Dennis John Vogen

Good afternoon,

Jamie, just so you know, I am thorough and before the ceremony today, I confirmed that this is the real Nick before we got started. You're welcome.

Jamie and Nick:

Love is the force that brings us all here today. Love is the force behind much of what we do every day. Whether that means working hard to make ends meet, or taking the time to listen to each other after a long day, or rooting for the Bears, or making sure mom is being taken care of - in even the most simple things we do, love is the reason.

We are all here to support Nick and Jamie on their first day as husband and wife. As you go into married life, remember the reason: the reason you get up each morning, get ready, do your best in the world, and look forward to coming home. Remember the reason you sacrifice, the reason you give, and the reason you laugh. The reason you two are becoming a family.

A wise man once told me that if two people can construct IKEA furniture without wanting to murder one another, then those two people are meant to be. That wise man was Nick, and those two people are you. Most of the time.

Marriage is big and small; the greatest and grandest and most challenging adventure in

the most intimate of human relationships. It is the joyful uniting of two souls whose

care and affection and understanding have evolved into a deep and encompassing love.

Marriage is not a place to hide from the world. It is a safe place to grow. It is the place that you make for each other.

Jamie, let Nick represent love. And he does. His glorious beard. His sense of humor, and his thoughtfulness. His spiciness, and his sweetness. His dedication to his family.

Nick, let Jamie represent love. And she does. Her beauty, inside and out. Her honesty, and her intelligence. Her confidence, and respect for herself. Her dedication to her family.

You represent love to each other. This love stays strong as long as you both invest in and cherish it. This love is alive: it is active, dynamic, and powerful. Cling to it during good times and bad. All marriages have ups and downs — if you will make a habit of returning to your “reason,” you will find the strength to choose each other in every moment, in every place, and at all times.

Marriage lives as a promise of a dream come true. As long as you two are drawn together by that dream, marriage will be a natural unfolding of that relationship. No ceremony can create your marriage. Only you can do that: through love, patience, dedication, perseverance; through talking and listening and understanding; through helping and supporting and believing in each other; through respect, learning to forgive, and appreciating your differences, and to make the important things matter and to let go of the rest.

The goal is actually simple: peaceful nights in the backyard, together, for as long as you both shall live.

Jamie Anne Lenk and Nicholas James Stavredes will now share their vows.

*(Vows)*

Do you Jamie Anne Lenk take this man Nicholas James Stavredes to be your lawfully wedded partner, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?

*(Wait for Confirmation)*

Do you Nicholas James Stavredes take this woman Jamie Anne Lenk to be your lawfully wedded partner, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?

*(Wait for Confirmation)*

Jamie Anne Lenk and Nicholas James Stavredes will now exchange rings as a symbol of their love and commitment.

*(Ring Exchange)*

By the authority vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and the State of Minnesota I now pronounce you wife and husband!