Lori Prashker-Thomas, CPWO

Officiant:

Please gather around for this “ceremony before the ceremony” … the signing of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania marriage license.

Grant and Haley, in this quiet moment before your public wedding ceremony begins, those closest to you are here to witness the signing of the important documents that make this day a once-in-a-lifetime moment for you both.

Officiant:

I ask you both to witness the signing of this Marriage License as the first ceremonial act of your wedding day celebration.

The legal document issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania makes your marriage legal in the eyes of government and society at large. With the legal status of marriage come many rights and responsibilities which will enhance your life and also contribute to the stability and richness of the world around you.

I will now sign this license.

Now the document is signed. Grant and Haley, please join hands. As you look at document, know you are now joined legally just as you will be joined by intent, hope, and love in your wedding ceremony in a few minutes.

The wedding ceremony that follows will be a public declaration of what now exists in a very private way. May your wedding ceremony be a continuation of your celebration and an equally happy and joyful moment.

Congratulations! This calls for your first ceremonial kiss of the day.

 

The Wedding Ceremony

Officiant:

Family and friends of Grant and Haley: Welcome to their wedding.

This is the day that Grant and Haley marry the person they love the most in the world…the one they will laugh with, live for, and love for the rest of their lives.

So it is fitting that you are here…the ones that are closest to them. Your presence at this wedding celebration reminds them how lucky they are to share this important day in their lives with people who are important to them. It means so much to them that family and friends have come to their wedding.

The chuppah under which the Groom and Bride stand is the traditional structure used in a Jewish wedding ceremony. Their traditions are melded today, their families are joined together, and the combined richness of their two heritages will be the foundation for their life together.

As the open sides of a chuppah symbolize hospitality, the chuppah in this ceremony invites you all to feel welcome today…for this is the day of all days that the Bride and Groom want to share with you.

To the Groom and Bride’s families: They are happy you are close to them during this ceremony. They want you to know how much they appreciate your love and support over the years, and they return that love to you with gratitude. They also hope their marriage will be like yours. They see you balance each other, take care of each other, and value each other. They are privileged to have you as role models for their marriage.

So we begin his ceremony with anticipation and excitement for the Groom and Bride as they take a significant step in their lives.

Love Story

Officiant:

Grant and Haley are indeed ready to take this significant step because of the way their love has grown since they first met.

7 months ago it became official as boyfriend and girlfriend, but Grant and Haley have known each other for 3-ish years through their clients. They met through a client who had invited Haley into a session and they began to talk. Haley didn’t like Grant at first as she felt he was over confident and cocky but the more they started to talk and hang out, Haley realized that Grant really was the love of her life.

Grant and Haley, you’ve encouraged each other to try new things and not be afraid… you have loved and supported each other’s dreams and always put the family first.

Your differences work for you…you balance each other; you complement each other.

While your differences make your love story unique and touching, it is your shared values and morals along with your abiding affection, respect, and devotion to each other that makes your love story one that doesn’t end today.

Today begins a new chapter, that of being married. There are many chapters to come…raising a family, sharing many happy times together, supporting each other’s careers, and caring for each other as you age gracefully…still being delightfully different from each other, but always loving each other.

Vows

Officiant:

Now we come to the words that make this ceremony legal and binding.

Marriage, as most of us understand it, is a voluntary and full commitment. It is made in the deepest sense to the exclusion of all others, and it is entered into with the desire, the hope, and the firm intention that it will last for life.

Before you declare your vows to one another, I ask you to confirm that it is indeed your intention to be married today.

Grant and Haley: Do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage? If so, answer together "We do."

Groom and Bride:

We do.

Officiant:

As husband and wife, will you honor and respect each other, care for each other in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, and be faithful to each other for as long as you shall live? If so, answer together “We will.”

Bride and Groom:

We will.

Officiant:

Having understood that it is your intention to be married to each other, I now ask you to declare your marriage vows.

Officiant:

Haley, please repeat after me…

I, Haley Renee Take you, Grant David to be my husband.

I vow to stand with you in the days to come, to honor you, to change with you, to hold our love dear, to be passionate with you, to share the struggles that come to us, to rejoice in the happiness that comes to us, to be kind and caring to you I promise you this from my heart, with my soul, ‘til death do us part.

Officiant:

Grant, please repeat after me…

I, Grant David, choose you, Haley Renee, to be my wife. I will always love you, be a comfort and haven to you, listen deeply and respect you, uphold you with my strength, never take you for granted, and give thanks for all you are to me. I promise to be faithful, to tell the truth, to share the good and the difficult times, to care for you when you need me too. This I pledge with certainty, ‘til death do us part.

These sacred vows are not just between Grant and Haley because you will not only be a new couple, you will be a new family. So Connor and Collin, will you please join us now for the special family rites of this wedding.

GRANT: I want you to know that I dearly love your mother. We have become very good friends over the weeks and months and we have learned to love each other. As you have so graciously shared this wonderful woman with me, so will I share the love I feel for her with you.

Together, we will learn much more about each other. I promise also to be fair and to be honest, to be available for you as I am for your mom, and in due time, to earn your love, respect and true friendship. I will not attempt to replace anyone, but to make a place in your hearts that is for me alone. I will be father and friend, and I will cherish my life with all of you. On this day when I marry your mom, I marry you, and I promise to love and support you as my own.

WEDDING RING EXCHANGE

Officiant:

Your wedding rings are the outward and visible signs of the inward and invisible bond which already unites your two hearts in love. Like your wedding rings, your love is unending.

Haley, as you place Grant’s ring on his finger and repeat after me…

I give you this ring.

Wear it with love and joy.

As this ring has no end,

Neither will my love for you.

Grant now place this ring on Haley’s finger and repeat after me…

With this ring,

I marry you.

Wear this ring always

As a sign of my love.

As this ring has no end,

Neither will my love for you

Officiant:

Boys, during a wedding ceremony rings are exchanged with a promise. It is the promise of a safe haven free from judgment that offers unconditional love and support under any and all circumstances. Therefore, your Mom and Grant thought it appropriate that Connor and Collin should also receive a token of their promise on this day. They wanted to find a way to let them both know how special they are and how blessed they feel to be their parents. They also wanted Connor and Collin to have a physical reminder for the future as they grow and become young adults. Grant, please place their bracelets on their left wrists.

Officiant:

Seven Blessings

Officiant:

Haley and Grant, having witnessed you declare your vows and exchange rings, your family and friends are excited to congratulate you and give you their good wishes. I speak on their behalf as I convey blessings, the traditional seven in number, to you on your wedding day.

1. "Blessed art Thou, O L-rd our G d, King of the universe who hast created the fruit of the vine."

א בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּֽפֶן׃.

2. "Blessed art Thou, O L-rd our G d, King of the universe, who has created all things for His glory."

ב בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהַכֹּל בָּרָא לִכְבוֹדוֹ

3. "Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord our G d, King of the universe, creator of man."

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם יוֹצֵר הָאָדָם

4. "Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord our G d, King of the universe who hast made man in His image, after his likeness, and bast prepared for him, out of his very self, a perpetual fabric. Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord, creator of man."

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶֽלֶם דְּמוּת תַּבְנִיתוֹ וְהִתְקִין לוֹ מִמֶּֽנּוּ בִּנְיַן עֲדֵי עַד. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ יוֹצֵר הָאָדָם

5. "May she who was barren be exceedingly glad and rejoice when her children are united in her midst in joy. Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord, who makes Zion joyful through her children."

שׂוֹשׂ תָּשִׂישׂ וְתָגֵל הָעֲקָרָה בְּקִבּוּץ בָּנֶֽיהָ לְתוֹכָהּ בְּשִׂמְחָה. ‏בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְשַׂמֵּֽחַ צִיּוֹן בְּבָנֶֽיהָ

6. "O make these beloved companions greatly rejoice even as Thou didst rejoice Thy creation in the Garden of Eden as of old. Blessed art Thou, O L-rd, who makest bridegroom and bride to rejoice."

ו שַׂמֵּֽחַ תְּשַׂמַּח רֵעִים הָאֲהוּבִים כְּשַׂמֵּחֲךָ יְצִירְךָ בְּגַן עֵֽדֶן מִקֶּֽדֶם. ‏בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְשַׂמֵּֽחַ חָתָן וְכַלָּה

7. "Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord, King of the universe, who has created joy and gladness, bridegroom and bride, mirth and exultation, pleasure and delight, love, brotherhood, peace and fellowship. Soon may there be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the jubilant voice of bridegrooms from their canopies, and of youths from their feasts of song. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who makest the bridegroom to rejoice with the bride."

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא שָׂשׂוֹן וְשִׂמְחָה חָתָן וְכַלָּה גִּילָה רִנָּה דִּיצָה וְחֶדְוָה אַהֲבָה וְאַחֲוָה וְשָׁלוֹם וְרֵעוּת. מְהֵרָה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ יִשָּׁמַע בְּעָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְחֻצוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָםִ קוֹל שָׂשׂוֹן וְקוֹל שִׂמְחָה קוֹל חָתָן וְקוֹל כַּלָּה קוֹל מִצְהֲלוֹת חֲתָנִים מֵחֻפָּתָם וּנְעָרִים מִמִּשְׁתֵּה נְגִינָתָם. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְשַׂמֵּֽחַ חָתָן עִם הַכַּלָּה

Officiant:

By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I declare that you are husband and wife. Grant, you may now kiss your bride.

Couple kisses.

Officiant:

In a Jewish wedding, it is a joyful end to the ceremony when the groom breaks the glass.

As Grant breaks the glass, this is the wish we have for you both: May your love sustain you and keep you together for as long as it takes the pieces of the glass to come back together. In other words…may you stay together forever.

As the glass is broken, we know your marriage vows are as permanent and final as the breaking of this glass will be unchangeable.

Grant, please break the glass. <Groom breaks the glass.>

Everyone:

Mazel Tov!

Couple faces their guests.

Officiant:

It is my honor and delight to introduce the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Grant and Haley Greenberg.

May your celebration be filled with love and joy.

 

GRANT: I want you to know that I dearly love your mother. We have become very good friends over the weeks and months and we have learned to love each other. As you have so graciously shared this wonderful woman with me, so will I share the love I feel for her with you.

Together, we will learn much more about each other. I promise also to be fair and to be honest, to be available for you as I am for your mom, and in due time, to earn your love, respect and true friendship. I will not attempt to replace anyone, but to make a place in your hearts that is for me alone. I will be father and friend, and I will cherish my life with all of you. On this day when I marry your mom, I marry you, and I promise to love and support you as my own.