Mary Ann Zakrzewicz

OFFICIANT TO THE RECEPTION:

"Welcome beloved friends and family.”

Today we gather here beneath this open sky as a family to celebrate and bless this union between two souls. We bare witness to Sean and Marisa affirming their bond through the sacred tradition of handfasting.

Sean and Marisa are standing here before you today because they have decided to entwine their lives together. After today Sean and Marisa will not just be a couple, they will be a family, a single entity held together by love and devotion.

This affirmation means so much more because they are able to share it with all of you who are here today - their most beloved friends and family.

MARY TO SEAN AND MARISA:

Sean and Marisa today you are not only promising yourselves to each other, you are also committing to being strong for each other, to support and protect each other through all of the challenges you will face in this world.

“Love like all things of this earth grows gradually, strengthening leaf by leaf and breath by breath with each new day. Bless this couple, that they may tend to their love as we may tend to all things on this earth, with nurturing care and patience. Help them to grow love as boundless as the sky, as steadfast as the mountain, as bountiful as the field, as passionate as the sea, and as assuring as the light. All spirits, all of the earth and all of us here bless this couple with company and hope in their darkest days, and laughter and joy in their brightest.

Bless them that their love may continue to grow, always, with each new day.

Mary to Sean:

"Do you Sean take Marisa to be your lawfully wedded partner, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, for richer or poorer, for as long as you both shall live?"

* Sean RESPONDS WITH 'I DO'.

Mary to Marisa:

"Do you Marisa take Sean to be your lawfully wedded partner, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, for richer or poorer, for as long as you both shall live?"

* Marisa RESPONDS WITH 'I DO'.

RING EXCHANGE

Mary to sean and marisa:

"A ring has no beginning or end. Its path is endless and a symbol of your endless love and respect for each other.

By placing these rings on each other's fingers, you are promising to not just to love each other, but to honor each other, to be compassionate, patient, and understanding as you build your future together. You can both feel the love here today. These rings represent this love. Not just your love for each other, but from everyone here today. Let these rings be a reminder of that love, what you are feeling today.``

Mary to Sean:

Sean place the ring on Marisa's finger and repeat after me:

Marisa, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love with the pledge to love and support you today, tomorrow, always, and forever."

*sean REPEATS THE PHRASE AS THEY PLACE THE RING ON marisa’S FINGER.

Mary to Marisa

"And now, Marisa place the ring on Sean's finger and repeat after me:

Sean, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love with the pledge to love and support you today, tomorrow, always, and forever."

*marisa REPEATS THE PHRASE AS THEY PLACE THE RING ON sean'S FINGER.

*Mary wraps the Handfasting rope around sean and marisas wrists*

Mary to sean and marisa:

"Sustaining a healthy marriage takes love. It takes trust. It takes honesty. It takes patience. It takes teamwork, compromise, and understanding.

You will need to have faith in each other, to go forward together, into an unpredictable future. It will take dedication, to stay open to one another - and to learn and grow together.

You both have declared your intent to marry, you have promised to be committed to one another, and have exchanged rings. There is now only one thing left to do..."

Mary TO THE RECEPTION;

"By the power vested in me by the State of Wisconsin and the American Marriage Ministries, I now pronounce you officially married.

Mary to sean and marisa:

Sean, you may now kiss Marisa.

Mary TO THE RECEPTION:

Friends, family, it is my honor and privilege to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Weinfurtner.