GREETINGS - WELCOMES
SECULAR GREETINGS
#1 Secular Greeting
We have come here today to celebrate love. We see it in the faces of Groom and Bride who stand before us, and we experience it in our own hearts as well. It is a love which is spoken of in all religions, and is our true home, our true meeting place. It kindles our souls with hope. We are grateful to them for inviting us to witness and share in this precious moment. To this day they bring their love as a treasure to share with one another.
#2 Secular Greeting
With great joy, we come together to join this man, Groom, and this woman, Bride, in matrimony.
#3 Secular Greeting
We are gathered here today to witness the coming together of two people Groom and Bride, whose hearts and spirits are entwined as one. They now desire to profess before all the world their intention henceforth to walk the road of life together.
#4 Secular Greeting
Friends and family, Groom and Bride have invited us here today to share in the celebration of their marriage (union) ? their wedding.
We come together not to mark the start of a relationship, but to recognize a bond that already exists. This marriage (union) is one expression of the many varieties of love. Love is one, though its expressions are infinite.
#5 Secular Greeting
Groom and Bride, we have come to rejoice for the world that eternal love has found you. I would remind you that this celebration is the outward and visible sign of a sacred and inward union of hearts. It is a union created by loving purpose and kept alive by abiding will.
#6 Secular Greeting
Friends and family, Groom and Bride have invited us here today to share in the celebration of their union ? their wedding. We come together not to mark the start of a relationship, but to recognize a bond that already exists. This union is one expression of the many varieties of love. Love is one, though its expressions are infinite.
#7 Secular Greeting
It is one of life's richest surprises when the accidental meeting of two life paths lead them to proceed together along the common path as husband and wife. It is one of life's finest experiences when a casual relationship grows into a permanent bond of love. This meeting and this growth bring us together today.
#8 Secular Greeting
Welcome to the marriage of Groom and Bride.
#9 Secular Greeting
Now is a time for a wedding.
Friends Groom and Bride, have invited us here today to share in the celebration of their wedding.
#10 Secular Greeting
With great joy, we come together to join this man, Groom, and this woman, Bride, in matrimony.
This marriage is an event in the lifetime of a love. Neither I, nor all society, can join these two lovers today. Only they can do what they have chosen. They are joining themselves, each to the other. As they find union with one another, they proclaim that union today and pledge its future. We, by our participation in this celebration, do but recognize and honor their intention to dwell together as husband and wife.
#11 Secular Greeting
Dear Friends, we are gathered today to witness and to celebrate the drawing together of two separate lives. We have come so that this man, Groom, and this woman, Bride, may be joined in marriage. It is not to be entered into lightly but with assurance and mutual respect. Love, the shining light of human emotion, reduces our selfishness, fulfills our need to share, and reinforces our virtues.
#12 Secular Greeting
It is often said that it is love that makes the world go round. However, without doubt, it is friendship which keeps our spinning existence on an even keel. True friendship provides so many of the essentials for a happy life -- it is the foundation on which to build an enduring relationship, it is the mortar which bonds us together in harmony, and it is the calm, warm protection we sometimes need when the world outside seems cold and chaotic. True friendship holds a mirror to our foibles and failings, without destroying our sense of worthiness. True friendship nurtures our hopes, supports us in our disappointments, and encourages us to grow to our best potential. Bride and Groom came together as friends. Today, they pledge to each other not only their love, but also the strength, warmth and, most importantly, the fun of true friendship.
#13 Secular Family Greeting
We, who have gathered in this circle, are now privileged to witness and to participate in a ceremony celebrating, the public acknowledgment of a love which Groom and Bride have for each other, knowing that by our presence here with them, we are saying that they, together, are loved by many others. We have come to surround them as they stand before us in this center, where now Groom and Bride in essence say, "Welcome to our marriage! Welcome to the Celebration!"
Marriage is too for children! For them it is, or can be, more than just witnessing. There is an opportunity for them to bring themselves into the new family and in a symbolic sense to give themselves to this new venture as they bring a "Gift of love" which they will present now to Groom and Bride.
The children come bearing flowers, which are given to the Bride and Groom.
Spiritual GREETINGS
#14 Spiritual Greeting
We are gathered here to witness the joining of this man, Groom, and this woman, Bride, in marriage; which is an honorable estate, instituted in the necessities of our being, and dedicated to the happiness of mankind; an estate not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, soberly, and in all sincerity.
To be true, this outward form must be a symbol of that which is inner and real, a sacred personal union, which a church may solemnize and a state make legal, but which only love can create and mutually fulfill.
To endure, the marriage of these two persons must be a consecration of each to the other, and of both to the wider community of which their lives are a part.
#15 Spiritual Greeting
Welcome. We are gathered here to witness this man and this woman joined together in matrimony, which is an honorable estate and therefore not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, and in the love of God, into which estate these two persons present come now to be joined.
#16 Spiritual Greeting
It is a time of celebration, for these two people, Groom and Bride, have come together and found mutual joy. They have shared their lives and decided to create a covenant between themselves, a partnership guided by spirit and support by our community. Groom and Bride ask all you in attendance in body and spirit to pledge your support and encouragement for them to keep true to their vows.
Minister lights two white taper candles:
We are all children of the light. I light this candle, which represents the sun, our spiritual father. I light this candle, which represents the moon, our spiritual mother. As these flames burn bright and strong, may their light bring this union between Groom and Bride to grow in joy and love.
Minister scatters flower petals in a complete circle around the couple:
Let your love be like the flowers of the earth, beautiful and divine, ever growing, spreading love and joy throughout the Earth. May you live within a circle of love and may your unity be a thing of beauty and sweetness. May your love dance in eternal circles of time, with the dance of the earth with the sacredness of life.
#17 Spiritual Greeting
We are gathered here today to witness the coming together of two people, Groom and Bride, whose hearts and spirits are entwined as one. They now desire to profess before all the world their intention henceforth to walk the road of life together.
To these two young people, this marriage signifies the birth of a new spirit, a spirit which is a part of each of us, yet not of any one of us alone. This "birth of spirit" reminds us of spring, the season when all life is reborn and looms again. It is appropriate, therefore, that this wedding of Groom and Bride be in the spring, and that it be under the open sky, where we are close to the earth and to the unity of life, the totality of living things of which we are part.
We are gathered here today to take part in the most time-honored celebration of the human family, uniting a woman and a man in marriage. Groom and Bride have come to witness before us, telling of their love for each other. We remember, theirs is a love whose source is the affection of those who loved them into being.
We remind them that they are performing an act of complete faith, each in the other; that the heart of their marriage will be the relationship they create. In a world where faith often falls short of expectation, it is a tribute to these two who now join hands and hearts in perfect faith.
#18 Spiritual Greeting
Today we have gathered in this place of natural beauty to be joyful, in celebration of the relationship of Groom and Bride By their commitment to marry each other, they are saying yes to love, yes to caring, yes to the family. May the spirit of God?which is in the blue sky, in the wind, and in the fresh smells of the Earth?enter your bodies, fill your hearts, and bless your lives.
Have you come here in the midst of these natural surroundings to affirm your commitment to each other?
Bride and Groom:
We have.
CHRISTIAN GREETINGS
#19 Christian Greeting
We have come together in the presence of God to witness the joining of Groom and Bride in Holy Matrimony. This is a special time of celebration that Groom and Bride will long remember, and because of this, they are thankful you are here to share their joy.
Gracious God, before whom we stand, look with favor upon this couple, who desire to make their vows before you and this gathering of family and friends. We are thankful to the families, which have reared them to adulthood. May they experience your presence as they pledge their lives, one to another, and celebrate this new beginning.
#20 Christian Greeting
Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and His Church.
The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in abundance and adversity; and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of descendants and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord. Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but deliberately, reverently, and in accordance with the purposes of which it was instituted by God.
Into this holy union, Groom and Bride now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now, or else forever hold your peace.
#21 Christian Greeting
Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man, Groom, and this woman, Bride, in Holy Matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people.
The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord. Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly; but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.
You ask what is this love we here affirm, and I answer, it is a covenant you make, one with the other, a covenant born of commitment to each other's well being and growth and commitment to your relationship itself, allowing it the possibility of change and of growth.
#22 Christian Greeting
We have come together today in the presence of God to witness the joining of Groom and Bride in Holy Matrimony. We are gathered to unite the two of you in marriage, which is an institution ordained by the state and made honorable by the faithful keeping of good men and women throughout all ages, and is not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly.
This is a special time of celebration that Groom and Bride will long remember, and because of this, they are thankful you are here to share their joy. From the dawn of human history, it has been customary for the community to place its seal of approval upon the union of two persons in marriage. If these solemn vows that they are about to make are kept faithfully, God will bless their marriage.
Gracious God, before whom we stand: Look with favor upon this man and this woman who desire to make their vows before you and this gathering of family and friends. We are grateful for their families, which have reared them to maturity; and for the church, which has nurtured them in the faith. May they experience your presence as they pledge their lives, one to another, and may they ever walk the pleasant paths of righteousness. This we pray through Christ our Lord.
COMMITMENT GREETINGS
#23 Commitment
We are here today because Person and Person have asked us to bear witness to their love. We are here to name this love, to acknowledge, and to respect it. Although this is not a legally binding ceremony Person and Person consider it binding and permanent as if it were.
#24 Commitment
We are here today because Groom and Bride have asked us to bear witness to their love. We are here to name this love, to acknowledge, and to respect it. Although this is not a legally binding ceremony, Groom and Bride consider it binding and permanent as if it were.
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