Michelle Shannon Dozier

Dearly Beloved and Honored Guests,

We are gathered together here to join Jealousy Wooten and Christopher Harper in the spiritual union of marriage. If any one can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.

This contract is not to be entered into lightly but thoughtfully and seriously, and with a deep realization of its obligations and responsibilities. Please remember that love, loyalty, and understanding are the foundations of a happy and enduring home.

You don't have to have a ceremony to have a marriage. So why do we do it? The marriage ceremony has been an important feature across nearly every culture, religion, generation, and society. We have thousands of important moments that happen throughout our lives, but this one is regarded as one so critical, we acknowledge its special status by sharing it with others.

Because despite all of our differences, love is what we all share. It's the great unifier - our one universal truth. That no matter who we are, where we've come from, what we believe, we know this one thing: love is what we're doing right. That's why you both are standing here. Jealousy and Chris, it was never a matter of if, but always a matter of when.

We have all loved in our lifetimes, and in this moment, we're reminded that the ability to love is the very best part of our humanity.

All of us here today have our own love stories. Some are short, others long. Some are yet unwritten, while others are just getting to the good part.

And that brings them here. A time to pause, look back, and smile at all the moments that brought them here. And a time to look ahead at all the moments that are still to come.

And I'm here - we're all here - because we want those moments for you. We're here to hope with you, to support you, to be proud of you, and to remind you that love isn't happily ever after, love is the experience of writing your story. It's not one moment - not even this moment. It's every moment. Big ones like saying 'I love you' for the first time, moving in together, getting engaged, starting a family together, - but mostly a million little ones that come in between the big moments. Falling asleep next to one another, making dinner together, spending holidays with your families, binge-watching Netflix shows, getting a big hug when you get home from work, watching Dru grow more each day… These everyday moments fuse together into one big experience.

And even though this experience is so incredible, words fail us when we try and explain it. That's just the way it is with love - it's meant to be felt, not described. And even though love can look different from one person to the next - we all know it when we see it. And we see it here.

You fell in love by chance, but you're here today because you're making a choice. You both are choosing each other. You're about to make promises to each other that you intend to keep. You're going to vow to take care of each other, to stand up for one another, and find happiness in the other. There's a simple premise to each of these promises: you're vowing to be there with and for each other.

AND NOW THE DECLARATION OF INTENT

Do you Jealousy Wooten take this man, Christopher Harper to be your lawfully wedded partner, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?

*(Wait for Confirmation)*

Do you Christopher Harper take this woman Jealousy Wooten to be your lawfully wedded partner, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?

*(Wait for Confirmation)*

Jealousy and Chris will now exchange rings as a symbol of their love and commitment.

Chris, please take the ring you have selected for Jealousy. As you place it on her finger, repeat after me:

I give you this ring, as a symbol of my love. I ask you to wear it as a sign to the world that you are my wife. With this ring, I thee wed.

Jealousy, please take the ring you have selected for . As you place it on his finger, repeat after me:

I give you this ring, as a symbol of my love. I ask you to wear it as a sign to the world that you are my husband. With this ring, I thee wed.

In so much as the two of you have consented together in matrimony, and have witnessed the same before this company, by authority vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and the State of Georgia , I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Chris, you may kiss your bride!