you are about to take.  Both of you come to this day with the deep realization that the contract of marriage is sacred, as are all of its obligations and responsibilities. This day not only signifies a celebration of shared values and commitment, but it attests to the fact that you have chosen to build your future together.

 

Officiant: ___(Groom)_____ do you take ___(Bride)_____  to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage.  Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her; for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health; and forsaking all others, be faithful only unto her, so long as you both shall live?

 

Groom: I do.

 

Officiant: ___(Bride)_____ do you take ___(Groom)_____  to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage.  Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him; for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health; and forsaking all others, be faithful only unto him, so long as you both shall live?

 

Bride: I do.

 

 

Prelude to Ring Exchange: 

 

Officiant: May I have the rings, please?

 

(Best Man (and Maid Of Honor) gives rings to Officiant.)

 

Officiant: From the earliest of times the circle of the wedding band has been a symbol of wedded love.  Being made of the purest of metals, your rings remind you daily to keep your love pure.  Being a circle, your rings symbolize the sun, the earth and the universe.  The circle is also a symbol of holiness, perfection and peace.  Being one unbroken and never-ending circle, your rings symbolize a commitment to love that is also never ending.

 

Officiant: These rings are a symbol of unity, in which your two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle.

 

 

Exchange of Rings:

 

(Officiant gives Groom the ring for Bride.)

 

Officiant: ___(Groom)_____, repeat after me.  ___(Bride)_____, this ring I give to you, in token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love.

 

(Groom repeats and places ring on Bride’s finger.)

 

(Officiant gives Bride the ring for Groom.)

 

Officiant: ___(Bride)_____, repeat after me.  ___(Groom)_____, this ring I give to you, in token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love.

 

(Bride repeats and places ring on Groom’s finger.)

 

 

Final Blessing:

 

Officiant:  ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____, here in the space between you both, lies all the future of the fragment of the universe which is your own. May the grace of this day carry forward with you all the days of your lives.  May you find delight in each other and may your love continue to grow and nurture you throughout your lives. May every blessing and grace be yours, as your lives are now bound in each other’s keeping.

 

 

Pronouncement and Kiss:

 

Officiant: Forasmuch as  ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ have consented together to join their lives in the bonds of matrimony, and in as much as they have exchanged vows, and have given and received rings in the presence of these witnesses; I now pronounce, by the authority vested in me, and in accordance with the laws of the State of ___(State)_____, that they are husband and wife.

 

Officiant: ___(Groom)_____ you may now kiss your Bride.

 

(Officiant steps to the side while couple kisses.)

 

 

Introduction as Husband and Wife:

 

(Officiant steps back to previous position.)

 

(Maid of Honor hands the bouquet back to the Bride.)

 

(Groom and Bride turn to face guests.)

 

Officiant: It is now my pleasure to present Mrs. and Mrs. _________.

 

(If the couple wants a recessional, the couple recesses out followed by the wedding party; otherwise the ceremony ends with the introduction.)