Crystal Lynn Gienger

Who gives the bride in marriage to the groom? Wiley says, “her mother and I do.”

[Father kisses bride and turns her over to groom.]

Welcome Statement

Welcome Friends, Family, and loved ones! We are gathered together today in the sight of God, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and in the sight of each other as witnesses to celebrate the marriage of Clint and Olivia. We hold them up to the Lord in fellowship as a family, and a community of loved ones, to bless them as these two become one in what we pray will be a long, happy, healthy and sweet life together! You may have noticed I mentioned “sweet” life together. As I pondered on the location of their wedding, The Canefield, I wanted to see how “sugar” is symbolic for a marriage. Low and behold, sugar in many cultures represents good luck and ”the raining down of sweet joy and happiness on a couple.” Today, as we are located in this abandoned sugar canefield, I hope to spread sweetness in this couple’s life and marriage.

Introduction

Before we begin, let us bow our heads and pray that God bless Clint and Olivia and their new life together.

Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, We ask your blessings upon Clint and Olivia and that you walk with them together as you’ve walked with them each in their lives to this point. Heavenly father, we know that you have a plan for their lives, and we know that you love them. We pray, father, that you keep them committed to you, and that you keep them committed to one another as they begin this journey as one flesh, in your name. Lord you’ve told us in your word, in the book of Jeremiah, that you know the plans you have for us… Plans to prosper us and not to harm us, but to give us a hope and a future! Lord, we ask that for Clint and Olivia today, and we pray that you will heap blessings upon them as they walk together with you from today forward. In Jesus’ Holy name we pray, Amen

Ladies and gentlemen, when God created Adam at the beginning of all things, He said to Himself in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” It’s not a part of our makeup to be alone. God didn’t design us that way. He made us so that we need to depend on one another. He made us so that we need each other to hold us up, and sometimes carry us through the rough times. He made us so that when we triumph, we triumph that much more with each other than we do when we’re alone. In fact, the Apostle Paul spoke about how for most people, marriage is necessary in 1 Corinthians 7. He also gave us a vision of holy love in that same book a few chapters later. He writes, “Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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, always perseveres.”

Clint and Olivia, I want to urge you to hold to that vision of your love for one another, because that is the kind of love God has planned for your lives. Clint, God has a plan for you, and from this day forward, that plan involves Olivia. Olivia, God has a plan for you, too. He always has, and that plan, from this day forward, involves Clint. Keeping this knowledge in your hearts and minds, it’s time to declare yourselves to one another.

Clint, I would ask that you always love your wife, Olivia, as you love yourself and Olivia, see that you respect your husband, Clint, as it is commanded in Ephesians 5:33. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your marriage deserves. When frustration and difficulty assail your marriage—as they do to every relationship at one time or another—focus on what still seems right between you, not only the part that seems wrong.

This way, when clouds of trouble hide the sun in your lives and you lose sight of it for a moment, you can remember that the sun is still there. And if each of you will take responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance, happiness and sweetness.

I Do’s

All successful partnerships require a certain give and take, a “Yin and Yang”.

According to yin-yang philosophy, the universe and everything in it is both constant and an ongoing cycle. One force dominates and then it is replaced by the opposing force.

The yin-yang is very much like a marriage. Not only do the light and dark require the equal presence of the other for balance, they cannot exist without the other. For within each half, there is a small circle of the opposite color, a small circle which shows that nothing is absolute. In all yin there is a bit of yang. And within all yang there is a bit of yin. Each exists in the other and each needs the other to exist—like Clint and Olivia. They are their yin-yang to each other.

Marriage is the joining of the yin & the yang--the good days & the bad

the times of wealth and those of poverty the hours of health and those of sickness the creation of life and the sorrow of death

Clint, do you take Olivia to be your lawfully wedded wife from this day forward - whether times are good or bad, rich or poor, healthy or ill; will you love, honor, and cherish her, and hold her up in faith as long as you both shall live?

[Groom: I do.]

Olivia, do you take Clint to be your lawfully wedded husband from this day forward - whether times are good or bad, rich or poor, healthy or ill; will you love, honor, and cherish him, and hold him up in faith as long as you both shall live?

[Bride: I do.]

Vows/Ring Exchange

Clint and Olivia will now exchange rings as a symbol of their love and fidelity.

(Ask best man and MOH to give rings to officiant)

Officiant Holds Rings Up

The wedding ring is a symbol of eternity. It is the sign of a spiritual bond which unites two hearts in endless love. It is a token of your love and of your deep desire to be forever united together in heart and soul.

Clint, as you place the ring on Olivia’s finger, repeat after me…….

“With this ring, I thee wed. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you, and to hold you up in faith, and through whatever God has in store for us, as long as I live. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment.”

Olivia, as you place the ring on Clint’s finger, repeat after me…….

“With this ring, I thee wed. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you, and to hold you up in faith and through whatever God has in store for us, as long as I live. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment.”

Unity Cross Ceremony

At this time, the Bride and Groom will assembly the Unity Cross, a beautiful sculpture made by her grandfather. They will display it in their home to remind them of the covenant they are making today. It is a lasting reminder of the Bride and Groom coming together with their faith in Christ, beginning their Life long Journey as One. It is a beacon of the couple’s love for each other and their future in Christ. In Genesis chapter 1, we read that God created man in His own image. That means that He created man bold, strong, to be a leader, to be a protector of his wife and family.

[Officiate Holds the Groom’s pieces of the Unity Cross]

The bold outer cross represents Strength, leadership, protection and cover for his family and home, yet without his Bride, incomplete. The book of Ephesians reminds the husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, totally and completely giving himself for her.

[Officiate hands the pieces to groom and he places the cross on the base]

[Officiate holds the bride’s pieces and says]

The book of Genesis tells us that the woman was taken from man. The bride’s piece of the Unity Cross represents the beauty and the many capabilities of the woman designed with intricate, beautiful detail and is placed inside the protection of the groom’s cross, completing the sculpture and representing the Two Shall Become One.

[Officiate hands the bride’s piece to place in center of man’s cross]

The pegs on the cross hold it together. The pegs represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, showing God’s place in this covenant and the security and completeness that only our Heavenly Father can give. The scriptures tell us that a three-stranded cord is not easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Matthew 19: 5-6 says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate."

Pronouncement

OFFICIANT (to couple):

Clint and Olivia, having proclaimed your love for, and commitment to one another in the sight of the Lord and of these witnesses, it is my pleasure, by the power vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and by the state of Louisiana, to pronounce you husband and wife!

Clint, you may now kiss your lovely bride!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to present for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Clint Young, Jr.