Donna Rose Catania

• GUESTS TAKE THEIR SEATS.

INVOCATION

OFFICIANT TO GUESTS

Welcome, loved ones. We gather on this joyful occasion to celebrate love, laughter, and light on Jennifer and Jared’s wedding day. 

Guests on behalf of Jennifer and Jared we ask that you please take out your cell phones and from your seat take a selfie with or of the bride and groom and send it to them. Now please silence your phones and put them away. Jared and Jennifer want you to be truly present as they share their best day ever with you. Plus, there may be a pop quiz after the ceremony, so you should really pay attention during the whole thing!
 
Each of you here represents a piece of Jared and Jennifer’s lives. Whether you came into their lives years ago, or more recently, your presence here is a gift to them – and I know it means a lot to them. Thank you for being here!
 
Before we begin today’s celebration, I have just one question for our family & friends, that I’d like for you to answer loudly and proudly: Are we ready to get these two married?! 

• GUESTS RESPOND "YES!" AND CHEER

 OFFICIANT TO THE COUPLE

Jared and Jennifer, today, your lives blend seamlessly together and you’re about to embark on the greatest of adventures . Look before you. Each of these vases filled with sand and represents your life prior to your meeting. Jared the vase on the right is yours. Jennifer the vase on the left is yours. The vase in the middle represents your new life together, and at the moment, it is empty.

Jared and Jennifer

There is a new path is ahead of you, and to navigate it well, there are skills to be learned and practiced daily.

Wilferd Arlan Peterson's “The Art of a Good Marriage” reminds us that a good marriage doesn’t just happen, one must be created. In marriage, the little things are the big things; like never being too old to hold hands – and remembering to say, “I love you,” at least once a day. It also takes patience, kindness… and fighting the urge to snarkily respond when it’s best to keep your mouth zipped.

On that note, a good marriage sometimes takes a really good sense of humor... as the following reading reminds us.

 Read by Judie D’Ambrosio

READING

• "MARRIAGE" - BY ANONYMOUS

"Marriage is about giving and taking
And forging and forsaking
Kissing and loving and pushing and shoving
Caring and sharing and screaming and swearing
About being together whatever the weather
About being driven to the end of your tether
About sweetness and kindness
And wisdom and blindness  
It’s about being strong when you’re feeling quite weak
It’s about saying nothing when you’re dying to speak
It’s about being wrong when you know you are right
It’s about giving in, before there’s a fight
It’s about you two living as cheaply as one
(you can give us a call if you know how that’s done!)  
Never heeding advice that was always well-meant
Never counting the cost until it’s all spent
And for you two today it’s about to begin
And for all that the two of you had to put in
Some days filled with joy, and some days with sadness
Too late you’ll discover that marriage is madness."

DECLARATION OF INTENT 

OFFICIANT TO THE COUPLE

With this wisdom – and your love - in mind, I now ask you:

OFFICIANT TO PARTNER A

Jared, do you welcome Jennifer to be your wife and your cherished best friend?

• PARTNER A RESPONDS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE.

OFFICIANT TO Jennifer

Do you welcome Jared to be your husband and your cherished best friend?

• PARTNER B RESPONDS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE. 

EXCHANGE OF VOWS 

OFFICIANT TO THE COUPLE

Before you pledge your vows to one another, let’s pause for a moment and take in the beauty that surrounds us here. Take a look at your guests and feel their love for you – as well as the love you have for each other. 
 
Please look into each other’s eyes as you share your promises to each other. 
 

OFFICIANT TO JARED

• THE OFFICIANT TURNS TO PARTNER A, WHO REPEATS EACH PORTION OF VOWS AFTER IT'S READ

I promise to share the covers, leave the toilet seat down, and not throw my dirty socks everywhere. Most of all, I vow to never stop playing with you – to love you as my best friend, lover, and partner in life. 

• PARTNER A REPEATS EACH PORTION

 

OFFICIANT TO JENNIFER

• THE OFFICIANT TURNS TO PARTNER B, WHO REPEATS EACH PORTION OF VOWS AFTER IT'S READ

"I promise to not tell you how to drive, to cherish you, but not obey - because that’s a little creepy. Most of all, I vow to never stop playing with you – to love you as my best friend, lover, and partner in life." 

• PARTNER B REPEATS EACH PORTION

•

SAND CEREMONY

Earlier, I mentioned that the vase representing your new life together was empty. While your marriage does represent a new beginning, it’s also important to recognize that life never truly presents fresh starts-each of you are coming to this marriage with a wealth of experiences and relationships that shape you as individuals.

But life does allow us to continually redefine ourselves. When you pour out your vase,I want you to think of how your life thus far may influence your relationship to your spouse, but you should also appreciate that your spouse will be your greatest teammate in pursuing life’s greatest promise; life is an experience that you are always invited to redefine.

Jared and Jennifer, you are welcome to pour your respective vase into the middle vase. Your individual grains of sand will never be able to be fully extracted from one another- so will your lives be forever entwined from this point forward.

RING EXCHANGE

Jared please place this ring on Jennifer’s finger and repeat after me.

This ring is a token of my love for you. Let it remind you that you’re always in my heart.

Jennifer please place this ring on Jared’s finger and repeat after me. This ring is a token of my love for you. Let it remind you that you’re always in my heart.

PRONOUNCEMENT

Jared and Jennifer, by the love that has brought you here today, by the vows and rings you have exchanged in the presence of your loved ones, by the power vested in me by the state of New York and the American Marriage Ministry’s, I pronounce Jared and Jennifer as married. Now, you may seal your marriage with a kiss.

Presentation of the NEWLYWEDS

OFFICIANT TO GUESTS

Family and Friends, it is my pleasure to present to you for the first time as newlyweds, Mr and Mrs Jared Hartman!