You will have to give us updates as the planning continues up through the wedding. I think you hit it succinctly...it should be interesting.

Rev Jeff

So here's the ceremony I'm going to present to the couple tomorrow evening. Feedback, thoughts??




Words of Gathering



God is love, and those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them. This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.


It is a solid presentation with all the right design. It could easily be amended to the specifics of the B&G.

2 quick notes - in no way criticisms. (a) You indicate first but no second reading - You may want to consider a second reading and in fact HAVE the Best Man and Maid of Honor or others the B&G would like to give a special role to, perform the actual readings. (At times the B&G have two people who were 'expecting' to play a significant role (BM or MOH) in the wedding, only to lose out to another person - and this is a way the B&G can pay those good friends or family member homage and brng them back into the fold of importance.

Confirm with your B&G is they want any sought of music and ceremony -- Sometimes a candle ceremony (two lights become one) with appropriate music can break up the presentation between readings and all the B&G to regain their nerves from the initial impulse of theceremony start.

However in this case (redneck wedding) they may want it to be simple and quick - although I did not see any mention of shot gun racks.

That said.. are you sure there shouldn't be anything in the vows to guarantee the brides acceptance of the deer carcases and the grooms acceptance of the cat fights... just kiddin.

Great job. I will most definately steal soem of your work.

Greeting



Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here in God’s presence to witness and to celebrate the marriage of A.J. Massey and Patricia English, and to ask God to bless them so that they may be strengthened for their life together. We are called to rejoice in their happiness, and find in their love a reason to renew our own commitments to those whom are near and dear to each of us. God gave us marriage for the full expression of love between a man and a woman so that husband and wife may cherish and delight in one another; comfort and help each other in sickness, trouble and sorrow; provide for each other in temporal things; pray for and encourage each other in the things that pertain to God; and live together faithfully all the length of their days.



Opening Prayer (minister)



Almighty and ever-blessed God, whose presence is the happiness of every condition, and whose favor hallows every relation: We beseech you to be present and favorable unto these your servants, that they may be truly joined in the honorable estate of marriage, in the covenant of their God. As you have brought them together by your providence, sanctify them by your Spirit, giving them a new frame of heart fit for their new estate; enrich them with all grace, whereby they may enjoy the comforts, undergo the cares, endure the trials, and perform the duties of life together, under your guidance and protection; through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.



First Reading

1 Corinthians 13

Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

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 preserves.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfection disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love. But the greatest of these is love.



Declaration of Intentions



(Minister to the groom)

A.J., will you have this woman to be your wife, and will you promise your life to her in all love and honor, in all duty and service, in all faith and tenderness, to live with her, cherish her, according to the ordinance of God, in the holy bond of marriage?

The groom shall answer: I Will.



(Minister to the Bride)

Patricia, will you have this man to be your husband, and will you promise your life to him, in all love and honor, in all duty and service, in all faith and tenderness, to live with him, and cherish him, according to the ordinance of God, in the holy bond of marriage?

The bride shall answer: I Will.



Minister: Who gives this Man and this Woman to be Married?

(There are many variations in the way this can be handled. Traditionally it will be the father of the bride responding “I Do”. Other variations could be the mother and father of the bride or all four parents saying, “We Do”.)

Charge to Family and Friends



Marriage is not something that two people invent, or construct by themselves. It takes a far wider community of family and friends to make any marriage work. Each of you have been invited here today because you are a part of that community. Therefore, having heard A.J. and Patricia state their intentions to each other and to God in this Service of Marriage, do you, pledge to support their union and to strengthen their lives together, to speak the truth to them in love, and with them to seek a life of love for others?

The people shall answer: Yes, we do.



Minister’s Comment



At this point I would like to share with you, A.J. and Patricia and the rest of you here an old Irish blessing to celebrate this momentous occasion:

May you be pursued by trouble all your days, and may it never catch up.

May you live to comb the hair of your children’s children.

May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God Hold you in the palm of his hand.

May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings. Slow to make enemies, quick to make friends. But rich or poor, quick of slow, may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.



Marriage Vows



Here, the groom takes the bride’s right hand with his right hand, and says, after the Minister:

I, A.J. Massey, take you Patricia English, to be my wedded wife; and I do promise and covenant; before God and these witnesses; to be your loving and faithful husband; in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.

Then the bride takes the groom’s right hand with her right hand, and says likewise after the Minister:

I, Patricia English, take you A.J. Massey, to be my wedded husband; and I do promise and covenant; before God and these witnesses; to be your loving and faithful wife; in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.



Exchange of the Rings



Then the ring for the bride shall be given to the Minister, who shall pass it to the groom, who shall then put it upon the bride’s fourth finger of her left hand, saying after the Minister:

This ring I give you; in token and pledge; of our constant faith, and abiding love.

Then the ring for the groom shall be given to the Minister, who shall pass it to the bride, who shall then put it upon the groom’s fourth finger of his right hand, saying after the Minister:

This ring I give you; in token and pledge; of our constant faith; and abiding love.



Wedding Prayer



Let us pray.

Most merciful and gracious God, in whom we live and move and have our being, bestow upon these your servants the seal of your approval; and benediction; granting unto them grace to fulfill, with pure and steadfast affection, the vow and covenant between them made. Guide them together, we ask, in the way of justice and peace, that, loving and serving you, with one heart and mind, all the days of their life, they may be abundantly enriched with the tokens of your everlasting favor, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



The Lord’s Prayer (Minister leading the congregation)

Pronouncement of Marriage

Minister to all that are present:

By the authority committed unto to me as a Minister of the Universal Life Church Monastery and the state of Maryland. I know pronounce you Husband and Wife. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Then the bride and groom shall join right hands, face the guests and the Minister shall say:

Whom therefore God has joined together, let no one put asunder.



Benediction



The grace of Christ attend you, and the love of God surround you, the Holy Spirit keep you, that you may live in faith, abound in hope, and grow in love, both now and forevermore. Amen.

Minister to the groom: You may kiss your bride.




Rev. Kyle Cusick