Rok Tkavc

Introduction

Before we get started, take a minute to look at the person sitting next to you. Whether you’ve known Roxana and Gurpreet a short time or for years, each of you brings irreplaceable joy to their lives. Each of you share a special place in their story, and are part of a community they’re incredibly grateful for. You all, including those who are no longer with us physically, but who remain in their hearts and minds, are their family, the people who make them feel accepted, appreciated, and loved, just the way they are.

So take a moment to smile at each other. Feel the warmth and love that fills this room! Keep that love in your hearts as we get these two married!

Invocation

Welcome, beloved family and friends! We’re gathered here to support this happy couple in marriage, and are so grateful you could all join us today!

Spanish: ¡Bienvenidos amigos, familiares y seres queridos! Estamos reunidos hoy como testigos para celebrar el matrimonio de esta linda pareja y estamos muy agradecidos por su presencia.

Punjabi: Dzi ajanu prvar te restedar nu. Apan adzdz ekathe hoe-han ehna de ve-a de već. Asi tohadda dan-wad karde han ke tusin sadde nal dzoddo sake.

This is not the beginning of a new relationship but an acknowledgment of the next chapter in their lives together. Roxana and Gurpreet have spent years getting to know each other, and we now bear witness to what their relationship has become. Today, they will affirm this bond formally and publicly.

Roxana and Gurpreet will mark their transition as a couple not only by celebrating the love between themselves, but by also celebrating the love between all of us—including the love of their parents, siblings, extended family, and best friends. Without that love, today would be far less joyous.

Now, I would like to read to you the passage from “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” by Louis de Bernière

“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being ‘in love’ which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your parents had it, they had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from their branches they found that they were one tree and not two. Love is important and you should love each other the most.”

We know that true love is not something that can be taught, or instructed. Love lies deep within the soul, it’s an intrinsic part of who we are as human beings. And it’s a powerful force that can overcome almost any obstacle.

Roxana and Gurpreet’s relationship demonstrates that power, and a love that conquers all. Especially now, during these difficult times in the pandemic era, when couples are breaking up, when people are gaining extra pounds, when they are trying to re-invent themselves and trying to find another hobby, these two decided to get married! They are the proof of the statement in the passage I just read. Love is temporary madness! And we are here to celebrate this “madness”!

Today, they pledge to tend to and nurture that love, to be each other’s family, to honor and celebrate their community, and to revel in the joyful life they build together.

Declaration of Intent

Marriage is a serious step, a lifelong commitment to love and care for each other. Are you both ready to take this step together?

Couple: YES

Do you Roxana Pilligua-Lucas take Gurpreet Singh to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?

Roxana: I do.

Do you Gurpreet Singh take Roxana Pilligua-Lucas to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?

Gurpreet: I do.

Sand Ceremony

We started this ceremony by looking at each other, by feeling the power of love and community. This love binds us, and can’t be broken. Today, Roxana and Gurpreet are becoming a family of their own, pouring their love and strengths into a shared dream for the future.

To honor this, they’ll partake in a Sand Ceremony.

William Goldman wrote in The Princess Bride, “Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches…”

Roxana and Gurpreet will each take different colored sand, and pour it into this single jar. They will take this jar home with them, so that every day they will be reminded of how their individual strengths and passions can blend together into a shared beautiful life.

DURING THIS TIME, THE MINISTER Brings A SMALL TABLE THAT HOLDS THE JARS. The COUPLE TAKE TURNS POURING SMALL AMOUNTS OF COLORED SAND INTO THE LARGER JAR, CREATING A PATTERN. IF THE SAND IS POURING SLOWLY, THE JAR DOESN’T HAVE TO BE FILLED ALL THE WAY AT THIS TIME.

As you can see, the jar is now filled with these really neat colored twists and patterns.

We wish the same for the two of you, that your lives will be much more interesting, fun, creative, and exciting together.

Ring Exchange

A ring is an unbroken circle, with ends that have been joined together, and it represents your union. It is a symbol of infinity, and of your infinite love. When you look at these rings on your hands, be reminded of this moment, your commitment, and the love you now feel for each other.

Roxana, place the ring on Gurpreet's finger and repeat after me:

Gurpreet, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love

with the pledge:

to love you today,

tomorrow,

always,

and forever.

And now...Gurpreet, place the ring on Roxana's finger and repeat after me:

Roxana, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love

with the pledge:

to love you today,

tomorrow,

always,

and forever.

Pronouncement

Before these witnesses, you have pledged to be joined in marriage. You have now sealed this pledge with your wedding rings. By the authority vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and the State of Maryland I now pronounce you wife and husband.

Now you may kiss.