Christopher R. Wysong

INVOCATION

OFFICIANT TO THE RECEPTION

"Family and Friends, thank you all for coming today to share this wonderful occasion.

We come together today as Julia and Dillion receive one of God’s greatest gifts – a loving partner to grow with, to share life’s joys and challenges with, to build a family with, to grow old with, and to journey in faith throughout all of their days.

“You don't marry the person you can live with—you marry the person you can't live without.”

So let us pray, asking for His blessing on this marriage.

Oh, Heavenly Father, bless this couple as they give themselves to one another in this holy marriage bond. Guide them with patience and love, lighting their path brightly as they walk together in your Spirit. Bless this union with a pristine and pure love and a desire to live in faith that is as strong as your own. Amen.

PRESENTATION OF THE BRIDE

OFFICIANT TO THE CONGREGATION

Family is the foundation that carries us – supporting each other’s growth and loving us into every next chapter of life. Who supports this bride in marriage?

BRIDE’S FAMILY

“We do.”

WORDS ON MARRIAGE

OFFICIANT TO THE CONGREGATION

Marriage doesn't have to be complicated to be strong. Some of the best marriages are simple ones — not built on grand gestures, but on showing up for each other, day after day. Dillon and Julia are simple people. Not because they lack ambition, but because they've already figured out that a good marriage isn't about what you have — it's about whom you're building a life with. They work together. They enjoy each other's company. Marriage is a partnership. It's an ordinary Monday. It's choosing, again and again, to work alongside each other — through easy seasons and hard ones. Keep it exactly this simple and this real. Keep working together. Keep enjoying each other's company. Keep choosing each other, without needing a reason beyond wanting to. That's not a small thing. That's the whole thing.

VOWS

Dillion and Julia will now share their vows.

DECLARATION OF INTENT

OFFICIANT TO DILLION

"Do you, Dillion, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?"

DILLION TO JULIA

"I do."

OFFICIANT TO JULIA

"Do you, Julia, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in matrimony, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?"

JULIA TO DILLION

"I do."

RINGS EXCHANGE

OFFICIANT TO THE RECEPTION

"Dillion and Julia have chosen rings to exchange with each other that symbolize unity, completion, wholeness, and their unending love."

OFFICIANT TO DILLION

"Dillion, as you place this ring on Julia's finger, please repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed, and pledge you, my love, now and forever."

• DILLION REPEATS THE PHRASE AS THEY PLACE THE RING ON JULIA'S FINGER.

OFFICIANT TO JULIA

"Julia, as you place this ring on Dillion's finger, please repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed, and pledge you, my love, now and forever."

• JULIA REPEATS THE PHRASE AS THEY PLACE THE RING ON DILLION'S FINGER.

PRONOUNCEMENT

OFFICIANT TO THE RECEPTION

"By the authority vested in me by the State of Ohio, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may now kiss the bride!"