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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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Religious Ceremony IV — “Catholic Light” Prince of Wales Package & William & Mary Package
Officiant: Please stand.
(Bride processes down the aisle with her father or chosen escort.)
Welcome:
Officiant: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship Of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Officiant: Welcome, all of you. We are gathered here today for one of the happiest occasions in all of human life, to celebrate before God the marriage of a man and a woman who love each other. Marriage is a most honorable estate, created and instituted by God, signifying unto us the mystical union, which also exists between Christ and the Church; so too may this marriage be adorned by true and abiding love.
Presentation of the Bride: (Optional)
Officiant: Being assured that your love and your choice of each other as lifelong companions are in God's will and that you have your families' blessings. I now ask. Who gives this woman to be married to this man?
Bride’s Father (or chosen escort): I do. (Or: Her mother and I.)
(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.
Rose Ceremony: (Optional)
(Choice of Rose Ceremony for the couple’s mothers or parents. Click on “Specialty Ceremonies” navigation menu link at left for Rose Ceremonies. A musical selection may be played softly during ceremony.)
First Reading: (Choose the reading below or choose another from our website: click on the “Prayers” navigation menu link at left.)
Officiant: This is a reading from Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 7 to 12.
Officiant: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you...”
Officiant: This is the word of the Lord.
Homily:
Officiant: Although life is a gift given to each of us as individuals, we also learn to live together in harmony. Love is a gift to us from our family and friends. Through these gifts of love we learn to gift it back. Learning to love and live together is one of life’s greatest challenges and is the shared goal of a married life.
Officiant: Mankind did not create love; love is created by God. Therefore, a husband and wife should not confuse love of worldly things with that of Godly love of one another. For even if worldly success is found, only love for one another will maintain a marriage. The measure of true love is a love both freely given and freely accepted, just as God’s love is unconditional and free.
Officiant: As you travel through life together, I caution you to remember that the true measure of success, the true avenue to joy and peace, is to be found within the love you hold in your hearts. Within the Bible, nothing holds greater importance than love. We are told the crystalline and beautiful truth: “God is love”. We are assured that “love conquers all”. As your lives continue to interweave as one pattern, remember that it was love that brought you here today, it is love that will make this a glorious union, and it is love which will cause this union to endure.
Officiant: So, today is truly a glorious day which the Lord hath made – as today both of you are blessed with God’s greatest gift of all gifts – the gift of abiding love and devotion between a man and a woman. All present here today – and those here in heart – wish both of you all the joy, happiness and success that the world has to offer.
Second Reading: (Choose the reading below or choose another from our website: click on the “Prayers” navigation menu link at left.)
Officiant: This is a reading from Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4, verses 9 to 12.
Officiant: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Musical Selection: (Optional)
(The couple may have a friend or family member sing or play a musical instrument, or a recorded version of a religious hymn or the couple’s favorite love song may be played.)
Intention:
Officiant: Marriage is a decision of two individuals to share the same type of pure, love described by Saint Paul in First Corinthians: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails....
Officiant: This kind of love enriches each part of life and marriage enriches love. Two lives, shared with this kind of love, can hold more fulfillment and happiness than either life alone.
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____, are you ready to enter into this marriage with ___(Bride)_____, believing the love you share and your faith in each other will endure all things?
Groom: I am.
Officiant: ___(Bride)_____, are you ready to enter into this marriage with ___(Groom)_____, believing the love you share and your faith in each other will endure all things?
Bride: I am.
Exchange of Vows: (Choose the vows below or choose others from our website: click on the “Vows” navigation menu link at left.)
Officiant (To couple): Will you please join hands.
(Bride turns and gives her bouquet to Maid of Honor.)
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____, I call to your attention the seriousness of the decision you have made and the covenant you are about to declare before God and these guests. No greater joy can come to your life than the joy from marital love. May this love with which you join your hearts and hands today never fail, but grow deeper and stronger as the years go on.
Officiant: As you make your promises to each other, remember that constant and continuous faithfulness to your vows will result in a marriage that will be blessed, a home that will be a place of peace, and a relationship in which you both grow in love. Your lives will be in the hands of God. He pledges to you the life-long support of His grace in the Holy Sacrament which you are now going to receive.
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____ do you take ___(Bride)_____ to be your wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in holy matrimony? Do you promise to love her, to honor and cherish her, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, and to be to her, in all things, a good and faithful husband as long as you both shall live?
Groom: I do.
Officiant: ___(Bride)_____ do you take ___(Groom)_____ to be your wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in holy matrimony? Do you promise to love him, to honor and cherish him, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, and to be to him, in all things, a good and faithful wife as long as you both shall live?
Bride: I do.
Blessing of Rings:
Officiant: May I have the rings?
(Best Man (and Maid Of Honor) gives rings to Officiant.)
Officiant: Heavenly Father, bless these rings that ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ will wear for the rest of their lives. Grant that they who wear them will keep faith with each other in unbroken loyalty and may ever remain at peace with Thee, obedient to Thy will, and may live together always in mutual love. Through Christ our Lord.
Officiant: Amen.
Officiant: From the earliest of times the circle of the wedding band has been a symbol of wedded love. It has become a religious custom for couples to exchange rings as a way to represent their own, unique love. As these rings have no end, so your love should have no end. As these rings are made of the purest of metals, symbolizing purity, so should your marriage have purity. As often as either of you see them, you will be reminded of this moment and the endless love you promised.
The Exchange of Rings: (Choose the Ring Ceremony below or choose others from our website: click on the “Ring Ceremonies” navigation menu link at left.)
(Officiant gives Groom the ring for Bride.)
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____, place this ring on ___(Bride)_____’s finger and repeat after me: With this ring I thee wed, in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Groom repeats and places ring on Bride’s finger.)
(Officiant gives Bride the ring for Groom.)
Officiant: ___(Bride)_____, place this ring on ___(Groom)_____’s finger and repeat after me. With this ring I thee wed, in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Bride repeats and places ring on Groom’s finger.)
Unity Ceremony: (Optional)
(Choice of Unity Candle, Sand, Wine or other Unity Ceremony. Click on “Unity Ceremonies” navigation menu link at left for Unity Sand, Candle, or Wine Ceremonies. A musical selection may be played softly during ceremony.)
Charge to the Couple:
Officiant: ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ as the two of you come into this marriage uniting you as husband and wife, you affirm your faith and love for one another. I ask that you always remember to cherish each other as special and unique individuals, that you respect the thoughts, ideas and suggestions of one another. Be able to forgive, do not hold grudges, and live each day with a joyful enthusiasm for the life you share together. From this day forward, you shall be each other’s home, comfort, and refuge. And your marriage strengthened by your love and respect.
Final Blessing: (Choose the Blessing below or choose others from our website: click on the “Blessings” navigation menu link at left.)
Officiant: Let us pray:
Officiant: Oh Lord, our hearts are filled with the great happiness on this wedding day. ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ come before You pledging their hearts and lives to one another. Grant that they may be ever true and loving, living together in such a way as to bring happiness to the marriage. Temper their hearts with kindness and understanding, rid them of all pretense of jealousy. Help them to remember to be each others’ sweetheart, helpmate, friend and guide, so that they may meet the cares and problems of life more bravely. And with the passage of time, may the home they are creating today, truly be a place of love and harmony, where your spirit is ever present. Bless this union we pray, and walk beside ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ throughout all their lives together.
Officiant: Amen.
Pronouncement:
Officiant: What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Forasmuch as ___(Groom)_____ and ___(Bride)_____ have consented together to live in holy matrimony, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and have pledged their love and loyalty to each other, and have declared the same by the joining of hands and the giving of rings; 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.
Benediction and Kiss:
Officiant: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine and smile upon you, and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up his countenance unto you, and give you peace.
Officiant: ___(Groom)______ you may now kiss your Bride.
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 Mr. and Mrs. ___________.
(Couple recesses out followed by the wedding party.) |
