SPIRITUAL
   CEREMONY
   
   
   
   <--GROOM TO LEFT OF YOU
   
   
   
   BRIDE TO RIGHT OF YOU-->
   
   
   
   
   
   OR BRIDE TO SIDE WIND DOESN’T BLOW VEIL/HAIR IN FACE

Groom and Bride, Please join hands.
   
May these hands always hold each other.
   
May they have the strength to hang on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. 
   
May they remain tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love.
   
May they build a relationship founded in love, and rich in caring. 
   
May these hands be healer, protector, shelter, and guide for each other. For you hold in your own hands the fate of this union.



Nothing is easier than standing here and saying these vows and nothing is more difficult than living them day to day.
   
When you love someone, you do not love them all the time in exactly the same way. That is impossible. 
   
Yet that is what most of us expect. 
   
We forget the ebb and flow of life and of love and of relationships. 
   
We insist on permanence, on duration, on continuity.


But in love, as in life, the only stability is in change, in growth, and in freedom. The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. 
   
Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, not forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. 
   
Therefore, what you promise today must be renewed and reaffirmed tomorrow and all the tomorrows to come. 


Do you, Groom, take, Bride to be your partner for life? Do you promise to walk by her side forever, and to love, help, and encourage her in all she does? 
   
Do you promise to take time to talk with her, to listen to her, and to care for her? Will you share her laughter, and her tears, as her partner, lover, and best friend? 
   
Do you take her as your lawfully wedded wife for now and forevermore? 


(Groom: I do )


Do you, Bride, take, Groom to be your partner for life? 
   
Do you promise to walk by his side forever, and to love, help, and encourage him in all he does? 
   
Do you promise to take time to talk with him, to listen to him, and to care for him? 
   
Will you share his laughter, and his tears, as his partner, lover, and best friend? 
   
Do you take him as your lawfully wedded husband for now and forevermore? 

(Bride: I do )



May I have the rings please? 
   
Wedding rings are made precious by our wearing them. 
   
Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together. May these rings remind you that marriage is not a destination but a journey, with no beginning and no end, just a moment to moment opportunity to love and be loved to the best of your ability. 
   
There are two rings because you are two people, each to make a contribution to the life of the other, and to your new life together. 
(Bride/groom exhange rings)

Repeat after me: 

I give you this ring as a pledge of my love and commitment, to you, and to us. 

Groom and Bride, on behalf of all those present, and by the strength of your own love, I pronounce you married.
 
You may seal your vows with a kiss.




Spiritual Ceremony Final




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