Thomas and Megan's Wedding

I’d like to welcome all of you to this very  special occasion and I’d like to thank Megan  and Thomas for inviting me  to officiate at their wedding.  I am very honored and feel truly  blessed to be here. 
We are gathered  here today to witness and celebrate an act of deep love.  Megan and  Thomas, in their devotion, respect, and love for each other wish to  unite in the holy bond of marriage, and to dedicate themselves to each  other’s happiness and well-being as life partners.  On behalf of them, I  welcome all of you.  And on behalf of all of us invited here today –  Megan and Thomas, we welcome you to this moment in your lives and the  place you have come to in each other’s hearts.
I  remind all of our guests that you have been invited here for a holy  purpose – not just to witness, but to participate fully with your  thoughts and prayers, asking God to bless this couple and their married  life.  You are here because this couple feels close to you and asks that  you join them in this dedication of sacred purpose.  You represent  symbolically all the people in the world who will be touched in any way  by the life of this couple.  You represent their friends and family, now  and forever.  They have chosen this act of marriage and this public,  holy ceremony to proclaim it.  Together we all thank the Higher Power  that brought them together and ask Him always to guide their way.
Silent Blessing 
Let  us now close our eyes and bring to mind any love ones who could not be  here today. Though they are absent physically, we invoke, through our  thoughts and prayers, their loving presence. We pray God might multiply  beyond measure the blessings from these loved ones to this loving  couple, and any children who might one day be a part of this union. Now,  from our hearts, we ourselves visualize and sanctify all the blessings  we would bestow on Thomas  and Megan in their lives as a couple and a  family. And in our sincere desire to bless, we in turn, are blessed too.  Be blessed. 

From Captain Corellis Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres

read by Trista Hurrelbrink

Love is a temporary madness,

it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides.

And when it subsides you have to make a decision.

You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together

that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.

Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness,

it is not excitement,

it is not the promulgation of eternal passion.

That is just being “in love” which any fool can do.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away,

and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground,

and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches,

they find that they are one tree and not two.

Read by Carolyn Tarpley

Song of Solomon 8:6-7

Place   me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is  as  strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like   blazing fire, like a mighty flame. 

Many   waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to   give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.

Let  me explain that Megan and Thomas have not  come here today only to make  a solemn promise or to exchange a sacred  vow.  For love has no  requirements or conditions. That’s what makes it  Love.  If your love  for one another carries requirements or conditions,  then it is not love  at all.

What  Thomas and Megan have  come here to do, is to make public their love for  each other; to  declare their choice to live and partner and grow  together – out loud  and in your presence, out of their desire that we  will come to feel a  very real and intimate part of their decision, and  thus make it even  more powerful.

They’ve also come here today in the further hope that their ritual of bonding will bring us all closer together.

Thomas   and Megan,  is it your firm understanding that you are not entering   into this marriage for reasons of security……that the only real security   is not in owning or possessing, nor in being owned or possessed.

…not in demanding or expecting, and not even in hoping, that what you think you need in life will be supplied by the other…..

But   rather, in knowing that everything you need in life…..all the love,  all  the wisdom, all the insight, all the power, all the knowledge, all  the  understanding, all the nurturing, all the compassion, and all the   strength, already resides within you…..

And   you are not marrying each other in hopes of getting those things, but   in hope of giving these gifts, that the other might have them in even   greater abundance.

Is that your firm understanding today?

(They say, “It is.”)

And   Megan and Thomas, is it your firm understanding that you are not   entering into this marriage as a means of in any way limiting,   controlling, hindering or restricting that which is the highest and  best  within you – including your love of God, your love of life, your  love  of people, your love of creativity, your love of work, or any  aspect of  your being which genuinely represents you, and brings you  joy.

Is that still your firm understanding today?

(They say, “It is.”)

Finally,  Thomas and Megan, is it your firm understanding that you do not see  marriage as producing obligations, but rather as providing  opportunities…..opportunities  for growth, for full Self expression, for  lifting your lives to your  highest potential, for healing every false  thought or small idea you  ever had about yourself, and for ultimate  reunion with your Creator  through the communion of your two souls…

And   this is truly a Holy Communion….a journey through life with one you   love as an equal partner, sharing equally both the authority and   responsibilities inherent in any partnership, bearing equally what   burdens there be, basking equally in the glories.

Is that the Vision you wish to enter into now?

(They say, “It is.”)

Now   those were the agreements and understandings of Earthly things…..how   life will be within the physical structure called marriage.

Let   us now exchange larger understandings…..your spiritual nature and your   spiritual Truth….the purity of your real and Highest Self, and the   purity of Divine Love, which shines upon you now and always.

Thomas please repeat after me…..

I,   Thomas ask you, Megan, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to   hold from this day forward. I promise to be true to you in good times   and in bad, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in   sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love you and   honor you all the days of my life. 

Minister turn to Megan

Megan, do you choose to grant Thomas' request that you be his wife?

(She answers, “I do.”)

Now Megan please repeat after me…..

I,   Megan, ask you, Thomas, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and   to hold from this day forward. I promise to be true to you in good  times  and in bad, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in   sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love you and   honor you all the days of my life. 

(Minister turns to Thomas)

Thomas do you grant Megan's request that you be her husband?

(He answers, “I do.”)

And now would the best man and the maid of honor please bring up the rings?

These rings and their circular nature are the symbol of holiness, perfection, and peace.

These   rings exchanged today are also the symbol of never-ending love.  Love   that must first begin with each of us as Self Love, then radiates out  to  another and allows their love to return in full measure….completing  the  circle of love without end.

Lastly, these rings are the symbol of the eternity of spiritual life and truth….that which has no beginning and no end.

The   precious nature of the metal and stones of these rings represents the   wonderful essence they find in each other and the wonderful essence  they  find individually, through their mutual love, respect, and support  of  each other.

To both of you, I  enjoin  you to release at this time all impediments to your joy. In this  moment  may you forgive each other any past transgressions, that you  might  enter this marriage reborn.  Allow the waters of forgiveness to  wash you  clean. You are given the chance to begin your lives again this  day,  as  God grants you radical renewal through the power of this  commitment.   You commit to a compelling future for yourselves and your  children, and  to any part you might play in the healing of the world.  Receive fully  God’s gifts on this day, as He receives so fully the gift  of your love  for each other.  May you rejoice in Him, as He rejoices  in you.

EXCHANGE OF RINGS

(The minister gives the rings back to Megan and Thomas)

Now, Megan and Thomas,  please take these rings you wish to give one another and repeat after me:

With   this ring…..I thee wed….that we may bond in body, mind, and   spirit….,radiating out love to improve the quality of all of life….I   take now the ring you give to me…..and give it a place upon your   finger…..that all may see and know….. of my love for you.

And   so now, in as much as you, Megan, and you, Thomas, have sanctified  your  union by announcing your truths that are already written in your   hearts, and have witnessed the same in the presence of these, your   family and friends, and God, through the power vested in me, I now   pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss the bride. (KISS)

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us now join in an Irish blessing for our closing prayer.

May   the road rise to meet you.  May the wind always be at your back.  May   the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your  fields.   May the light of friendship guide your paths together.  May  the  laughter of children grace the halls of your home.  May the joy of   living for one another trip a smile from your lips, a twinkle from your   eyes.  And, when eternity beckons, at the end of a life heaped high  with  love, may the good Lord embrace you in the arms that have nurtured  you  the whole length of your joy-filled days.  May the gracious God  hold you  both in the palm of His hand.  And today, may the spirit of  love find a  dwelling place in your hearts.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me proudly present to you, our newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hourican.