Vanessa Allen LaRotonda

**processional and silent presentation of the bride. hugs, kisses, handshakes, FOB joins the rest of the guests**

INVOCATION

Welcome! Samantha and Jon 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. They 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. This ceremony is not magic, it will not create a relationship that does not already exist and has not already been celebrated in all the commitments they have made to each other, both large and small, in the days since Samantha first approached Jon at the gym.

Today is a celebration. A celebration of love, of commitment, of friendship, of family, and of two people who are in it for forever. We have all loved in our lifetimes, and in this moment, we’re reminded that the ability to love is the very best part of our humanity.

All of us here today have our own love stories. Some are short, others long. Some are yet unwritten, while others are just getting to the good part. There are chapters in all of our stories that are sad or disappointing – and others that are exciting and full of adventure.

Throughout the last 3.5 years Samantha and Jon have been writing their own beautiful love story that started with pizza and wine and continued with hiking, traveling, loving on Rosie and Penny, as well as countless other memories. I know that Samantha and Jon truly love each other and each of their moment together because when we were preparing for the ceremony, they had a hard time naming their favorite memories, and I quote, it's always special when it's just us.

This brings them here, a time to pause, look back, and smile at all the moments before today. And a time to look ahead to all the moments that are still to come.

I’m here – we’re all here – because we want those moments for you. We’re here to hope with you, to support you, to be proud of you, and to remind you that love isn’t happily ever after, love is the experience of writing your story.

It’s not one moment – not even this moment. It’s every moment. Big ones like saying “I love you,” moving in together, taking trips to vegas, getting engaged – but mostly a million little ones that come in between the big moments. Falling asleep next to one another, making dinner together, spending holidays with your families, watching netfilx and snuggling the dogs, getting a big hug when you get home from work.

These everyday moments fuse together into one big experience. And even though this experience is so incredible, words fail us when we try and explain it. That’s just the way it is with love – it’s meant to be felt, not described. And even though we describe love in different ways – and even though love can look different from one person to the next – we all know it when we see it. And we see it here.

DECLARATION OF INTENT

Seeing that no moment is without meaning, we ask that you take this marriage as a beginning of your lives together. Today signifies the creation of a new home and a new family for you both. May you be fulfilled by each other’s love and friendship. May you be overjoyed by the promises you are about to make and the life together you will create.

Marriage is a journey – a time of adventure and excitement enhanced by the love, trust, dedication and faith you share in one another. May you always think back to the feelings you have today when times seem tough. And may the promises you make to one another today, be lived out to the end of your lives. Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys, but today is the day it all begins.

Jon, do you take Samantha, for your lawfully wedded wife, to love and cherish from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health?

Jon: I do

Samantha, do you take Jon, for your lawfully wedded husband to love and cherish from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health?

Samantha: I do

VOW EXCHANGE

You fell in love by chance, but you’re here today because you’re making a choice. You both are choosing each other. You’ve chosen to be with someone who enhances you, who makes you think, makes you smile, and makes every day brighter.

You’re about to make promises to each other that you intend to keep. You’re going to vow to take care of each other, to stand up for one another, and find happiness in the other. There’s a simple premise to each of these promises: you’re vowing to be there.

You’re teaming up and saying to the other, “Every experience I am going to have, I want you to be a part of.”

Each of you have written your vows to each other and neither has seen what the other has written. I can only guess that one of you, Jon, has written something along the lines of ‘I love you more than I love construction equipment’. As I read these vows, take this time to grab a tissue, look into each other's eyes, ugly cry if you want to, and remember this moment in time.

RING EXCHANGE

May I have the rings please?

For years rings have been exchanged as a reminder of the vows you two have shared and the love between you. Every day for the rest of your lives, every time you wash your hands or reach out to touch each other, you will be reminded of the love that you two share. As you place them upon each other's finger, wear them with love and with honor.

Please take these rings, place them in your hands together, and think of all the amazing adventures you two wish for your married years ahead.

Samantha, please take Jon's ring, place it on his finger, and repeat after me.

I give you this ring as a sign that I choose you. Today, tomorrow, always and forever.

Jon, please take Samantha's ring, place it on her finger, and repeat after me.

I give you this ring as a sign that I choose you. Today, tomorrow, always and forever.

PRAYER AND PRONOUNCEMENT

Let us pray. God, we ask for your blessings upon this man and woman, as we celebrate this momentous occasion in their lives. Grant them happiness and contentment as they establish their new home, create a new family and explore the depths of their love for one another and for you. Bless their families and friends and the relationships, which have supported, strengthened and sustained them throughout their lives. Bless their home as a place of love and of peace. And if times grow hard and tempers grow short, help them to look into their hearts and remember the love that brought them here today. Amen.

We did it, we made it all the way to the part of the ceremony you've all been waiting for; The moment Samantha and Jon's forever adventure officially begins. It brings me the greatest of joy to say that by the power vested in me by the State of North Carolina, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife!

You may share your first married kiss!!

**clapping, cheering, hooting, and maybe even hollering...and then take those married butts back down that aisle**