Freida Gale Naylor

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that will give you support and encouragement to chase down your dreams. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. These are the hands that will lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into eyes that are filled with overwhelming love for one another. And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled with age, will still be reaching for your hands, and still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

Now is the time to perform the handfasting rites. As I ask you please answer both together in union, (We Will). James and Parker, please join hands as I bid you look into each other’s eyes. Will you honor and respect one another and seek to never break that honor? (We Will) As I drape this handfasting cord over your joined hands, so the first binding is made.

Will you share each other’s pain and seek to ease it? (We Will) And so the second binding is made.

Will you share the burdens of life so that your spirits may grow in this union? (We Will) And so the binding is made.

Will you share each other’s laughter and look for the brightness in life and the positive aspects in each other? (We Will) And so the final binding is made as I tie these cords together. Now you are bound, one to the other, with a tie not easy to break. Take the time of binding before the final vows are made to reflect and grow in wisdom and love for one another, so that your marriage will be strong, your love will be everlasting, both in this life and the one beyond. So mote it be. Do you, Lauren Lee Wiesner, take James Douglas Edwards to be your husband? (I Do). Do you, James Douglas Edwards, take Lauren Lee Wiesner to be your wife? (I Do). Do you vow to love, honor, and cherish one another from this day forward? (We Do). By the authority granted to me by American Marriage Ministries and the Gods’ and Goddesses of this world and beyond, I now pronounce you legally bound in matrimony. What this universe hath joined let no one interfere. You may now seal your union with a kiss. I now pronounce, James Douglas Edwards, and Lauren Lee Wiesner, to be now and forever known as Parker Diane Edwards, as husband and wife. Let us join them in celebrating their joy! So mote it be!