Todd Joseph Tschiggfrie

Giving away the Bride

Officiant: Marriage is, a blessing. Doubly blessed is the couple who comes to the altar with the approval and love of their family and friends. Who, on behalf of those gathered and those not able to be with us today, has the honor of presenting this woman to be married to this man?

Groom’s Men: We do!

Welcome

Officiant: We gather here today as family and friends, to witness and celebrate Krissy and Matt. “For some people, small, beautiful events are what life is all about.” This marriage is an event in their lifetime of a love. Neither I, nor all society, can join these two today. Only they can do what they have chosen. They are joining themselves, each to the other. They proclaim their union today and pledge its future. We, by our participation in this celebration, do but recognize and honor their intention to dwell together as husband and wife. Their love and lives have developed into a partnership that proves to be strong, rewarding and, beautiful, and now they have decided to continue their lives together as husband and wife. They want to say it before all of you. Right here, right now!

So, welcome to one and all, Matt and Krissy thank you for your presence here today it means the world to them. You are appreciated more than you will ever know. They are honored to be surrounded by so much love and support.

Definition of Marriage

Officiant: In a sense, the person you marry is a stranger about whom you have a magnificent hunch. This person is someone you love, but their depths, their intimate intricacies, you will come to know only in the long unraveling of time. Marriage is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual, and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner; it is being the right partner. It is discovering what marriage can be, at its best. To get married is to embark on the journey of getting to know each other, of coming to see each other as you really are. This companionship on life's journey is the hallmark of marriage and its sweetest and most fundamental gift.

Declaration of Intent

“There‛s a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive… wormhole refractors… You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold.” I now ask that you hold hands and declare your intention.

Officiant: Will you, Matt, take this woman to be your wife, you partner to navigate life’s grand adventure?

Groom: I will.

Officiant: Will you, Krissy, take this man to be your husband, your partner to navigate life’s grand adventure ?

Bride: I will.

Support of Community

Officiant: 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.

Officiant: Will you who are present here today, surround Krissy and Matt in love, offering them the joys of your friendship and supporting them in their marriage?

All: We will.

Sand Ceremony

In the same manner that 25 years of marriage is called the silver anniversary and 50 years the golden anniversary, the newlywed couple celebrate their union with sand. This tradition originated in ancient times when a couple who was to be wed took sand from each of their birth places and poured it into one container to symbolize their union. Each grain has an endless meaning, the time they will have to live for the rest of their lives, the moments they will share, the experiences they will go through, and the memories they will make together along the way.

As you each pour your separate sand into this hourglass consider how you are blending your two individual lives into one new union. By blending these sands together, you realize that these grains of sand cannot ever be separated and poured again into individual containers, and you recognize how this represents the blending of your lives from this day forward.

Every time this sand clock is turned over, symbolically it means that your marriage is refreshed. The grains will be the same but always flowing over time. For centuries the hourglass has been considered an enduring symbol of the passage of time, so it is appropriate that your first gift as husband and wife be an hourglass to represent the beginning of your new lives together. The importance is to value, take advantage, and not to waste the time you share in your marriage.

Readings: A Wish for Your Marriage

May your lives be guided by love

May you look at each other and see

May you listen to each other and hear

May you speak to each other and encourage

May you treasure all life as precious

May your life together be splashed with wonder and be touched by magic

May your lives be filled with radiance and enkindled by love

May your lives be stronger, fuller and more gracious together

May you cherish each other’s hopes and be kind to each other’s dreams

May your hearts be filled with thanks for the possibilities that life has given you together

May you find delight in each other and grow in love until your lives end.

Wedding Vows

Officiant: Today we witness and celebrate of one of the most powerful and intimate human acts. The sacred space created when there is a union of souls, has both a sublime quality and a part that resonates within the very core of each of us. Krissy and Matt share a common bond with every human who has ever felt the presence of their beloved within their own spirit. They also share a moment in time with all of those who in the real tangible, physical, day to day world, have found the one person they could share it all with. The joys and the sorrows, the triumphs and the tragedies, the large and the small are all theirs together. Not only are we here for the celebration of the joining of these two wonderful people, but to get a glimpse of what this truly means from their perspective. Their lives are different from anybody else’s. That’s the exciting thing. Nobody in the universe can do what they’re doing. To this end they have chosen to share with you their vows.

Please repeat after me:

Groom: Today I will marry my friend, the one I will live with, dream with and love.

I take you, Krissy, to be my wife. From this day forward I will cherish you; I will look with joy down the path of our tomorrows knowing we will walk it together side by side, hand in hand and heart to heart.

I love you, not because you are perfect, but because you are perfect for me.

Bride: Today I will marry my friend, the one I will live with, dream with and love.

I take you, Matt, to be my husband. From this day forward I will cherish you; I will look with joy down the path of our tomorrows knowing we will walk it together side by side, hand in hand and heart to heart.

I love you, not because you are perfect, but because you are perfect for me.

Rings

Officiant: May I have the rings, please?

Officiant: These rings are a symbol of an unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no beginning and no end. May these rings represent the comfort and happiness a lifetime spent together can bring, may they always remind you of the vows you have taken here today. These rings are an outward and visible sign of the inward and invisible love, which binds your hearts together and will endure all obstacles. In times of doubt may this symbol remind you of each smile and each tear invested in your shared experience, and the deep meaning they bring. May this ring represent the security, comfort and happiness that a lifetime spent together can bring.

I now ask that Matt and Krissy symbolize their hearts’ connection and their commitment to each other by exchanging rings.

Please repeat after me:

Groom: Krissy, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my vow. I commit my life, heart and soul to you. With all that I am, and all that I have, I love you.

Bride: Matt, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my vow. I commit my life, heart and soul to you. With all that I am, and all that I have, I love you.

Officiant: Today is the public affirmation and acknowledgment of all that you are to each other. Seemingly your relationship will be as it has always been, yet there is a power in the spoken word. May that power bring you all the love & laughter, warmth & closeness, security & comfort, peace, joy & happiness that this world has to offer. Love is not a matter of counting the years, it’s making the years count.

And now, since you two have come before your friends and family and have declared your love and devotion to each other, I now greet you with them as husband and wife, you may seal this union with a kiss.