Steven E Gass

Invocation

STEVE: Hi everyone! Please, take a seat… (SMILE and PAUSE)

GOOD EVENING!

On behalf of Sarah and Alex, I would like to thank you all for being here this evening. For taking the time and making the journey to Glenwood, and for all the effort that it takes to be a part of this awesome day.

For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Steve Gass, father of the groom. Sarah and Alex surprised me and asked me to officiate their wedding and I couldn’t be more proud or humbled to stand before you all and perform this very special ceremony.

Sarah and Alex have invited you here to this beautiful setting to share with you a glimpse of an important piece of their love. To share with you these wonderful grape vines, trails, and the beautiful pond behind us. This is not the beginning of a new relationship but an acknowledgement of the next phase in their lives together.

Sarah and Alex have spent a few years getting to know each other, and now we all get to witness what their relationship has become. Today, they will affirm this bond formally and publicly. However, this affirmation means more because it is shared with their closely chosen friends and loving family – all of you. Today represents not only the joining of Sarah and Alex, but also the joining of their families and friends.

(LOOK AT SARAH AND ALEX)

Sarah and Alex… today you not only marry the right person, you also commit to being the right partner, the one with whom the other can stand and face whatever may come your way. For love to exist between two people, each person must allow the vulnerability of giving his or her love to the other, and each must be open to receiving it in return.

OPENING PRAYER

Let us bow our heads in prayer…

Lord, we thank you for gathering everyone here today. We ask that you help Sarah and Alex to remember the strong love that they share. To work that love into practical things so that nothing can divide them. May their love always inspire them to be kind in their words, considerate of the other’s feelings, and concerned for the other’s needs and wishes. Increase their faith and trust in You. Bless their marriage with peace and happiness and make their Love fruitful for Your glory and their joy, both here and in eternity. Amen.

(SHORT PAUSE)

(To Sarah and Alex) While the commitment begins with the two of you, its effect radiates outward. It creates ripples beyond your view. It touches your family and friends and ultimately all of society really. When this commitment is seriously made and continuously fulfilled, it leads to the richest and most rewarding of human relationships.

Your relationship will take more than love. It will take trust, to know in your hearts that you want only the best for each other. Dedication, to stay open to one another, to learn and grow, even when it is difficult to do so. And faith, to go forward together not knowing what the future holds for you both.

I know first-hand how much you two love each other… You do love each other, yeah? Of course, you do.

While love is our natural state of being, the other qualities are not as easy to come by. They are not a destination, but a journey. Marriage is a give and take between two personalities, two individuals, a mingling of two endowments which diminishes neither, but enhances both. Each must maintain their own identity while creating a new joint identity, if you will.

(To Sarah and Alex) Sarah and Alex, do you, with your family and friends as your witnesses, present yourselves willingly and of your own accord to be joined in marriage?

[We do]

Will you promise to care for each other in the joys and sorrows of life, come what may, and to share the responsibility for growth and enrichment of your life together?

[We will]

Wonderful!!!

VOWS

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed? Well, I meant it all, every word.”

Take a minute - look at one another. (PAUSE) I encourage you to remember this moment in time forever. You’ll reflect on this moment years from now and it will bring joy to each of you then as well.

Before this moment you have been many things to one another—co-worker, friend, fiancé(e), But now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this—is my husband; this—is my wife. That should bring joy to your hearts for your entire marriage.

It’s finally time to close this chapter with questions that will lead us into the next chapter.

DECLARATION OF INTENT

Do you Sarah take Alex to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?

I do.

Do you Alex take Sarah to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?

I do.

Unity Sand

Sarah and Alex, to symbolize the importance of each of you within the marriage and the joining of your two lives into one marriage, 2 colors of sand will now be combined in a sand ceremony.

The flowing sand and blending of the colors in the Unity Sand Ceremony symbolize the bringing together of two lives into one. The two sands symbolize everything that the bride and groom have been or will become in the future.

The blending of the sand represents the union not only of them but their friends and families as well. The separate sands once poured into the unity vase can never be put back into their separate vases. They are forever entwined just as the lives and loves of the bride and groom.

Some couples prefer to leave a small amount of sand in their respective container to show that even though they now function as one, they remain individuals.

EXCHANGING OF THE RINGS – GET RINGS FROM JORDAN

Having this love in your hearts, you have chosen to seal your vows by exchanging rings.

From the earliest times, the circle has been a sign of completeness. The rings that you have chosen to wear have neither beginning nor end, much like your love for one another. They are a symbol of the words that you speak today. May these rings be from this day forward, your most treasured adornment, and may the love they symbolize, be your most precious possession. As you wear these rings, may they be constant reminders of these glad promises you are making today.

Alex, take this ring, place it on Sarah’s finger and repeat after me.

I give you this ring as a symbol

of my love and faithfulness to you.

Sarah, take this ring, place it on Alex’s finger and repeat after me.

I give you this ring as a symbol

of my love and faithfulness to you.

Sarah and Alex, from this moment forward you will never be alone. You will carry with you the love of another person, giving you a completeness and renewed lightness. May your life together be immersed in love and excitement. May you strive to enrich each other in every possible way.

DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE

Having pledged their fidelity to one another, to love, honor and cherish one another in the presence of the Lord and this gathering and by the authority vested in me by The American Marriage Ministries and the State of Iowa, I now pronounce you married.

Alex, You may kiss the bride!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to be the first to introduce you to: Mr. and Mrs. Gass.

TO ALL: Feel free to make your way up towards the main building. Sarah and Alex will be near there if you want to stop and greet them. Otherwise head upstairs and help yourself to the snacks and a drink while the family takes some photos.