Eric Allen Henderson

Good Morning,

Welcome family and friends. Today we celebrate Kathryn Ann Bartholomew and Patrick Michael Emmerson as they make a promise of love and commitment to one another.

Kate and Pat, I encourage you to remember that marriage is a physical and

spiritual bond of unconditional love. It is a strong bond that now and forevermore will be a symbol of

unity between you. A union of mutual concern and shared respect, and of holding tightly to each other

as you form a lifetime of memories.

The vows you make today are your verbal commitment to each other to marry, and they come from

your heart with love.

Do you, Patrick Michael Emmerson take Kathryn Ann Bartholomew to be your wedded wife, to love and honor from this day forward, to be bound in your heart forever.

Do you, Kathryn Ann Bartholomew, take Patrick Michael Emmerson to be your wedded husband, to love and honor from this day forward, to be bound in your heart forever?

At this time I would like to call Gina up to bless the rings. (Gina does the blessing and the exchange of the rings).

I met Pat and Kate just down river from this spot fishing for Salmon about 5 years ago. Even though I still catch more fish than they do they keep coming back!!! So, when they asked me to perform the ceremony today I researched and found a Fisherman's Knot tying ceremony and thought that it would be a fitting addition to the ceremony.

Around the turn of the nineteenth century the art of knot tying arose from the ranks of deep water sailors. Some knots purely practical and some decorative. The Fisherman's Knot or "Lover's Knot".

Pat and Kate have just sealed their relationship with the exchange of vows and the giving and receiving of rings. Today their relationship is further symbolized by the tying of a fisherman's knot; a true lover’s knot, for it is the strongest there is; its bond will not break, becoming ever stronger under pressure.

These two cords represent each of you as individuals - as the unique and special gifts you bring to your marriage. As you fasten your pieces together, these actions represent the joining of your two lives into one common purpose. The completed knot represents

your future, secure in the knowledge your relationship will continue to be strong, despite the inevitable changes life brings.

Although the fisherman's knot is one of the simplest to tie, it is also one of the sturdiest. As stress is applied, the knot becomes ever stronger. It is the goal of marriage to achieve a blending of hearts and lives, but like the spaces between these cords formed by the

knot, let there also be spaces in your new life together, so each may encourage and nurture the individual growth of the other.

"TIE KNOT"

I ask that you now pull on this rope to see it strengthen under pressure while still allowing us to see the individual cords - just as your support of one another as beautiful and blessed individuals strengthens your union. As you hold one another in mutual concern and shared respect, may you continue holding each other tightly in your hearts and form a strong bond, now and forever. Let this knot indicate the strength of your love and be a symbol of your unity from this day forward.

By the power vested in me by the State of New York, I know pronounce you Husband and Wife.

Pat you may kiss your Bride!!