Scott Chevalier

COMMODORE: Greetings Lords, Ladies, privateers, merfolk, and all other assembled gentle-folk; sea-dogs and land-lubbers alike. We are gathered here today on this spot of land surrounded by eternal seas, and in this community of faithful crew, to join in holy matrimony Crystal and Doug, steadfast sailors and seafaring adventurers.

(From A Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh)

“When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow and tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity–in freedom, in the sense that dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.

“The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread and anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. For relationships, too, must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits – islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides. One must accept the security of the winged life, of the ebb and flow, of intermittency.”

If anyone knows of any reason that these two should not be joined in marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace. <Hand on sword hilt and stern gaze over the crowd>

Without further ado and before either of these pirates can come to their senses, we will proceed with this holy and everlasting sacrament.

11. EXCHANGE OF VOWS

COMMODORE: Crystal and Doug, have you vows to proclaim to one another?

<vows>

Crystal and Doug, should storms shiver thy timbers and collapse thy sails, do you promise to find succor and shelter in the safe harbor of each other's arms? If so, answer, “We do.”

BRIDE AND GROOM: We do.

COMMODORE: Crystal, as you tack through the tall ships of the high seas, will you promise to drop your dock lines solely over the stalwart bollard post of your Captain Doug? If so, answer, “I will.”

BRIDE: I will.

COMMODORE: Doug, should your Firstmate Crystal sail aluff*, do you promise to always, faithfully, retrieve her with thy dinghy? If so, answer, “I will.”

GROOM: I will.

12. EXCHANGE OF RINGS

COMMODORE: May I have the rings?

May these rings be blessed with the power to anchor these lovers forever to each other. May their fingers forever be woven together through the strength of these eternal circles. May their hearts forever beat as one organ. May their fates be as intertwined as a rafted-together flotilla after a very hard squall, so that their anchor tackle is tangled and hewn into a forever knot that cannot be separated by any siren, leviathan, or fid**. This we wish for them into eternity.

Friends gathered here today, will you support the union of these two shipmates? If so, all answer, “We will.”

ALL: “We will.”

COMMODORE: Doug, please ring your prize.

Crystal, please ring your treasure.

Crystal, with the powers of the deep vested in me by Neptune, I hereby consign to you charge of your Captain, Doug.

Doug, I hereby consign you to the love and care of your new Firstmate, Crystal.

COMMODORE: Pastor Matt, I give you all assembled for your blessings.

13. PRAYER OF BLESSING (Pastor Matt Poorman)

COMMODORE: Crew of the fearsome ship Southland come forth now to add your sands together for the building of a secure shore on which to safely berth your ship.

14. SAND CEREMONY WITH BRIDE, GROOM, AND ALL CHILDREN - Call children up by name, in this order: Lance, Deacon, Faith, Hannah, Ashenafi

15. PRESENTATION OF THE SOUTHLAND CREW

16. RETURN KIDS TO THEIR SEATS

Pronouncement of Marriage

“Crystal and Doug, for as long as there have been beaches and waves the ocean never tires of kissing the shore… over… and over…. and over again. The sun never hesitates to rise or set. May you see this marriage as a part of who and what you joyfully are. May you kiss often, laugh a lot, and look forward to every morning and every evening as a new opportunity to experience this beautiful life you are now vowed to share forevermore

And now that you’ve made your vows and promises of love and faithfulness before these assembled witnesses, and exchanged rings of commitment as a testimony to that love, it is my honor and privilege to pronounce you husband and wife. May you find fair winds, red sunsets, and following seas

You may commence with the kissing of one another.

17. ASK FOR SWORDMATES IN THE FAMILY TO READY THEIR BLADES, YAR!

COMMODORE: Swordmates, ready your sabers!

18. PRESENTATION OF THE COUPLE, WITH SWORDS DRAWN

I present to all here assembled Captain Doug and Firstmate Crystal of the unsinkable ship Southland!

Three cheers for the new couple in the traditional way of “hip, hip, hoo’rah”

ALL: Hip, hip, hoo’rah! Hip, hip, hoo’rah! Hip, hip, hoo’rah!