Nichole Amy Kunkle

Welcome Statement …

(Officiant to audience)

Please be seated… Thank you.

Friends, family, and loved ones, we come together today, in the sight of the divine and of you as witnesses to join Bill and Blake in marriage. We gather around them now in this wonderful place, and we look on with love and hope as these two begin their new life together as one.

One behalf of Bill and Blake they thank everyone that has traveled from near or far to celebrate this wonderful day with them. Today, they will affirm this bond they have formed and declare their love with all of their beloved family as witnesses.

Speech/ Sermon/ Introduction …

(Officiant to audience)

Marriage is a sacred institution in our culture. It’s a tradition of partnership, of trust, and of dependence on one another to navigate the sometimes stormy seas of life. People have said that marriage requires things like work, like commitment, and like sacrifice – and certainly all of those things are true. No matter what it looks like in the end, however, a healthy marriage always needs a solid foundation.

It begins with love, to be sure, but what does that mean? People say they love chocolate, is that the same as the love we need for a solid marriage? Of course not. The love we need comes from being willing to make sacrifices. The love we need comes from being committed to working through everything together, and maintaining open communications - even when it is difficult. The love we need makes the work it takes to maintain all worth it.

On top of that foundation of love - a mixture of work, sacrifice, and commitment - we can build things like trust and intimacy, and all of the beautiful things that make a marriage worthwhile.

Intent…

(Officiant to couple)

Bill and Blake, are you ready to proclaim that foundation of love for one another in the sight of the heavens and these witnesses?

Declaration of Intent…

(Officiant to couple)

Bill, do you take Blake to be your lawfully wedded wife? Will you honor and cherish her; love, trust, and commit to her through joy and pain, sickness and health, and whatever life may throw at you both, until death do you part?

Bill will say… I DO

Blake, do you take Bill to be your lawfully wedded husband? Will you honor and cherish him; love, trust, and commit to her through joy and pain, sickness and health, and whatever life may throw at you both, until death do you part?

Blake will say… I DO

Vows/ Ring Exchange…

(Officiant to audience)

At this time, Bill and Blake will exchange rings. The wedding ring is a symbol of binding. A symbol of attachment and of belonging, not of possession, but of partnership.

Vows/ Ring Exchange…

(Officiant to couple)

Bill, please repeat after me: Blake, I promise to love you and commit to you my whole life. I promise to be there for you when you need me, to be honest with you, to be faithful to you and you alone, and to walk through the valleys of life together, just as we will stand atop mountains together too.

Blake, please repeat after me: Bill, I promise to love you and commit to you my whole life. I promise to be there for you when you need me, to be honest with you, to be faithful to you and you alone, and to walk through the valleys of life together, just as we will stand atop mountains together too.

Tie the Knot

(Officiant to couple)

In joining the hands and the tying of this knot, so are your lives now bound, one to another. With this knot, do I tie all the desires, dreams, love, and happiness wished here in this place to your lives for as long as love shall last. If so, please say I do.

Pronouncement…

(Officiant to couple)

Bill and Blake, having proclaimed your love and commitment to one another in the eyes of these loved ones, and with the power vested in me, I am so happy to pronounce you husband and wife! Bill, you may kiss your bride!

Closing Statement…

(Officiant to Audience)

Thank you all so much for joining us in this special moment in Bill’s and Blake’s life! Bill and Blake have asked that you join them for a cocktail hour at the entrance to the barn.

Thank you all once again!