Robin Sabrina Washington

Unplugged Ceremony ,

Good Afternoon Family & Friends, At the request of the bride and groom, I am asking that you hold off on posting any photos or videos to any social media accounts, until the bride and groom have had a chance to do so.

Bridal Party Recession

Welcome Statement

OFFICIANT (to congregation)

Please be seated… Thank you.

Welcome Friends, Family, and loved ones! We are here today to celebrate as we watch Nakeya Winston and Nakia Ewing, join hands in marriage. We’re here to laugh with them, cry with them but most of all, we’re here to wish them well as they begin their new lives together. I’d like to say, on behalf of NAKEYA and NICKY, thank you all so very much for being here. It really means a lot to them.

OFFICIANT (to congregation):

To start our ceremony off today, I’ve asked NAKEYA & NICKY to choose a poem to be read here at the beginning that symbolizes their relationship. The poem is taken from a novel entitled Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and written by Louis de Bernières,

OFFICIANT (to congregation):

Love is a temporary madness,

it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides.

And when it subsides you have to make a decision.

You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together

that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.

Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness,

it is not excitement,

it is not the public announcement of eternal passion.

That is just being “in love” which any fool can do.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away,

and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.

OFFICIANT (to congregation):

Ladies and gentlemen, that’s what we’re here to witness, the entangled roots of these two individuals that are about to join together as one united tree, reaching for the stars together, sharing the same nutrients, weathering the same storms, growing together year after year - some rings thick and healthy, some rings thinner – reminders of the years where things didn’t go as planned, or the years that fires hit the reset button all around them.

Because real love is sharing a life together. Like the poet said, any fool can fall in love. Real love is what comes next. After the fall is over. What happens when you’ve landed and all around you is normalcy once again and it’s time to do the dishes, or pay the bills, or pick up the kids from school.

There’s a great line from another poem by Adrienne Rich that says “No dust on the furniture of love.” In that poem, the speaker is being tongue in cheek about the difference between falling in love, and the crash landing that happens for so many of us.

NAKIA , NICKY, we all stand here with you today and hold you up in happiness, but in a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months, maybe even in a couple of years, real life is going to have to creep back in. You will need each other to face those challenges. You will need each other as partners. As equals, fiercely honest with one another and fiercely committed to one another. You have to be both. Honest and committed, because real love demands both, and a successful marriage demands a foundation of real love.

OFFICIANT (to couple):

NAKEYA and NICKY, I want to urge you to hold to that vision of your love for one another, because all of us here are behind you and we’re rooting for you. We are all here to wish you the best that life has to offer you both as you move forward as one united tree together!

Knowing this, it’s time to declare yourselves to one another.

Declaration of Intent

OFFICIANT (to NAKEYA):

will you take Nikki to be your lawfully wedded husband from this day forward - through whatever challenges and triumphs life brings you; will you love him, honor him, and cherish him and no other - for the rest of your life?

Nakeya_SAYS I will.

OFFICIANT TO NICKY

will you take NAkeya to be your lawfully wedded wife from this day forward - through whatever challenges and triumphs life brings you; will you love her, honor her and cherish her and no other - for the rest of your life?

Nicky says: I will.

May we have the rings

Wedding Coordinator Shaki comes forth and explains Wedding Ring Beneath Seat and honorary ring bearer.

Vow/Ring Exchange

OFFICIANT (to NAKEYA):

NAKEYA, please repeat after me: NICKY, I give you this ring as a symbol of my promise to love you forever. With it, I promise that I will honor you, cherish you, and love you the rest of my days, regardless of what challenges or triumphs we face together.

(NAKEYA puts ring on NICKY’S finger)

OFFICIANT (to NICKY):

NICKY, please repeat after me: NAKEYA, I give you this ring as a symbol of my promise to love you forever. With it, I promise that I will honor you, cherish you, and love you the rest of my days, regardless of what challenges or triumphs we face together.

(NICKY puts ring on NAKEYA’s finger)

Jumping of the Broom.........

We end this ceremony with the African American tradition of jumping the Broom. As our happy couple jump, they physically and spiritually cross the threshold into the land of matrimony. Today it represents great joy and at the same time serves as a reminder of the past. It marks the beginning of making a life together and symbolizes the sweeping away of the old and the welcoming of the new. The sweeping away of negative energy, making way for all things that are good to come into your lives. It is also a call of support for the marriage from the entire community of family and friends.

The leap they take together over the broom is a gesture they take of dedication to working together through the tough times ahead as well as the easy times. They leave behind the past and jump into the future together, secure in their love.

The broom is laid on the floor, the partners hold hands and jump over the boom together.

Nekeya and Nikki will now begin their new life together with a clean sweep.

We end this ceremony with a Sand Ceremony

Officiant says as they pour the sand into the vases

Today, both of you will seal your bond by blending these two individual vases together. Once the sand is blended together, it cannot be separated. Just as the sand cannot be separated, your friends and family are here today to witness your love never separating

Pronouncement

OFFICIANT (to couple):

NAKEYA, NICKY, having proclaimed love and commitment to one another in the sight of these witnesses and myself, I am so happy to pronounce you, by the power vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and the state of Georgia, I now pronounce you, husband and wife

Nikki, may kiss your bride (Couple kisses)

OFFICIANT (to congregation):

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to present to you,

Mr and Mrs Nikiya Ewing