Sample Wedding
We are gathered here today on this beautiful hotel balcony to witness the marriage ceremony of Name and Name.
Witness 1 and Witness 2, you were requested to witness this ceremony because Name and Name care about you. They trust you, and they need you to be near them during this special time. They invoke your support, your approval, your love, and your good will towards this new marriage.
Out of the billions of people who inhabit our planet, the five of us have come together to participate in the marriage ceremony of two unique individuals. Out of those billions of people in the world, Name and Name found and chose each other. They have decided that life will be better if they spend it together as husband and wife.
As an Atheist couple Name and Name realize that there is only one life. Life choices, therefore, must be weighed carefully and much consideration should be given to any decisions that may alter one's path and have serious impact, both negatively and positively.
We all have freedom of choice and that is what makes the union of Name and Name so very special.
Name and Name have already begun their journey together. They have enjoyed the exhilaration of finding one another and they have struggled through many difficulties together. This ceremony connotes the end of that beginning and marks a new beginning - the beginning of a committed lifetime journey.
Name and Name, you have arrived at what is perhaps life's most critical juncture - the beginning of a journey that will require each of you to fully enter into each others experience and care for each other in exceptional ways. This self-transcendence is a prerequisite for further personal growth.
In a good marriage each person is continually growing while growing in understanding of the other. This kind of love and intimacy enables each to relate to others more meaningfully. For in the words of Al Carmine, "True love is a prism through which one loves the whole world." Every intimacy makes the whole world different and opens one up to the world's reality rather than protecting one from it. Please take a handful of rose petals and as you toss the rose petals outward, declare yourselves better able to embrace the world as partners. Enjoy not only the perfume of one another, but the sweetness of nature and humanity.
With the tossing of the rose petals you have demonstrated your enthusiasm for nature and your acknowledgment that Atheists seek renewal from nature. Together, you now embark on a quest for meaningful experiences and social connections outside of traditional institutions. Have no fear and do not allow the ways of the unenlightened give you unease. Nontheists also desire support from their family and the humanist community - both near and far. Nontheists use reason and common sense as their guide. When emotion and intellect combine they provide the foundation of profound love.
Marriage is a cooperative venture in every sense. It is a relationship Based on love, respect, and a determination on the part of both wife and husband to adjust to each others temperaments and moods in health or sickness - joy or sadness - ease or hardship.
Name and Name, I have been married nearly thirty years. My gift to you today is an invitation to call upon me when you are in need of advice. I am not just your wedding celebrant, I am your friend. The reality is that everyone's life is limited to only a certain amount of time. As Robert G. Ingersoll said, "The time to be happy is now.
The place to be happy is here." Take the time to make your partner feel special. Never take each other for granted. Take the time to listen and to share. Give each other the benefit of the doubt because communication will be different at times and misunderstandings are inevitable.
It takes time, effort, courage, and commitment to make a successful marriage. Take the time to negotiate, to talk about your fears, failures, and disappointments. Talk about each other's expectations, hopes, and dreams. Be flexible and willing to adapt well to changes and new circumstances. Above all, take the time to tell each other what you want. Take the risk of being vulnerable with each other. You will never finish building your relationship and together you will find new ways to nourish each other's lives while finding greater happiness and meaning in your own. Name and Name, please light these individual candles which represent your separate personalities.
You each have special qualities, talents, and passions. Appreciate these things and never attempt to extinguish each other's inner glow. Please take your separate candles and join them together to light the unity candle of marriage. Keep it forever as bright as it is in this moment symbolizing your shared values and commitment. Just as a candle will extinguish itself without air so shall your marriage if you do not give each other breathing room. Be close, yet allow each other to breathe.
Like the flame of this candle, be free in the giving of warmth, comfort, and guidance. Please light a candle together and renew your promises to each other at your future wedding anniversaries. As your life unfolds, frequently renew your commitment to each other and remind yourselves often of what brought you together.Name and Name, please look deeply into each others eyes.
Name, please commit to Name by repeating after me:
As your husband and your friend -
I promise that I will stand by you -
In sickness and in health -
For better and for worse -
For richer and for poorer -
For as long as we both shall live -
What token do you offer Name as a symbol of your commitment?
Do you, Name, take Name to be your wife and pledge to her your respect and faithful love from this day forward?
Please place Name's ring on her finger.
Name, please commit to Name by repeating after me:
As your wife and your friend -
I, Name -
Promise that I will stand by you -
In sickness and in health -
For better and for worse -
For richer and for poorer -
For as long as we both shall live -
What token Name, do you offer Name as a symbol of your commitment to him?
Do you Name, take Name, to be your husband and pledge to him your respect and faithful love from this day forward?
Please place Name's ring on his finger.
You will be reminded each day of your commitment to this marriage with the wearing of your wedding ring.
Words are powerful but fleeting. The wedding ring, therefore, becomes the enduring symbol of the promise we have just heard. Name and Name, you have formalized in our presence the existence of the bond of love between you - vowing to be loyal and loving toward one another.
In expressing your affirmations, you have pronounced yourself husband and wife. With abiding confidence and affection, Witness 1, Witness 2 and I send you forth upon your journey in life together.
I hereby declare Name and Name to be husband and wife each to love, honor, and cherish the other for the rest of their lives.
Please embrace and kiss for the first time as united individuals.