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Wedding ceremonies |
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Ralph’s Regal Weddings More than just Wedding Officiants |
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Wedding Ministers and Ceremony Officiants Providing Ceremony Preparation, Staging and Direction Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho |
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Copyright 2012 — Ralph J. Fishburn & Karen I. Fishburn |
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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 |
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To contact us: |
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Phone: 509-599-5632 E-mail: Info@RalphsRegalWeddings.com (Set your filters to allow email from this domain.) |
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Custom Civil Ceremony — Sample III — Handfasting Queen Elizabeth Package
Officiant: Please stand.
(Bride processes down the aisle escorted by her father or chosen escort.)
Presentation of the Bride:
Officiant: Others would ask, at this time, who gives the bride in marriage, but, as a woman is not property to be bought and sold, given and taken, I ask simply if she comes of her own will and if she has her family's blessing.
Officiant: ___(Bride)_____, is it true that you come of your own free will and accord?
Bride: Yes, it is true.
Officiant: With whom do you come and whose blessings accompany you?
Father: She comes with me, her father, and is accompanied by all of her family's blessings.
(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, the Maid of Honor straightens it.)
Officiant: Please be seated.
Welcome:
Officiant: Dear family and friends, ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ have invited you here today to witness a celebration of love and of life. Today they make this public declaration of the private commitment they have already made to one another.
Officiant: Marriage is the promise of hope between two people who love each other sincerely, who honor each other as individuals, and who wish to unite their lives and share the future together. In this ceremony, they dedicate themselves to the happiness and well-being of each other, in a union of mutual caring and responsibility. The words and traditions you will hear and see reflected in this ceremony are based on our Bride and Groom’s connection to each other, and to the divine nature that is alive in all things, from the world around them to their relationship itself. It speaks of the importance of friends and of family, and the honor rightly given to these things, as well as the highest of honors that they pay unto each other this day as they lay the groundwork for that which shall be their life together.
Rose Ceremony:
(The Ceremony Table is directly behind Officiant. On the Ceremony Table there is a vase with a rose for each mother. A musical selection may play softly during the following:)
Officiant: Marriage is a coming together of two lives and a celebration of the love of two people. But it is more. The love that ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ feel for one another is the flowering of a seed that their parents planted in their hearts years ago.
Officiant: Today, as they embrace one another in their love, so do they embrace the families which have come together to celebrate with ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ on this happy occasion.
(Officiant picks up the roses from the Ceremony Table.)
Officiant: As a couple they would now like to honor the love and sacrifice that each of their mothers have made. This love and sacrifice has made their children into who they are today; a man and woman who are both ready to be in a committed, loving marriage of their own. ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ would also each like to honor the separateness of their families and now, togetherness, with the giving of a flower to their mothers.
Officiant: ___(Groom’s Mother)_____ and ___(Bride’s Mother)____ , ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ would like you to know that your efforts were not in vain and that your love and support is very much appreciated. They thank you for everything you have instilled in them. These flowers are a promise that no matter how far away you are that you are not forgotten, and a reminder that you are always in their hearts.
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ please offer these flowers to your mothers as a sign of your love for your families and as symbols of your eternal love.
(The volume of the music may be turned up as Bride and Groom take the roses from Officiant and, together, present them to each mother, offering the mothers kisses if they wish.)
(Bride and Groom then return to their place in front of Officiant.)
Exchange of Vows:
Officiant (To couple): Will you please join hands.
(Bride turns and gives her bouquet to the Maid of Honor.)
Officiant: Marriage is a bond to be entered into only after considerable thought and reflection. As with any aspect of life, it has its cycles, its ups and its downs, its trials and its triumphs. A couple who weds are joined not only by the mutual affection and love they share, but also by their hopes and dreams and by their resolve, come what may, to remain together through time. The promises and vows that they make together shall aid them in this pursuit, and guide them into their common future. Therefore a wedding is more than a celebration of the Love which lives in our Bride and Groom’s hearts today. It reaches into the future and proclaims their intentions for that which tomorrow shall hold, fixing like a star on the horizon their worthy goal.
Officiant: With this understanding, do you ___(Bride)_____, take ___(Groom)_____ to be your wedded husband to live together in marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto him, for so long as you both shall live?
Bride: I will.
Officiant: With this understanding, do you ___(Groom)_____, take ___(Bride)_____ to be your wedded wife to live together in marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto her, for so long as you both shall live?
Groom: I will.
Elemental Blessing of Rings:
Officiant: May I have the rings, please?
(Best Man (and Maid Of Honor) gives rings to Officiant.)
(The Ceremony Table is directly behind Officiant. On the Ceremony Table there is a rock, a candle, a feather and a goblet of water.)
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____, will you please step forward to the Ceremony Table.
(Officiant steps behind the Ceremony Table. Bride and Groom step to the sides of the Ceremony Table.)
Officiant: By Fire, by Earth, by Water, and by Air do I bless and consecrate these rings.
Officiant: Fire for the spark of love;
(Officiant passes the rings through flame.)
Officiant: Earth for strength;
(Officiant touches the rings to stone.)
Officiant: Water for harmony and healing;
(Officiant submerges the rings in water.)
Officiant: Air for hopes and dreams;
(Officiant holds rings before the couple who them blows on them.)
Officiant: May these rings be so Blessed.
The Exchange of Rings:
(Officiant gives Groom the ring for Groom.)
(Officiant gives Bride the ring for Bride.)
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____, I have not the right to bind you to ___(Bride)_____, only you have this right. If it be your wish, say so at this time and place your ring in her hand.
Groom: It is my wish.
(Groom places his ring in Bride’s hand.)
Officiant: ___(Bride)_____, I have not the right to bind you to ___(Groom)_____, only you have this right. If it be your wish, say so at this time and place your ring in his hand.
Bride: It is my wish.
(Bride places her ring in Groom’s hand.)
Officiant: ___(Bride)_____, if it is your wish for ___(Groom)_____ to be bound to you, place the ring on his finger.
(Bride places ring on Groom’s finger.)
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____, if it is your wish for ___(Bride)_____ to be bound to you, place the ring on her finger.
(Groom places ring on Bride’s finger.)
Officiant: By the exchange of these tokens of your love for one another, so are your lives interlaced. What one experiences, so shall the other; as honesty and love build, so will your bond strengthen and grown.
Handfasting Ceremony:
(The Ceremony Table is directly behind Officiant. On the Ceremony Table are the Handfasting Cords.)
(Officiant picks up Handfasting cords.)
Officiant: These are the Handfasting Cords that will symbolically bind ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ together.
Officiant: As this knot is tied, so are your lives now bound. Woven into this cord, imbued into its very fibers, are all the hopes of your new life together. With the fashioning of this knot, I do tie all the desires, dreams, love, and happiness wished here in this place for your lives, for as long as you both shall live.
(Officiant binds Bride and Groom’s hands with the Handfasting Cords.)
Final Blessing:
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____, above you are the stars, below you are the stones, as time passes, remember: like a stone should your love be firm, like a star should your love be constant. Let the powers of the mind and of the intellect guide you in your marriage, let the strength of your wills bind you together. Let the power of love and desire make you happy, and the strength of your dedication make you inseparable. Have patience with one another, for storms will come, but they will pass quickly. Be free in giving affection and warmth. Have no fear and let not the ways of the unenlightened give you unease, for this love will be with you always.
Officiant: May the Winds of communication blow ever between you; may the Fires of love sustain you; may the Waters of life heal and soothe you; and may the strength of the Earth bind and steady you throughout your lives together. As you enter into your new life together, may every blessing and grace be yours, as your lives are now bound in each other’s keeping.
Pronouncement and Kiss:
Officiant: You have made your vows, one to the other, before this company, and exchanged tokens of your love. By the power of your love, I do pronounce, by the authority vested in me, and in accordance with the laws of the State of ___(State)_____, that you are husband and wife.
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____, you may kiss your beautiful 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.)
(Bride and Groom turn to face guests.)
Officiant: It is now my pleasure to present Mr. and Mrs. ________.
(Couple recesses out followed by the wedding party.)
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