Todd Joseph Tschiggfrie

Giving away the Bride

Officiant: I’ve never met a father who was willing to give up his daughter, so instead I ask…Tom, do I have your blessing for this marriage?

Father: Yes, you do

Welcome

Officiant: We gather here today as family, friends, and loved ones, in the presence of God to witness and celebrate one of life’s greatest moments; the joining of two hearts. You have come here to share in this formal commitment, to offer your love and support to this union, and to allow Tony and Colleen to start their married life together surrounded by the people dearest and most important to them.

So welcome to one and all, who have travelled from near and far. Tony and Colleen thank you for your presence here today it means the world to them. Thank you for being their support system, their encouragement, their partners in crime, and for loving them through life’s ups and downs. You have all helped make them who they are today, and for that, they are forever grateful. They are truly blessed to have each of you in their lives.

Definition of Marriage

Officiant: Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure of human relationships. No ceremony can create your marriage, only you can do that...through your love and patience; through dedication and perseverance; through talking and listening, helping, supporting and believing in each other. By learning to forgive and appreciate your differences, through tenderness and laughter, and by learning to make the small things matter, while letting go of the rest. That is what you must do. What this ceremony can do is to witness and affirm, to God and all of us, the choice you make to stand together as life-mates and partners.

Declaration of Intent

Officiant: Will you, Tony, take this woman to be your wedded wife?

Groom: I will.

Officiant: Will you, Colleen, take this man to be your wedded husband?

Bride: I will.

Support of Community

Officiant: On the idea of the love and support coming not only from each other, but also for those gathered here today, the couple has invited a family friend to offer a few words on the importance of community….

Fr Terry: Two people in love do not live in isolation. Their love is a source of strength with which they may nourish not only each other, but also the world around them. And in turn, we, their community of friends and family, have a responsibility to this couple. By our steadfast care, respect, and love, we can support their marriage and the new family they are creating today. They ask for your blessing, encouragement, and lifelong support for their decision to be married.

Readings

Officiant: In the spirit of the importance of strong friendships and bonds within a marriage, Colleen and Tony have asked two individuals, who have reaffirmed this importance through their steadfast example, to read selections about love and commitment that especially resonate with them.

Love by Roy Croft: (Rachel Riley)

I love you, not for what you are, but what I am, when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out. I love you for drawing out into the light all the beautiful and radiant things that no one else has looked far enough to find…

I love you because you have done more than any creed could have done to make me good, and more than any fate could have done to make me happy. You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign. You have done it by being yourself. Perhaps that is what being your love means after all.

I Choose You: (Tegan Owen)

There are three words stronger than I love you, and today you stand together in front of me, your family and friends to say those three words to each other: ‘I choose you’. You two know each other and many of the quirks, habits and things that drive each other nuts, and you know that there is no one else you’d rather make this journey with.

You are saying to one another; I choose you over all others. I choose you to share happiness with, I choose you to care for, I choose you to share my innermost self with. I choose you to have a family with, I choose you to grow old with, and I choose you to love forever. Today you choose to cross the threshold and enter into a new and lasting lifetime commitment to each other.

You will have to keep choosing each other, every day throughout the years. Some days that will be easy, some days it will be harder. But during those hard times, if you will reflect back on today, and all of the reasons you chose to be here, you will continue to confirm your choice. We’re here to witness and celebrate this new beginning, and to show our faith that you have made the perfect choice in each other. When you walk back down that aisle, side by side, it will be as husband and wife, and you will celebrate the rest of your life with the one that chose you!

Wedding Vows

Officiant: We've come to the point of your ceremony where you're going to say your vows to one another. But before you do that, I ask you to remember that love—which is rooted in faith, trust, and acceptance within each other—will be the foundation of an abiding and deepening relationship. No other ties are more tender, no other vows more sacred than those you now assume. If you are able to keep the vows you make here today, not because of any religious or civic law, but out of a desire to love and be loved by another person fully, without limitation, then your life will have joy and the home you establish will be a place in which you both will find the direction of your growth, your freedom, and your responsibility.

Please repeat these vows after me:

Groom: I Tony, take you, Colleen to be my wife, my constant friend and partner, and my love.

I will work to create a bond of honesty, respect, and trust; one that withstands the tides of time and change and grows along with us.

I vow to honor and respect you for all that you are and will become, taking pride in who we are, both separately and together.

I promise to challenge you and to accept challenges from you.

Above all, I will give you my love freely and unconditionally.

I pledge this to you from the bottom of my heart, for all the days of our lives.

Bride: I Colleen, take you, Tony to be my husband, my constant friend and partner, and my love.

I will work to create a bond of honesty, respect, and trust; one that withstands the tides of time and change and grows along with us.

I vow to honor and respect you for all that you are and will become, taking pride in who we are, both separately and together.

I promise to challenge you and to accept challenges from you.

Above all, I will give you my love freely and unconditionally.

I pledge this to you from the bottom of my heart, for all the days of our lives

Rings

Officiant: May I have the rings, please?

Officiant: Your wedding ring is a circle—a symbol of love never ending. It is the seal of the vows you have just taken to love each other without end. It will take trust to know that in your hearts, you truly want what is best for each other. It will take dedication to stay open to one another—and to learn and grow together. It will take loyalty to go forward together, without knowing exactly what the future brings. And it will take commitment to hold true to the journey you have both pledged today. Remember to honor your promises to each other.

Please repeat after me:

Groom: Colleen, I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you. A symbol that I choose you to share my life with; today, forever, and always.

Bride: Tony, I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you. A symbol that I choose you to share my life with; today, forever, and always.

Officiant: True love doesn’t have a happy ending: true love doesn’t have an ending. So, by the power of your love and commitment, and the power vested in me by the American Marriage Ministries, I pronounce you husband and wife! You may seal this union with a kiss!