Nicole Elizabeth Brodeur

Opening Words:

(Nicole and Alexander stand side by side, facing Nicole)

Friends and Family of the Bride and Groom, welcome and thank you for being here on this important day.

We are gathered together to celebrate the very special love between Nicole and Alexander, by joining them in marriage.

Nicole and Alexander, the relationship that you have nourished together stands for love that will blossom and grow with each passing day.

Before you knew love, you were friends, and it was from this seed of friendship that is now your destiny.

Marriage is the clasping of hands, the blending of hearts, the union of two lives as one.

Marriage is caring as much about the welfare and happiness of your marriage partner as your own.

It is not total absorption into each other. It is looking outward in the same direction together.

Marriage makes burdens lighter because you divide them.

It makes joys more intense because you share them.

It makes you stronger, so that you can be involved with life in ways you dare not risk alone.

To make your relationship work will take love.

This is the core of your marriage and why you are here today.

It will take trust, to know in your hearts that you truly want the best for each other.

It will take dedication, to stay open and honest with one another – and to learn and grow together.

It will take faith, to go forward together without knowing exactly what the future brings.

And it will take commitment, to hold true to the journey you both promised today to share together.

An intimate and secure relationship is not based on promises, but rather on trust, respect, faithfulness and the ability to forgive.

A lasting marriage is based on all of these, bound together by love.

A Remembrance:

At this time, we’d like to take a moment of silence to remember those who are not here with us.

Even though they are not here physically, they are a part of the foundation that makes Nicole and Alexander the people they are today.

May we always remember them.

Please cherish the memories of these friends and family and all others who live on in our hearts.

(Pause for moment)

Thank you.

Declaration of Consent (I Dos):

Alexander and Nicole, please turn and face each other.

(Nicole and Alexander face each other, continue to hold hands)

This new journey will be at times richly rewarding and extremely difficult, but, most importantly, it will be a journey you take together. Marriage is much more than your signatures on a legal contract. You are promising, and have asked all of these people you love to watch you make this promise, that you want to be with each other and only each other for the rest of your lives, and that you will do everything in your power to honor the promises you are making here today. For their part, the people who love you will also do everything in their power to try to help you hold up your end of the bargain, too.

ALEXANDER, do you take NICOLE to be your wife, promising to love her, comfort, honor, respect, and care for her for the rest of your life?

If so, please say, “I do”

NICOLE, do you take ALEXANDER to be your husband, promising to love him, comfort, honor, respect, and care for him for the rest of your life?

If so, please say, “I do”

Exchange of Vows

I love you.

You are my best friend.

Today I give myself to you in marriage.

I promise to encourage and inspire you,

to laugh with you, and to comfort you in

times of sorrow and struggle.

I promise to love you in good times and in

bad, when life seems easy and when it

seems hard, when our love is simple,

and when it is an effort.

I promise to cherish you, and to always

hold you in highest regard.

These things I give to you today,

and all the days of our life.

Exchange of Rings:

Throughout human tradition, when you make a pledge, it has been deemed good to have a token to remind you of that pledge.

For this purpose you have chosen rings.

They are appropriate to the task because they are circles never ending, like the promises you make to each other today.

And they are made of precious metal, never to be tarnished, like the love you have expressed before me and these witnesses.

Please take these rings and honor each other in their giving.

ALEXANDER, as you place the ring on NICOLE’s finger, please repeat after me:

I offer my vow to you in the form of this ring,

so that my word and my love,

will always be with you,

close to your heart.

Nicole, as you place the ring on ALEXANDER’s finger, please repeat after me:

I offer my vow to you in the form of this ring,

so that my word and my love,

will always be with you,

close to your heart.

Vows/Exchange of Gifts to Ava

Do you NICOLE take AVA as your own, promising to love her and care for her, providing for her needs, both physical & emotional.

Nicole replies: I will.

Do you AVA accept NICOLE into your family? Do you promise to love and respect her as your step mother?

Ava replies: I do.

ALEXANDER and NICOLE, today you are promising your love to one another, but you are also pledging your love to AVA as well, committing to her that you will create a family together. AVA your parents would like to present this gift to you as a symbol of their commitment, trust and love.

(AVA receives her necklace)

Sand Ceremony

ALEXANDER and NICOLE, You have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings, as well as sharing a gift with Ava to begin a symbolic expression of the family union.

This beautiful ceremony is symbolized by combining these three vessels of sand which create a lasting visual representation of the promises and intentions for your marriage. Our families lay the foundation for our being.

ALEXANDER, your sand represents all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be. Please pour half of your sand.

NICOLE, your sand represents all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be. Please pour half of your sand.

Half your sand lays the foundation of your family.

Ava, your sand represents all that you are, and all that you contribute to the family. Please pour your sand.

ALEXANDER and NICOLE will now pour their remaining sand. Ava’s sand is in the center, just as she is the center of your world, and the visual effect layers them in your love and protection. Notice that each color holds its own unique beauty, strength, and character. They can stand on their own and be whole, without the need of anything else. However, when all are blended together they create an entirely new and more extraordinary entity. You will notice that these individual colors do not cease to exist, but are now blended together, and it is this blending that is marriage and the unity of family.

Blessing of Marriage

Before I pronounce you husband and wife, I have just one more thing I want you to do.

Your wedding day is one that seems to fly.

It’s a day filled with emotion, friends, rings and dances.

Many people remember how fleeting their own wedding day was.

So I want you to take a few seconds to look into each other’s eyes.

Think about the happiness that you’re feeling in this place, at this moment.

Really let that feeling register in your heart and your mind.

Now, I want you to think about your life together in twenty years.

Where are you?

What are you doing?

We all know that your visions of the future are not identical, but always complementary.

John Lennon once said, “a dream you dream alone is only a dream.

A dream you dream together, that is reality.”

And for Bride and Groom, that reality starts now.

Pronouncement

NICOLE and ALEXANDER, you have expressed your love to one another through the commitment and promises you have just made. It is with these in mind that I pronounce you husband and wife.

You have kissed a thousand times, maybe more.

But today the feeling is new.

No longer simply partners and best friends, you have become husband and wife and can now seal the agreement with a kiss.

Today, your kiss is a promise.

You may kiss the bride.

Presentation

Ladies and Gentlemen, family and friends, it is my pleasure to present, for the first time anywhere, Mr. And Mrs. Alexander and Nicole Wilkins!