Edwin T Vogt

Kathryn and JJ’s Wedding

July 25, 2021

The first thing we need to do is say a huge thank you to everyone for making the trip to this beautiful location. As we all know, we should have been here last year but those plans changed due to the worldwide pandemic. Kathryn and JJ want you all to know how grateful they are for your patience and understanding during these trying times and feel so very blessed to have you all be present for this very special day.

You have all come from a long distance and they are so happy to have all of you here. We also miss some other close and special people who can’t be here in person but are here in spirit. For me personally, this feels like a Rhodeside Reunion but of course, that’s another story over a cocktail.

READ POEM *********

Now if you would indulge me for 2 short minutes, I have a poem that I believe is appropriate for this occasion.

It’s called Union by Robert Fulgrum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way.

All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with "When we're married" and continued with "I will and you will and we will" - those late-night talks that included "someday" and "somehow" and "maybe" - and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart.

All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, "You know all those things we've promised and hoped and dreamed—well, I meant it all, every word."

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another - acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this - is my husband, this - is my wife

Invite Kathryn’s Mom to read a Prayer

Welcome!

Kathryn and JJ have brought us together here for an occasion of great joy and a cause for great celebration. Having found each other, they have built the kind of relationship that will serve them well as the foundation for their marriage. Of course, as many of us know, their relationship is based on a friendship that started over 10 years ago when JJ was Kat’s manager at Rhodeside. ( At this point JJ, please take Katherine’s hand, and put your hand on top of hers…. Please look deeply in her eyes… and fully understand,, this is the LAST TIME YOU WILL HAVE THE UPPER HAND IN THIS RELATIONSHIP… :LAUGHS HOPEFULLY… J

Kat and JJ have chosen each one of you to be here with them to witness their wedding vows as they join together as husband and wife.

Marriage is a bold step into an unknown future. It is risking who we are for the sake of who we can be. In marriage, two lives are intimately shared; and the blending of the two must not diminish either one. Rather, it should enhance the individuality of each partner.

Each of us knows that a marriage is not created by a law or a ceremony; rather it occurs in the hearts of two human beings. It grows out of loving, caring, and sharing ourselves with another. Kathryn and JJ have already made many commitments to each other, both large and small, since the days when they first met and recognized their connection to one another.

So, in witnessing this ceremony today, we are observing only an outward sign of an inward union that already exists between them. This ceremony is a symbol of how far they have come together and a symbol of the promise that they will make to each other to continue to live their lives together and to love each other solely and above all others.

There are only two official witnesses at a wedding but each and every person here today will witness the words that they will speak to one another and the vows that they will make. To all their guests, they are happy to share this moment with you. They have known most of you for many years. You watched them grow up, you went to school with them, or you worked with them. Because you are the ones who have supported them and known them so well, it is only fitting that you are the ones to share this once-in-a-lifetime moment with them. You are the friends and family who will be there when needed and will do all that you can during hard times to stand by Kat and JJ and offer support to them and the new family that they create today. May you always do all within your power to support the union that will be made here today and to nurture the bond between these two people whom you love.

Kathryn and JJ are pleased to have their parents in the front row…close to them for the ceremony.

Kathryn thanks her Mom & Dad for providing her with every opportunity possible and for their unconditional love or “as Marilyn would say, “LULA”

JJ appreciates all the love and support his mother, Jyotika has given him over the years and also appreciates how much she has embraced Kathryn and as she would say “Funky has very good energy!”

A wedding day is often a day when couples miss family members no longer with them. For Kathryn and JJ, there are family members whose memories they hold dear and they would like to take a moment to recognize their grandparents who are blessing them from above.

As Kathryn and JJ prepared for the ceremony part of this wedding celebration, they reflected on what it is that they love about each other. JJ , Kathryn loves that you have such a big heart and care so deeply for her friends and family always going out of your way to make them comfortable. She loves that with you she can be her true self in all of her many moods and in 9 years together you have supported her in every endeavor and every adventure she has gone on. Not a day has gone by that you haven’t told her you love her and made her feel special, safe and appreciated. She loves your whit and chop busting humor as well as your optimistic view of life. She loves that you appreciate the little things in life candles, lots of candles. She loves that you are an old school New York gentlemen who loves to be romantic and surprise her with gestures like flowers, and many amazing home cooked meals. She loves your generosity and kindness and always feels at ease with you by her side. She loves that even after 9 years together you are still her favorite person to hang out with. You always have the most fun together. You are truly the life of every party and the brightest light in her life.

Kathryn , JJ loves your beautiful smile that always seems to be on your face. He can forever gaze into your deep blue eyes. He appreciates that you are “low maintenance and how you can be really silly. He loves the support you give him and how you never mince your words and follow through with what you say. He loves watching you grow as a teacher and an artist and how much you care for your students, friends and family. He loves your love for culture and sense of adventure. JJ, even loves your cooking….SOMETIMES! He loves your kisses and the snuggles you share together. He just really loves you, Teddy’s Mama.

You both look to a shared future that includes raising a happy & healthy family along with your adored dog Teddy.

The years will come and go…you won’t take each other for granted, you will laugh a lot, you will be the best parents you can be, you will grow older and wiser together. It’s a good story, and the ending is not in sight!

DECLARATION OF INTENT

A successful marriage takes work, patience, and a long-lasting commitment from both of you… a commitment to make your relationship grow and thrive.

JJ,…. will you take Kathryn to be your lawfully wedded wife and travel the rest of life’s road with her? Will you love her, laugh with her, comfort her, honor and protect her, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?

I do.

Kathryn,… will you take JJ to be your lawfully wedded Husband and travel the rest of life’s road with him? Will you love him, laugh with him, comfort him, honor and protect him, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?

I do.

EXCHANGE OF VOWS

Kathryn and JJ, the symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.” Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last years. Now you shall say a few words and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this – is my husband, this – is my wife.

I, Kathryn and JJ, choose you, In the presence of our friends and families, To be my wife/husband and partner From this day forward; To love you, To be a comfort and safe haven in your life, To hold you close, To listen deeply when you speak, To uphold you with my strength, To weigh the effects of the words I speak And the things I do, To never take you for granted, And to always give thanks For your presence in my life.

(At this point JJ and I will exchange our personalized vows.)

RING EXCHANGE

This is the point in the ceremony when people talk about the wedding bands being a perfect circle, having no beginning and no end. But we all know that these rings have a beginning. Rock is dug up from the earth. Metals are liquefied in a furnace at a thousand degrees. The hot metal is forged, cooled, and then painstakingly polished. Something beautiful made from raw elements.

Love is like that. It comes from humble beginnings, made by imperfect beings. It is the process of making something beautiful where there was once nothing at all.

The promises which you have spoken to each other today are inscribed forever in your minds, in your hearts. But words are fleeting so let these rings serve as a reminder of the feelings you have in your hearts at this very moment.

Now, Repeat after me:

(JJ), with this ring I am giving you my promise/to always love you/ cherish you/honor you and comfort you. I promise that I will love you/and keep my heart open to you/all the days of my life.

(Kathryn), with this ring I am giving you my promise/to always love you/ cherish you/honor you and comfort you. I promise that I will love you/and keep my heart open to you/all the days of my life.

DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE

Kathryn and JJ, no one but you can declare yourselves married. You have begun it here today in speaking your vows before your family and friends and you will do it again in the days and years to come, standing by each other, sharing all that is sweet and bitter in life. Each tender act, each loving word will be the declaration of what was made here today.

Therefore, it is my joyful responsibility to officially acknowledge your union as “Husband and Wife”. You may now seal your marriage with a kiss.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my privilege to present to you for the very first time…. JJ and Kathryn as husband and wife!

By the authority vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and the State of California I now pronounce you husband and wife