[Jason’s Parents w/
Jason]
[Shea’s Parents w/
Shea]
Minister: Hola! and welcome everyone! To begin, Shea and Jason would like to thank
all of you for being with them on this special day. Let us begin!
Marriage is what
brings us together today. Marriage is
that blessed arrangement, a dream within a dream. It is a state enriched by a long and honourable tradition of
devotion. Each participant comes into
marriage as a separate being and each will leave together as one.
Today is your
wedding day and it is very special. But
please remember that marriage is not just the ceremony here today – it is a
commitment for life. I know that you
may be excited and nervous right now but I this is the easy part! Tomorrow is when your real work
begins…
Minister: Shea’s mother, Joan will now present our
first reading.
Joan: I’m going to paraphrase my reading from the book All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum.
All I really need to know about love, I learned in kindergarten.
These are some of the things I learned:
Share
everything.
Play fair.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing
and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
Most importantly, when you go out into the world with your new best friend,
watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together no matter what.
Minister: Thank-you for those thoughts, Joan.
Minister:
Jason’s father, Ray, will now present our second reading.
Ray: This isn’t a traditional reading but in
keeping with the theme of Joan’s words, I’m going to share some observations
I’ve found. They are a series of
answers that various children gave when questioned about love and
marriage. I thought Jason and Shea
would enjoy these as they take this next step into adulthood.
Question #1 -
What Exactly Is Marriage??
"Marriage is when you get to keep your girl and don't have to give her
back to her parents" -Eric, AGE 6
Question #2 - How Does a Person Decide Whom to marry??
"You flip a nickel, and heads means you stay with him and tails means you
try the next one." -Kelly, AGE 9
Question #3 - What Is The Proper Age to Get Married?
"Eighty-four. Because at that age, you don't have to work anymore, and you
can spend all your time loving each other in your bedroom." -Carolyn, AGE
8
Question #4- How Did Your Mom and Dad Meet??
"My father was doing some strange chores for my mother. They won't tell me
what kind." -Jeremy, AGE 8
Question #5- What Do Most People Do on a Date??
"On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets
them interested enough to go for a second date." -Martin, AGE 10
Question #6- When Is It Okay to Kiss Someone??
"You should never kiss a girl unless you have enough bucks to buy her a
ring and her own VCR, 'cause she'll want to have videos of the wedding."
-Allan, AGE 10
Question #7- The Great Debate: Is It Better to Be Single or Married??
"It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need somebody
to clean up after them" -Anita, AGE 9
Minister: Thank-you for those humourous observations,
Ray.
Minister: Shea and Jason, I will ask each of you if you
have come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other
in marriage, and with whose support you enter into this union.
Minister: Shea, have you come here freely and without
reservation to be joined with Jason in marriage?
Shea: I
have.
Minister: And with whose support?
Dennis and Joan: With ours, her parents
Minister: Jason, have you come here freely and
without reservation to be joined with Shea in marriage?
Jason: I have.
Minister: And with whose support?
Ray and Janet: With ours, his parents
Minister: It is appropriate that all of you, Jason
and Shea’s family and friends, are also here to participate in this wedding.
The ideals, the understanding, and the mutual respect, which these two bring to
their marriage have roots in the love, friendship, and guidance, with which you
have provided them.
Minister: I will now ask the bride to answer the
following question…
Do you Shea Lisa
Thompson promise to give this man the love of your person, the comfort of your
companionship, and the patience of your understanding? Will you share with him equally the
necessities of life as they may be earned or enjoyed by yourself and to respect
the dignity of his personal rights?
Shea: I do.
Minister: And you, Jason…
Do you Jason Scott
Hammond promise to give this woman the love of your person, the comfort of your
companionship, and the patience of your understanding? Will you share with her equally the
necessities of life as they may be earned or enjoyed by yourself and to respect
the dignity of her personal rights?
Jason: I do.
Minister: Jason and Shea have chosen to write their
own vows which I will now ask them to share with each other. Shea…
Shea:
Jason, we have been
friends since the first day we met.
That friendship has grown and grown over the weeks and months and years
until we find ourselves here today.
Today is such a happy day for me – I look back on so many great memories
that we have already created together.
I remember fondly our trips to BC and Mazatlan and Hawaii. I look forward to many more trips to
come. I remember our decision to move
to Calgary. I look forward to wherever
the future may put us, so long as we are together. I remember the process of beginning our first house hunt together
and the joy when we finally found our perfect home. I look forward to finding many more perfect places in the future
– both as places to live and also to visit.
I remember the excitement when we went looking for an engagement ring and
the moment when we each picked the same one.
I look forward to having the wedding rings we chose together placed on
each others’ fingers in just a few moments.
Through it all, the recurring theme is that we’ve done and will continue
to do it all together. I look back and
realize that you were always my friend.
Now you are my best friend. I
look forward to being best friends forever.
Le amaré por siempre [I will love you forever.]
Minister: Thank-you, Shea. And now, Jason…
Vows
- Jason
Jason:
Shea, I want to
thank-you for being my partner, my friend and very soon now, my wife. They say that opposites attract but in our
case, it’s more like you are a perfect complement to me – when I’m dreaming,
you are realistic. When I’m anxious,
you are calm. When I am forgetful, you
are my memory.
Marriage is very
important to me. I feel very fortunate
that both sets of my grandparents were able to celebrate their fiftieth
anniversaries together. My parents have
just celebrated their thirty-second year together and your parents have
celebrated thirty years. With good
health and good luck, all of them are well on their way to fifty years as
well. And now you and I have pledged,
first privately and now publicly that we will do everything in our power to
stay together just as long, no matter what life may throw at us. (Or whatever we may throw at each
other!)
I’m joking of
course but with good reason. I
mentioned our complementary qualities but even stronger are the traits we
share. Things like our humour. Our world view. Our shared interests, goals and ambitions. All of these serve to make us stronger
together and will help us fully the enjoy the road we are about to travel. Es no el destinación sino el viaje que
importa. [It’s not the destination but the journey that is important.]
Minister: Thank-you Shea and Jason.
Minister: Traditionally, the marking of the passage
to the status of husband and wife is marked by the exchange of rings. May these rings which you give and receive
this day be a symbol of your true love for each other, and always remind each
of you of the bond you create on this day.
Minister:
Jason, please repeat after me: I
give you this ring to wear as a symbol of our love for each other
Jason: I
give you this ring to wear as a symbol of our love for each other (Jason gives Shea her ring.)
Minister:
Shea, please repeat after me: I give you this ring to wear as a symbol
of our love for each other
Shea: I
give you this ring to wear as a symbol of our love for each other. (Shea gives Jason his ring.)
Minister: I
now give you Jason and Shea Hammond.
You may kiss the bride.
[Shea and Jason
Kiss]
Minister:
Thank you. Rather than having a
traditional recessional, Jason and Shea ask that all guests now join them at
the altar to toast their new marriage.
[Guests come to
the altar and the wedding coordinator pours wine for all guests then hands them
out. The Minister then passes a glass
to Jason and a glass to Shea.]
Minister:
The years of your lives are as a cup of wine poured out for you to drink. The grapes when they are pressed give forth their good juices for the wine. Under the wine press of time our lives give forth their labor and honor and love.
This cup contains within it the sweet wine of happiness and hope. This
same cup, at times, holds the bitter wine of sorrow and despair.
One who drinks deeply of life invites the full range of experience into
his or her being.
This cup is symbolic of the pledges you have made to one another to
share together the fullness of life.
As you drink from this cup, you acknowledge that your lives, until this
moment separate, have become one vessel into which all your sorrows and joys,
all your hopes and fears, will be poured, and from which you will receive
mutual sustenance.
Many days you will sit at the same table and eat and drink together.
Jason and Shea Hammond, drink now, and may the cup of your lives be
sweet and full to overflowing.
[Everyone clinks
glasses then Jason, Shea and all guests drink.]