Keith Darryl Powers

Marriage Ceremony

Friends,

We have come together to witness the promises of Haeleigh Sellars and Tyler Woodward in marriage. Haeleigh and Tyler thank you for being here to share with them in their happiness and in their hopes for the future.

Marriage involves caring and giving, learning to share one’s life with another person, enjoying the love and meaning which can be found together. It provides the encouragement to risk more and thus to gain more. It involves facing together whatever adversity might arise.

Here before this gathering, Haeleigh and Tyler wish to pledge their love for each other and their desire to spend their lives together.

Welcome to the Bride and Groom

Haeleigh and Tyler, we welcome you. We are glad to join with you in the celebration of your marriage, to witness your vows and to wish you joy in your life together.

Reading

Hear the words of An Apache Wedding Prayer:

Now each of you will feel no rain,

For each of you will be shelter to the other.

Now you will feel no cold,

For each of you will be warmth to the other.

Now there is no more loneliness,

For each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two bodies,

But there is only one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling place

To enter the days of your togetherness

And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

Questions and Declarations

Tyler, do you love and trust Haeleigh and want to be her husband?

(Yes, I do.)

Will you stand by her no matter what happens, respecting her as a person, understanding her needs, and enjoying her love until death parts you?

(Yes, I will.)

Haeleigh, do you love and trust Tyler and want to be his wife?

(Yes, I do.)

Will you stand by him no matter what happens, respecting him as a person, understanding his needs, and enjoying his love until death parts you?

(Yes, I will.)

The Marriage Vows

Haeleigh, today I take you to be my wife. Whatever life may bring, I will love and care for you always.

Tyler, today I take you to be my husband. Whatever life may bring, I will love and care for you always.

The Rings

Let these rings say to all that your commitment is deep and life-long.

While placing the ring on the other’s finger:

This ring is a token of my faithfulness and love, and a symbol that all I have I share with you.

The Blessing

May love be ever present like the quiet dewdrop on morning grass.

May love hover like a rainbow arching above your sky that you see whenever you stop to look.

May love buzz like the ever-busy bee flitting from flower to flower attending to its calling to connect male to female – life to life.

May love sing a constant melody in your heart that comforts, strengthens, and blesses your thoughts and feelings.

May love be your loyal companion through the inevitable sadness, loss, and anguish of life’s ebb and flow.

May love, like a mighty river crashing and spinning, make its way to the sea where it becomes one with all love.

The Pronouncement

To the assembled:

We have witnessed the promises made by Haeleigh and Tyler, and now recognize them as husband and wife!

The newlyweds kiss and the assembled persons express their joy.

The Dismissal

Now go in peace and may the blessings of love be with you all, now and forever!