Mary Elizabeth Hayes

Ceremony Welcome/Announcements

Good afternoon and welcome. As we prepare to celebrate the marriage of Kevin and Andy, I’ll ask you to please take a moment to make sure your phones are off.

With grooms as handsome as these, I know you’ll want to get some pictures – and they promise to be available for all the pictures you want to take AFTER the wedding, but they do ask that you leave the photography to the professionals during the ceremony.

Phones off?

Let’s begin.

Invocation

Today we gather in celebration of love in its truest sense. Love is not defined as a commodity afforded only to a select few. Love is a universal and immeasurable gift given between and enjoyed by two people who have deepened their relationship far beyond that of casual friendship. Love is special…and deserves to be celebrated.

To make the ultimate commitment of matrimony is the highest public affirmation of love in our society. To quote the Supreme Court of The United States in the Marriage Equality Act, "No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family.” In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.

Today, Kevin and Andy will promise to become that “something greater” together and will be joined with equal dignity in the eyes of the law.

This wedding is also a celebration of family, and of all of you.

I kindly ask Kevin and Andy’s parents and family members to please rise.

Though this relationship was formed out of the love these two have found in each other, their marriage will ultimately be blessed by the support of their families and those gathered here today.

(parents), members of the Legault family – do you stand in support and blessing of Kevin’s marriage to Andy? (we do)

(parents), members of the Power family – do you stand in support and blessing of Andy’s marriage to Kevin? (we do)

Honored guests – do you also pledge your support and bless this marriage? (all – we do)

Kevin and Andy, please take a moment and look at those who will love, celebrate and support you in the days and years ahead.

Families, you may be seated.

It’s time to get these two married!

First, hear these words of blessing from The Wedding Prayer:

Lord, behold our family here assembled.

We thank thee for this place in which we dwell,

For the love that unites us,

For the peace accorded us this day,

For the hope with which we expect the morrow,

For the health, the work, the food and the bright skies that make our lives delightful;

For our friends in all parts of the earth.

Amen.

(Kevin and Andy's love story)

Exchange of Vows

Kevin and Andy, please join hands.

Our grooms took some private time before the ceremony today to pledge their personal promises to each other, but are giving us the honor of witnessing these vows:

Kevin (Andy), please repeat after me:

I Kevin, choose you, Andy

To be my husband

I vow to celebrate you as you are,

And who you are becoming.

To encourage and comfort you.

To be your friend, companion and partner.

I give you my hand and my heart,

Come what may,

From this day forward.

Exchange of Rings

May I please have the rings?

Kevin and Andy will now exchange rings.

The ring is an ancient symbol, so perfect and simple.

It is a circle, with no beginning or end…for love that is given comes back again.

Gentlemen, your rings are precious because you wear them with love.

They symbolize your commitment in marriage as an outward reminder of the vows and promises you’ve willingly exchanged.

Kevin (Andy), please place the ring on Andy’s finger and repeat after me:

Andy, Take this ring

As a symbol of my love

And commitment to our marriage

With this ring, I marry you.

Sand Ritual

We started this ceremony by joining together to celebrate love, family and friendship. Today, Kevin and Andy are becoming a family of their own, pouring their love and strength into a shared dream for the future.

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

Kevin and Andy will each take different colored sand and pour it into a single jar…a jar they will take home to serve as a daily reminder that their individual strengths will blend together, creating the beautiful, shared life they will nurture in marriage.

(ceremony and song )

Look at the beauty that Kevin and Andy have already created as one – and we haven’t even pronounced them married yet! Let’s get to it.

Pronouncement of the marriage

Kevin and Andy,

In the presence of good company, surrounded by love, through the exchange of vows and rings, I now pronounce you husband and husband.

Please, kiss your groom!

Closing Remarks

We have so much to celebrate!

Kevin and Andy will be joining their families for pictures after the ceremony. You are invited to make your way to the deck where cocktails and hors d’oeuvres await.

We close today with the traditional Irish wedding blessing:

May the meaning of this hour be fulfilled through the days and years to come.

May the love of these men, their unity of spirit,

Grow deeper and stronger in the uncertainties and changes of life they will share.

Loving each other, may they love all persons.

Trusting each other, may they learn to trust life.

May their love reach out to the love of all, that their lives may bless all whose lives they touch.

May they find comfort together in shared hours of shadow, as well as in the bright sunshine of joy.

May they be to each other both strong and gentle.

May all who follow their lives with interest and affection have cause to rejoice not alone in their happiness, but in their brave and generous living, which makes life beautiful and significant.

Presentation of the couple

And now, I am honored to introduce to you for the first time as a married couple, Kevin and Andy