Pantheist Wedding Ceremony Script with Reading from Carl Sagan

UNPLUGGED STATEMENT 

OFFICIANT TO GUESTS

Hello everyone! On behalf of (Partner A) and (Partner B), we ask that you put your cameras and phones away during the ceremony, so that we can focus our attention on the natural beauty and friends that surround us. If you want to grab a photo before we get started, now’s the time! 

• pause for photos and any late guests getting seated

INVOCATION & WELCOME

OFFICIANT TO GUESTS

Welcome, friends and family! We’re here today to celebrate the marriage of (Partner A) and (Partner B). 

Each of you hold a special place in (Partner A) and (Partner B)’s lives. You’ve seen them fall in love, and deepen in love. You watched them tackle life’s challenges together, sometimes gracefully, and sometimes through sheer will and stubbornness… 

You’ve seen them bicker and make up, compromise and step up, and love each other fearlessly and fiercely.

Today, we celebrate them as they vow to make this love a lasting one. They ask for your support today, and in the many days and years to come, as they build a marriage they can always return home to. 

MOMENT OF COSMIC REFLECTION

OFFICIANT TO COUPLE AND GUESTS

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the divine significance of this day. 

Today marks a brilliant spark of joy in a universe that’s billions of years old and sprawls an incomprehensible 93 billion light-years across. We’re all pretty comfortable sitting here, even though our Earth is spinning around at 1,000 miles per hour, hurtling past the Sun at 67,000 miles per hour, in a solar system that’s chucking itself around the center of a galaxy at 490,000 miles per hour… and well, you get the idea. 

Carl Sagan said, 

“The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be… Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home…  

The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. From it we have learned most of what we know… we have waded a little out to sea, enough to dampen our toes or, at most, wet our ankles. The water seems inviting. The ocean calls. Some part of our being knows this is from where we came. We long to return.”

Sagan reminded us all that “We are made of star stuff,” and that “The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories...” 

This is true. In the vastness of this glorious universe, (Partner A) and (Partner B) had the very good luck to run smack into each other, their orbits colliding with so much force that their lives and hearts have been fused together ever since. 

It’s remarkable, isn’t it? You don’t have to believe in fate to see the divine beauty in that. 

So let’s take a moment to reflect – on this spark of joy, on this divine universe, and on this remarkable love. 

• pause

DECLARATION OF INTENT

OFFICIANT TO THE COUPLE

(Partner A) and (Partner B), are you ready to make the promises of marriage to each other? Do you now commit to building a loving and lasting marriage together? 
 

PARTNER A AND PARTNER B

We do! 

EXCHANGE OF VOWS AND RINGS / GIFTS

• The wedding ring exchange is an optional part of the ceremony. Other gifts can be exchanged instead, including other types of jewelry or meaningful objects, or the couple can exchange their written vows only.  

OFFICIANT TO THE COUPLE

As a symbol of this willing commitment, you’ve agreed to exchange wedding rings and written promises. 

OFFICIANT TO PARTNER A

(Partner A), please give (Partner B) the ring you’ve chosen and read (him / her / them) your vows.

• PARTNER A PLACES THE RING ON PARTNER B’S FINGER AND THEN READS THEIR PERSONAL WRITTEN VOWS. 

OFFICIANT TO PARTNER B

(Partner B), please give (Partner A) the ring you’ve chosen, and read (him / her / them) your vows.

• PARTNER B PLACES THE RING ON PARTNER A’S FINGER AND THEN READS THEIR PERSONAL WRITTEN VOWS.

CLOSING WORDS & PRONOUNCEMENT

OFFICIANT TO THE COUPLE

Life is long, and brief, and beautiful. I wish you many hours of happy company, laughter, and the comfort of a true companion, friend, and lover.

As the universe continues to fling you from place to place, and you spin through the coming days and years in each other’s orbit, remember that you’re connected to all that ever was or could be, your friends and family here today, and most importantly, to each other. 

You have a place in this world, surrounded by beauty and life, the trees and oceans, the ground beneath you and skies above, and all the creatures of this world. A billion years of energy and evolution brought you here. Treat each other with kindness and compassion, and never take the moments you spend together for granted.

You are made of star stuff, this divine universe embraces you, and your love is remarkable. Enjoy it! 

By the power vested in me by this sacred cosmos, and American Marriage Ministries, I pronounce you married.

You may kiss each other!

INTRODUCTION OF THE NEWLYWEDS

OFFICIANT TO GUESTS

Friends and loved ones, I present (Partner A) and (Partner B), the Newlyweds!