Our Wedding Vows
The following vows were created by Teri Haddad, our officiator.

Gathering Words
Good Evening, We are gathered together in this beautiful place as a community of friends to celebrate the marriage of Katherine and Rodney. With great happiness, we accept responsibility for helping Katherine and Rodney and encouraging them in this new relationship.

Marriage is a commitment that is made thoughtfully and reverently, with gratitude for the past and hope for the future. We celebrate today the love that Katherine and Rodney have discovered in each other, to celebrate their marriage and to honor the beginning of their new life.

Reading by Margaret Keip
Marriage has certain qualities of contract, in which two people take on the housekeeping tasks of living together to enhance life’s joys. However, Marriage is more than a contract. Marriage is a commitment to take that joy deep, deeper than happiness, deep into the discovery of who you most truly are.

It is a commitment to a spiritual journey, to a life of becoming – in which joy can comprehend despair, running through rivers of pain into joy again. And thus, marriage is even deeper than commitment.

It is a covenant – that says: I love you. I trust you. I will be here for you when you are hurting, and when I am hurting… I will not leave. It is a covenant intended not to provide haven from pain or from anger and sorrow. Life offers no such haven. Instead, marriage is intended to provide a sanctuary safe enough to risk loving, to risk living and sharing from the center of oneself. This is worth everything.

Personal Reflection
Rodney and Katherine, I wasn’t surprised that you chose this particular reading. Because it seems to focus on Joy! You are a joyful couple, blessed with the gift of infectious laugher. When I asked you why you wanted to get married, you both spoke very practically about marriage.

Kat, you said that you work well together, and that when you are with Rodney, you feel confident and strong.

Rodney, you said that Kat listens to your mundane boring chatter with seeming interest, and that she does nice things for you.

I asked you what you love about each other. Kat spoke about feeling loved, she said that Rodney respects her and that he has his priorities straight, she also said that Rodney watches movies like Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid, and even let her get a dog!

Rodney, you repeatedly describe Kat as beautiful, and intelligent and said that she knows how to deal with your peculiarities.

I asked you why you wanted to get married, both of you made simply beautiful statements: Kat said… “we enrich each others lives” ..and Rodney said: “with Katherine, life is almost always a happy moment.

Be committed to the joy and love that you have for each other today and always… let your sense of humor and laughter help you weather the ups and downs… continue to honor and respect each other… and find ways to say I love you every day.

Charge to the Couple
Katherine and Rodney, I call to your attention the seriousness of the decision, which you have made, and the covenant you are about to declare before your guests. I remind you that love and loyalty are the foundation of a happy and enduring home. As you exchange your vows of faithfulness, we will be listening and supporting you with our love. As you make your promises to each other, we will be reminded of promises we have made and we will be moved to renew our own.

Katherine and Rodney, is it your intention to share with each other your joys and sorrows and all that the years will bring, with promises as husband and wife? It Is.

The Vows
I promise to be your lover, your ally in conflict, your greatest fan and your toughest adversary. I promise to express my thoughts and emotions to you, and to listen to you in times of joy and sorrow. I expect to laugh with you, to grieve with you, to encourage you in all walks of life and to grow with you in love. You are my comrade in adventure, my student and my teacher; I am your consolation in disappointment, your accomplice in mischief, your strength in your need and vulnerable to you in my own. I am your associate in our search for wisdom. I love you, you are my closest friend.

Rings
Rings are a symbol of your commitment to each other, that love is a circle of happiness, wonder and delight.

Rodney, place the ring on Katherine’s finger as you say to her: I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness.

Katherine, place the ring on Rodney’s finger as you say to him: I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness.

Pronouncement
Katherine and Rodney, now that you have heard the words about love and marriage, you have exchanged promises of faithful love, and celebrated your union by giving each other these beautiful rings, it is with great joy and happiness that I pronounce you husband and wife.

Rodney… please give Katherine a kiss!

Closing: Javanese Poem
Now it is completed,
The marriage ceremony,
Just like the moon descending in its dazzling radiance.
The couple is given the happiness of those who watch which showers down upon them like gold.
This is the symbol, the marriage ceremony,
With the blessings of all of the guests,
That this marriage may be free from all misfortune
And bear eternal happiness forever!

Toast
Rodney and Katherine, we wish you many blessings.
Go into the world and fulfill your lives. May you endlessly delight one another giving to one another new experiences of joy. Share with others the radiance of your love. May the challenges of your life together be met with courage and optimism. May the love you hold for each other, now sealed in marriage, continue to mature, that your life together may be a source of strength and inspiration to the community of your family and friends, and to the wider circle of the world. Kat may you continue to have the strength to put up with Rodney’s peculiarities, and Rodney may your mundane rambling always be music to Katherine’s ears!