Mike & Sally
June 10, 2006

Enter Mike and Danny

Enter Matt & Esther

Enter Rachel

Wagner’s Bridal Chorus

Enter Sally with her Mother

Danny: Welcome to the friends and families of Mike and Sally. We are here to see them joined in marriage today before God and their families, to begin a new phase of their lives together.

I ask of you gathered: “Is there any lawful reason why these two should not be joined in marriage today?

Having found no reason why you should not be wed, I ask Sally, do you wish to marry Mike today?
Sally: “ Yes”
Danny: Mike, Do you wish to marry Sally today?
Mike: “Yes”

In chapter 6 of Genesis, Adam observes, “ A man shall leave his father and his mother, and he shall cleave unto his wife.” He was not telling us what he learned from his family. He was not describing the expectations of his culture. He was speaking as a prophet, with direct experience of the nature of mankind. He read what was written in his blood. This is how man finds his greatest fulfillment. Mike and Sally are grown ups. They have decided to make this step of fulfilling their lives together. They have satisfied me as to their readiness.

I ask now “ who brings Sally here, and gives blessing to this marriage?”

Sally’s Mother: “ I do” (or with other family “We do”)

Danny: As a red rose symbolizes romantic love, a white rose means familial love. Sally would like to present her mother with a white rose at this time. This is to signify that she is not leaving the circle of her family, but joining them to a greater circle, drawing on the love of her family in building this new life with Mike.

Sally takes rose to her mother. Speaks privately, then returns to Mike’s side.

Danny: In first Corinthians, Paul gives us this:

Love is patient,
Love is kind,
It is not jealous,
Love does not boast,
It is not inflated.

It is not rude,
It is not selfish,
It does not anger,
It does not dwell on evil.
It rejoices in the truth

It protects all things,
It trusts all things,
It hopes in all things,
It endures in all things.

When I was a child,
I spoke as a child,
thought as a child;

When I became a man,
I put away childish things.

When we come to see all things clearly, and all things are known,

There will be
faith, and hope, and love,

but the greatest of these is love.


Mike do you have vows to offer Sally?

Mikes vows

Sally, Do you have Vows to offer Mike

Yes

Repeat after me:

” You are my beloved, I will always cherish you
You are my beloved, I see your great beauty
You are my beloved, I feel your great power
You are my beloved, I respect your great wisdom
You are my beloved, my home is with you
You are my beloved, I value your independence
You are my beloved, I am radiant in your love
I will always love you
I will always love you
I will always love you

I add my breath to your breath
That our days may be long on Earth
That the days of our people may be long
That we may be one person
That we may finish our words together
May our mother bless you with life
May our Life Paths be fulfilled”.

Mike and Sally: do you have gifts to exchange?

Danny collects rings

On behalf of the family and friends of Sally and Mike, I bless these rings, and name their significance to be the unending circle of affection, respect and support which marriage embodies.

Mike, place this ring on Sally’s finger and repeat: “This ring I give in token and pledge as a symbol of my love and devotion. With this ring I thee wed.”

Sally place this ring on Mike’s finger and repeat, “This ring I give in token and pledge as a symbol of my love and devotion. With this ring I thee wed.”

Danny To the crowd “To bless this union and sanctify the wine, please join me in reciting the Apache Wedding Prayer:

Now you will feel no rain, For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more loneliness, For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies,But there is one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,To enter into the days of your togetherness.And may your days be good and long upon the earth.


Danny “Under this Chuppah, I give you this wine to drink.”
Sally & Mike drink from a glass. Return the glass to Danny. A napkin is placed on the ground. Mike stomps it with RIGHT foot.

Crowd yells Mazeltov!
Mike, Do you take sally to be your lawfully wedded wife?

“I do”

Sally, do you take Mike to be your lawfully wedded husband?

“I do.”

Then by the power vested in me by the State of California, and the church, I hereby pronounce you to be husband and wife, for as long as you both shall live.
You may kiss your bride.

Let us pray together- As we are brought to understand God through Jesus Christ and to ask for God’s blessings and to give thanks in His name, we ask for His love to include and support love within this marriage, and to warm them when they grow cold, and to strengthen them when they weaken, and to nourish them when they hunger. And we give thanks that they have found each other and found love in each other and have promised to preserve that love before us all.” AMEN

I t is an honor to introduce to you, Mr. And Mrs. Mike Cooper.

Recessional plays.