Harvey Charles Huff

Melanie & Joseph

5/6/2022

We are gathered together today to join with Melanie a Ravenclaw and Joseph a Slytherin who met online almost 3 years ago as two Harry Potter fanatics. Grew up as neighbors and never knew it. Joseph wondered about a spell to use on Melanie to take her on a date, and secretly who knows?? So, in the celebration of their marriage of two people who are kids at heart, like the rest of us with you today. This marriage is a serious covenant made before God.

In acknowledgment of its Holy Purpose and the power of the occasion, let us pray.

God of Love, who gives us the longing for, and capability of loving, we give you thanks for Melanie and Joseph, for their open hearts and willing spirits, and for the example of love that they embody here in our presence. Be with them on this joyous occasion of showing their love and making their vows; and be with us, their witnesses, that we may all be changed by what is said and witnessed here today. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Marriage is a commitment to life — and to the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for growth and sharing that no other human relationship can equal— a physical and emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.

Melanie and Joseph, the vows you are about to take are not to be taken without careful thought and prayer. For in them you are committing yourselves exclusively, the one to the other, for as long as you both shall live.

Within its framework of commitment and loyalty, marriage enables the establishment of a home, where through trust, patience and respect, the love and affection that you have for each other will develop into a deep and lasting relationship. We, who are witnessing your marriage, hope that despite the stresses inevitable in any life - your love and respect for each other, your trust and understanding of each other, will increase your contentment and heighten your joy in living.

In everyday that you live together, learn how to receive love with as much understanding as you give it. Find things within yourselves that you can share with each other. Be sincerely interested in each other's happiness.

Be constant and consistent in your love. From this comes security and strength. Commit yourselves fully and freely to each other.

The marriage into which the two of you are about to enter is one that you promise to fulfill, not for a limited time, but for the rest of your lives. The success of your marriage depends on the love and consideration that you foster and nourish in the years ahead.

This marriage can only be created by loving purpose, be maintained by abiding will and be bonded together by your love for one another.

Please remember that Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

Do you Joseph, take Melanie, to be your wife, and

do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Melanie in Marriage,

and will you share your life with hers and build your dreams together, support her through times of trouble, and rejoice with her in times of happiness,

and do you promise to give her respect, love and Loyalty?

If so, please answer I do.

This commitment is made in Love, kept in Faith, lived in Hope, and made new in everyday of your lives.

Do you Melanie, take Joseph, to be your husband.

Do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Joseph in Marriage. and

will you share your life with his and build your dreams together, support him through times of trouble, and rejoice with him in times of happiness

and do you promise to give him respect, love and Loyalty?

If so, please answer I do.

This commitment is made in Love, kept in Faith, lived in Hope, and made new in everyday of your lives.

RINGS CEREMONY

Wedding rings serve as a symbol of the vows you have shared here today. They are the outward and visible sign of an inward and evident love... which binds your hearts together forever. Rings are without edge or seam, having no beginning or end, so they symbolize the perfection of love that does not end. Joseph and Melanie rings are an external and visible sign of the internal and spiritual bond of love which unites your two hearts. May they serve as a seal of the vows you have made to one another.

Bless these rings, symbols of eternity, beauty and strength. Bless the couple who give them and wear them, may they ever live-in harmony, unity, love, and happiness from this day forward.

From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven, and when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, the streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from that united being. With these rings you are now one.

Joseph take your ring for Melanie and as you place it on her finger repeat after me.

This ring I give / in token and pledge / of our constant faith / and everlasting love.

Melanie take your ring for Joseph and as you place it on his finger repeat after me.

This ring I give / in token and pledge / of our constant faith / and everlasting love.

When two people pledge to love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spirit unique to themselves, which binds them closer than any spoken or written words.

Marriage is a promise, a potential, made in the hearts of two people who love, which takes a lifetime to fulfill.

We ask that the Holy Spirit of love may deepen the lives of Melanie and Joseph. May the relationship, which today has been expressed, continue to grow in the years to come, and whatever changes time may bring, let this wedding ceremony remain as a treasured memory and a guide to both your lives.

Prouncement

For as much as Melanie and Joseph have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and these witnesses, and thereto have pledged their faithfulness each to the other, and have pledged the same by the giving and receiving of a ring, by the authority vested in me as a minister according to the laws of the State of New York, and the American Marriage Ministries I now pronounce you husband and wife.

May I now introduce: Melanie & Joseph Phillips!!