Christine Montemayor Bautista

Wedding Ceremony Outline

The Processional

The Welcome

Reading

Declaration of Intent

Exchange of vows

The Rings

Unity Candle Ceremony

Cord Ceremony

The Pronouncement

The Kiss

Closing Remarks

Recessional

The Processional: Wedding March

The Welcome

Please be seated.

We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments - to unite Faye and Adainne in marriage. I’d like to begin by extending a warm welcome to everyone. Although this is Faye and Adainne’s day, it is also a tribute to all of you. Each and everyone of you has helped make our Bride and Groom who they needed to be to find each other.

And for that they are most grateful.

For those of you here who I do not know and have not yet had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Christine. Yes, I am a real ordained minister according to Google. But Faye and I met in college at The Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas. Now almost 2 decades later, Faye has become one of my best friends, definitely one of those I’m incredibly privileged to have in this lifetime.

Faye and Adainne, there is no place I’d rather be than standing here beside the two of you on this very special day. Thank you for this honor.

Faye and Adainne, your journey began the moment you first met, at JP’s birthday party 10 years ago. Throughout these years, you built a new village with your love, and have worked every day to support this village as it changes and grows.

You welcomed each other’s families and lifelong friends, and joined them together with warmth and enthusiasm.

Marriage brings hard days, just as they bring beautiful ones. This day is a reminder of what your love has already accomplished, and the amazing possibilities of what it can continue to overcome in the many, many years ahead of you.

The Reading.

Officiant: When reflecting on the meaning of marriage, the couple have asked Jen and Mike to do a reading. Please come to the front.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Declaration of Intent.

Faye and Adainne, you have chosen to write your vows, and it is with these words you express your binding promises. Before you exchange your vows, I ask you to remember that love—which is rooted in faith, trust, and acceptance— 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 ready to make these promises to each other I invite you now to face each other and declare your intentions.

_________ when you're ready you may begin.

_________when you're ready you may begin.

Wedding Vows.

[Exchanging of vows]

The Rings.

Officiant: Faye and Adainne, thank you for sharing your vows with all of us. You will now exchange rings as a symbol of love and commitment to each other.

And to all of you who love each other, please take each other’s hands as well. Taking the hand of the one who loves you is a powerful symbol of that unspoken bond.

Faye and Adainne, please take a good look at your partner’s hands, so you may see the gift that they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. These are the hands that when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours.

People usually talk about the wedding bands being a perfect circle, having no beginning and no end. But we all know that these rings had a beginning. Rock is dug up from the earth. Metals are liquefied at a thousand degrees. Then the hot metal is forged, cooled, and then painstakingly polished. Something beautiful is made from these raw elements. Love is just like that. It comes from humble beginnings, made by imperfect beings. It is the process of making something beautiful where there was once nothing at all.

These rings are a precious metal; they are also made precious by wearing them as they mark the beginning of your long journey together.

Adainne , place the ring on Faye's finger and repeat after me.

As this ring encircles your finger… From this moment forward... So will my love forever encircle you... You will never walk alone... My heart will be your shelter... My arms will be your home... We will walk through life as partners & best friends... I promise to do my best to love, cherish and accept you... Just the way you are... I give you my heart until the end of time... I have no greater gift to give.

Now, Faye , place the ring on Adainne's finger and repeat after me.

As this ring encircles your finger... from this moment forward... so will my love forever encircle you... You will never walk alone... My heart will be your shelter... My arms will be your home... We will walk through life as partners & best friends... I promise to do my best to love, cherish and accept you... just the way you are... I give you my heart until the end of time... I have no greater gift to give.

Unity Candle Ceremony

Officiant: Adainne and Faye have chosen to affirm their love by the lighting of the unity candle. They have also asked their mothers to participate in the lighting ceremony. In so doing, they signal their desire to not only join as one in their union, but to unite two families together as one.

The brightness of the candles that your families have lit – and the brightness of the unity candle that you will together light – will shine throughout your lives, giving you courage and reassurance in the darkness. May the candle’s warmth give you shelter from the cold. May its energy fill your spirits with strength and joy.

As you light the Unity Candle, I want to ask you – and all your friends and family that are present today – to see the brightness of the flame as a symbol of the brightness that your own life brings to this new family. As you lift your candles to light your family unity candle together, so may your love for each other light up your life as a family.

Cord Ceremony

Faye and Adainne, I invite Van and Jelay to place a cord over you.

This cord symbolizes an infinite bond of love you share that keeps your relationship strong in the face of adversity, as well as that you both are no longer two, but one in marriage.

May this cord remind you to face your life together courageously and to be mutual in support of each other in carrying out your duties and responsibilities as a couple.

And, may your love grow stronger and bind you closer together through the years.

(Instruction: Van will place the cord over BRIDE head and rest it on her shoulders, while Jelay will place the cord over GROOM’s head and rest it on his shoulders.)

Removal of Cord: I would like to call on Van and Jelay to remove the cord and veil.

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 love and patience; through dedication and perseverance; through talking and listening, helping and supporting and believing in each other; through tenderness and laughter; through learning to forgive, learning to appreciate your differences, and by learning to make the important things matter, and to let go of the rest. What this ceremony can do is to witness and affirm the choice you make to stand together as life partners.

So without further ado...

By the authority vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and the Great State of California, it is my honor and delight to declare you husband and wife!

You may seal this declaration with a kiss.

[Kiss]

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to present to you for the first time, Mr and Mrs Lababit!