Anna Ivelisse Clayton

YARITZA ROMO DE ANDA & IVAN MISAEL FOSTER MENDOZA

Wedding Ceremony

**September 19, 2026**

PROCESSIONAL

*Wedding party enters.*

*Yaritza enters.*

**ANNA:**

Please rise.

*Once Yaritza reaches Ivan and they are ready:*

You may be seated.

WELCOME

**ANNA:**

Dear family and friends, welcome.

We are gathered here today to celebrate and witness the marriage of Yaritza Romo de Anda and Ivan Misael Foster Mendoza.

Marriage is a commitment that deserves to be entered into thoughtfully and with an understanding of what it asks of two people.

Love matters.

So do loyalty, understanding, friendship, patience, and the willingness to continue choosing one another through all the different seasons of life.

Yaritza and Ivan are surrounded today by people who have known them, loved them, supported them, and watched their relationship grow.

And at least one person here can take a little credit for making sure this relationship happened in the first place.

Because their life together didn't begin today.

It began years ago, with a very specific list, a little help from some friends, and one strategically placed Instagram photo.

But we'll get to that.

THEIR STORY

**ANNA:**

Yaritza and Ivan's story begins just after the pandemic.

Yari had been single for a while and had finally decided she was ready to put herself out there again.

But she wasn't simply looking for *a guy.*

Yari had specifications.

Tall.

Brown.

Mexican.

Smart.

And, perhaps most importantly...

**funny.**

Fortunately, one of her friends, **[MATCHMAKER'S NAME]**, knew someone who fit the description.

His name was Ivan.

Now, apparently simply introducing them would have been far too easy.

There was a plan.

Yari had done her research.

She had seen the scouting report.

And she even had access to Ivan's private Instagram.

All they needed was to make sure Ivan noticed her.

So they posted a particularly gorgeous picture of Yari where Ivan would see it.

And Ivan did exactly what everyone was hoping he would do.

He made his move.

He asked Yari out that Friday night.

Their first date was at a local college bar near UNT, a school they had both attended.

There were drinks.

Good food.

Darts.

Music.

But what Yari and Ivan remember most wasn't any of that.

They talked.

Not the usual first date questions or awkward small talk.

They really talked.

They shared stories. They laughed. They opened up to one another.

It was the kind of conversation where hours can pass without either person noticing because neither one is quite ready for it to end.

Eventually, Ivan decided the night needed dancing.

So they went dancing.

And somewhere between the conversation, the music, and dancing the rest of the night away, Ivan had already begun to understand something.

**Yari was the one.**

TWO WEEKS LATER

**ANNA:**

Yari, however, still had another test for him.

They had only been dating for about two weeks when Yari mentioned that she and her best friend were going to a Latin music festival the following month.

She casually asked Ivan if he wanted to come.

And before she could practically finish the invitation, Ivan had his phone out.

Ticket purchased.

No hesitation.

It may have seemed like a small thing, but Yari remembered it.

Because very early in their relationship, Ivan was already showing her something about himself.

His words and his actions matched.

If something mattered to her, he was willing to show up for it.

Of course, buying the ticket wasn't the final test.

He still had to meet the best friend.

Her approval mattered.

Ivan went to the festival.

He met the best friend.

There was music.

There was dancing.

And by the end of the night...

**thumbs up.**

Approved.

But there was something bigger happening too.

Yari had opened a door into something that mattered to her, and Ivan stepped through it without hesitation.

Little by little, he wasn't simply dating Yari.

He was becoming part of her world.

FIVE YEARS LATER

**ANNA:**

And apparently Ivan took that invitation into Yari's world very seriously.

Not long after, Ivan developed another plan.

This one was considerably simpler.

**Move in...and never leave.**

And five years later?

I'd say the plan worked.

His name is officially on the lease.

Right next to Gordo's.

Their cat.

*Pause for laughter.*

What began with a carefully placed Instagram picture became a first date.

A first date became hours of conversation and dancing.

Two weeks later came a music festival and a best friend's approval.

And then came everything that happened afterward.

The years in between.

The ordinary days.

The experiences and memories that slowly turn “you” and “me” into **us**.

And that is the life Yaritza and Ivan are standing here today to continue.

REFLECTION ON MARRIAGE

**ANNA:**

Their story has something worth carrying into their marriage.

Ivan also carries with him today the love his grandmother, **[GRANDMOTHER'S NAME]**, gave him.

She taught him, in her own way, what it feels like to be deeply loved and cared for.

**[PERSONAL DETAIL ABOUT HIS GRANDMOTHER, IF IVAN WOULD LIKE ONE INCLUDED.]**

In Yaritza, Ivan has found a love that he recognizes as home.

The love his grandmother gave him is part of this day because the love we receive throughout our lives helps shape the love we learn to give.

It becomes part of us.

Part of how we care for someone else.

Part of how we recognize when we have found someone worth building a life with.

And Yari noticed something about Ivan very early in their relationship.

His words and his actions matched.

He didn't just say yes to being part of her life.

He showed up.

Marriage will ask both of you to keep doing that.

To show up.

Not only for celebrations like this one, but on ordinary Tuesdays.

When one of you is tired.

When plans change.

When life is exciting.

When life is frustrating.

When one of you needs the other to listen.

And when there aren't perfect words for what needs to be said.

Marriage is built in those everyday choices.

In being present.

In listening.

In laughing together.

In patience.

In knowing when to talk and when to simply reach for the other person's hand.

The two people standing here today will change.

Five years from now, ten years from now, twenty years from now, neither of you will be exactly the person you are today.

And that's part of the privilege of sharing a life with someone.

You get to know each other again and again.

You get to watch each other grow.

You get to become new versions of yourselves while continuing to find your way back to one another.

Yaritza and Ivan, keep stepping into each other's worlds the way you did at the beginning.

Keep showing up.

Keep choosing one another.

And whatever comes next, face it together.

PERSONAL VOWS

**ANNA:**

Yaritza and Ivan will now share the vows they have written for one another.

These are their own promises about the marriage and the life they are choosing together.

Ivan, when you're ready, you may share your vows with Yari.

IVAN'S PERSONAL VOWS

**[IVAN'S VOWS]**

**ANNA:**

Yaritza, when you're ready, you may share your vows with Ivan.

YARITZA'S PERSONAL VOWS

**[YARITZA'S VOWS]**

DECLARATION OF INTENT

**ANNA:**

Yaritza and Ivan, you have shared your promises with one another.

Now I ask you to declare your intention to enter into marriage.

**Yaritza Romo de Anda**, do you take **Ivan Misael Foster Mendoza** to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love him, honor him, support him, and stand beside him in sickness and in health, in good times and difficult ones, for richer or poorer, for as long as you both shall live?

**YARITZA:**

I do.

**ANNA:**

**Ivan Misael Foster Mendoza**, do you take **Yaritza Romo de Anda** to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love her, honor her, support her, and stand beside her in sickness and in health, in good times and difficult ones, for richer or poorer, for as long as you both shall live?

**IVAN:**

I do.

RING EXCHANGE

**ANNA:**

May I have the rings?

Yaritza and Ivan will now exchange rings as symbols of the love and commitment they have expressed here today.

The promises you've made will live in the choices you make long after this ceremony ends.

These rings give you something tangible to carry with you.

You'll wear them during celebrations and ordinary days, through the easy seasons and the ones that require a little more of you.

And over the years, they will collect a history of their own, a reminder of where you began, what you've built, and the person you chose to build it with.

**Ivan, place the ring on Yaritza's finger.**

Ivan, please repeat after me.

**Yaritza, I give you this ring.**

**As a symbol of my love.**

**And of the promises I have made to you today.**

**I choose you.**

**Today and always.**

**ANNA:**

Yaritza, place the ring on Ivan's finger.

Please repeat after me.

**Ivan, I give you this ring.**

**As a symbol of my love.**

**And of the promises I have made to you today.**

**I choose you.**

**Today and always.**

CLOSING

**ANNA:**

Yaritza and Ivan, take a moment and look around you.

These are your people.

The ones who knew you before today and the ones who will continue walking alongside you after it.

Now, look at each other.

When the music ends, when everyone goes home, when the flowers are put away, and September 19 becomes an anniversary you celebrate every year, this is what remains.

The two of you.

And the life you continue building together.

Keep laughing.

Keep talking the way you did on that very first date.

Keep dancing.

Keep stepping into the things that matter to one another.

And keep showing up.

May your home have love and peace.

May there always be room to laugh, grow, make mistakes, forgive, and begin again.

Never lose the friendship within your love.

And no matter how many years pass, may you always recognize in one another the person you want beside you when the music starts.

PRONOUNCEMENT

**ANNA:**

Yaritza Romo de Anda and Ivan Misael Foster Mendoza, you have spoken your vows, declared your intention to marry, and exchanged rings as symbols of your love and commitment.

By the authority vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and the State of Texas, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Ivan...

**you may kiss your bride.**

THE KISS

*Pause for the kiss, photographs, and celebration.*

PRESENTATION

**ANNA:**

Family and friends...

For the first time as husband and wife...

## **YARITZA AND IVAN!**

*Applause.*

*Mariachi begins and the couple recesses.*