Karen Eve Pfotzer

Vicci & Allen Wedding & Handfasting Ceremony, Jan 13, 2022

The Garden Room at The Half-Mile Farm, Highlands, NC

• Prayer

Loving creator, You know that Allen and Vicci have walked a long and difficult road for 15 years to arrive at this marriage altar. It is with joy and gratitude that we gather here today. May they be blessed with love and patience. May their days we happy and long. When difficulty causes them wander in different directions, we ask that You give them wisdom to find their back way to You and each other. Their love has been forged in fire and may that fire give them passion & compassion, may it give them warm & strength to always circle back to You and to one another. We ask blessings upon blessings on Vicci & Allen as they embark on the sacrament and journey of Marriage. Amen.

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• Intro remarks (face the minister)

• In 2006, 15 years ago Vicci walked onto my porch, glowing, and said I HAVE MET someone ! Her face shone and today is the culmination of that meeting.

• .

Love is why we are here today. Love has inspired Vicci and Allen’s persistence, and loyalty for over 15years

Allen you have stood by Vicci caring for her and RF and Raye until their dying days as if they were your own parents.

Vicci, you have stood by Allen through the trials of life, of health, of family, of changing fortunes of life, work, and age.

I have know Vicci all of my life. Vicci is my cousin, my childhood playmate, my soul sister, and my beloved friend.

I have known Allen since high school. Allen is my egg man, my tree man, and my friend.

YOU are both are fine people who are loyal and faithful. We all celebrate this day.

• Promise by witnesses to support your marriage.

All of you present today are very important to Vicci and Allen. You are here because you love them and they love you.

You are also here as witnesses to their promises. They shall remain individuals, yet they are now tied to a greater union - the union of marriage which is larger than each of them. Will each of you from this day forward support them in this marriage- encouraging them to do what is best for the marriage over their own self interests?

If so, please say I will

• Handfasting : We are using the ancient tradition of Hand Binding. This tradition has been in practice since the Romans and is most commonly associated with the Celts. The Scotts and Irish, who are our ancestors, that settled our mountains used it when no priest or preacher was available. It is commonly known as ‘tying the knot’.

Do you each freely enter into this marriage today? (answer YES)

If so, face each other and cross your hands and clasp left hand to left and right to right hand.

I am binding you together will an Irish scarf covered in Celtic knots to signify that this KNOT cannot be undone once tied.

Vicci + Allen Today is your wedding day.

You are binding your lives together with the union of both of your hopes and desires.

You are holding the hand of your best friend

These are the hands that will cherish you

Protect you comfort you thru the years

These are the hands that will hold you in love and in sadness and will wipe away your tears

These are the hands that will care for you until your dying day

These hands are the hands that will lay you to rest

These are the hands that will be reunited with your hands upon the return of

The Lord on that great and glorious day.

You are now bound together for life. This is a knot that cannot be undone.

• RINGS May I have the rings.

These rings symbols of your love Wedding rings are circular. Circles are a universal symbol of infinity, endless eras, eternity. Rings were forged of durable metal and that show the world you are married to another. The tradition of placing rings are placed on the left hand, fourth finger comes from Egyptian’s that believe a ‘Love Vein’ runs from that finger to the heart.

• Blessing of rings

May these rings be blessed. May these circles which are forged in fire forever represent your unbreakable bonds to one another. May they always remind you of the promises you made here today. May they give comfort when you look upon them .

May these rings always be symbols of a love that has been forged in fire.So it is. AMEN

• The Vows

I take you, _______, to be my ________

And in doing so, I will share my life with you,

all that I have, and all that life entails

To take the good with the bad,

to live beside you through hardship and triumph

in the commitment of faith.

I pledge to share my life openly with you

and to speak the truth to you in love.

I promise to honor and tenderly care for you,

to cherish and encourage you

through all the changes of our lives

in the security of hope, and the joy of love.

Always and forever.

To this I pledge my solemn vow before God.

• Final Blessing-

May your days be long, healthy, and happy.

May you have the comfort of friends, family, and of each other always.

May joy pour down like rain.

May the lord bless you and keep you,

May the Lord’s face shine on you and show you favor,

May the Lord give you peace. Amen

• Proclamation of Marriage- With the power invested in me by the State of NC, in presence of God and your friends, I pronounce you HUSBAND and WIFE

• The Kiss-