Wedding Ceremony

_____&_____ Wedding Ceremony

Prelude/Light Candles

Seat Mothers

Slide Show

Processional

Presentation of the Bride

Welcome/Call to worship

Tonight we have come together with family and friends, in the presence of God, to join _____&______in the holy union of marriage.

Marriage was established by God, and endorsed by the Apostle Paul as an honorable state among men; and so not to be entered into casually or by chance, but entered into, in love and reverence of the Lord.

Giving of the Bride

Who offers this woman to be married to this man?

Congregation Seated

Declaration of Intent

______, will you take _______ to be your wife, and will you be faithful to her, love her, honor her, and cherish her, according to the commandments of God in holy marriage?”

_____: I do.

________, will you take _______ to be your husband, and will you be faithful to him, love him, honor him, and cherish him, according to the commandments of God in holy marriage?”

_______: I do.

Prayer-Thanking God for miracle of marriage that you established, for ______&__________, & their love & commitment to each other.

Ascend platform

Message

________&_________, this is one of those special moments in life, & we are all here, your family & friends to celebrate with you today.

It is an honor for me to share this moment w/ you. You are both very special people in my life, the other day Mark & I were talking, and saying that it seems like only yesterday that, _________, you came into the office and were telling us about this girl you had meet in the math center, noticed her and went back, praying that if it was God’s will she’d still be there and then asked her out for coffee.

Then I remember the first time that you brought ____________ by the office to meet us.

And since then it has truly been a joy of getting to know both of you together as a couple, enjoyed having you over for dinner @ our home, & going through marriage counseling, doing those things together

That’s what today is, beginning of your life together, no longer you & me, it is us

Share a few thoughts about marriage, specifically a marriage centered on God-because I know that is what the two of you desire to have.

Read from Gen 2:18, 21-24, where God established marriage “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” …..So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman, ’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Bring out 3 points from this that God desires for you marriage

Leaving-”man will leave his father & mother”

Today you are beginning a new family unit

When a marriage was contracted, the wife left her parents’ home and joined the household of her husband. New loyalties were established in this way. Today you are leaving the families of your parents and coming together to form your own family.

Cleaving-” be united w/ his wife” carries the idea of committed faithfulness, whatever comes we will face it together

“cleaving” is a person directed word & as such the Faithfulness it implies involves a positive commitment to the freedom, maturity & growth of the other

Your relationship is to be an image of God’s oneness, to reflect something of His nature/being

One flesh-”and they will become one flesh.”

builds on that concept of oneness, the natural result of the process of leaving and cleaving-because beginning today I know that that is your intention, and gradually, it will become more and more a reality through time-& that is one of the marks a good marriage relationship”

So now

Vows

______, if you will repeat after me:

I, _______ take you ___________ to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live.

I, _________ take you ________ to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live.