Officiant's Standard Ceremony...

CLICK HERE and listen to an audio sample of E. J. Campfield performing the opening to his standard wedding ceremony (requires Windows Media Player).

We have gathered today in the love of friendship and family to celebrate the blending together of two lives. As (Name) and (Name) come before you here today as two, they will leave this place as one, united in marriage. As family and friends, each of you has played some part in bringing them to this moment and in various ways will continue to support and contribute to their relationship. We solemnize this unique time in their lives and make it meaningful by entering into it in an attitude of respect for their deep commitment to each other.

(Name) and (Name), you realize that in a greater sense no other person or officiant can truly marry you. Only you can marry yourselves. By your commitment to love each other, and to work with all your hearts toward creating an atmosphere of care and respect, and by your willingness to face together the fears and uncertainty that underlie human life, you marry yourselves more surely than any document we will put our signatures on today. Your love for one another and your willingness to accept each others strength and frailties with understanding and consideration will form the foundation for a life together that will last.

Today you commit yourselves to honoring and protecting one another above your separate selves, and to valuing your union above your own interests. In so doing, you will find a wealth of love and peace not otherwise attainable. But with this joy comes a profound responsibility to protect the bond you share. For it is only with continual care that your love is truly secure in the face of life's inevitable tests.

You must regard each other with the deepest respect. You must appreciate each other's talents, foster each other's dreams, and be ever mindful of the many gifts that the other offers you. You must inspire and encourage one another. For by strengthening your spouse, you strengthen your marriage. Bring out the very best in each other. Be sparing in criticism and generous in praise for things well done.

In communication, be honest and open. For the heart that communicates truth without hesitation earns trust and builds a secure home. With truth comes respect, and with respect, love grows. So accept your marriage as a work-in-progress that will hereafter consume your attention, and yet never be completed. Because a lifelong love requires a lifetime of hard work. But it is a joyous labor, whose fruits are the very richest.

A vast, unknown future stretches out before you. That future, with its hopes and disappointments, its joys and its sorrows, is hidden from your eyes. But it is a great tribute to your belief in each other that you are willing to face those uncertainties together. May the pure, simple love with which you join your hearts and hands today never fail, but grow only deeper and surer with every year you spend together.

I (Groom's name) take you (Bride's name) to be my wife/husband.
I promise to live in truth with you,
and I give you my hand and my heart
as a sanctuary of warmth and peace,
pledging you my love and devotion
as I join my life to yours.

(Bride repeats same regarding Groom.)

For thousands of years lovers have exchanged rings as a token of their vows. These simple gold bands are not of great value in and of themselves, but they are made quite precious by your wearing of them. Let these rings be a sign that love has a past, a present and a future,
and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of joyous wonder, and delight.

(Groom's name) take (Bride's name)'s ring and place it on her finger and repeat after me:

Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is never-ending.
With this ring, I take you to be my partner for life.

(Bride repeats same regarding Groom.)

Inasmuch as you have sealed your vows in the presence of those gathered here by the giving of these rings and have consented together to live in marriage, it gives me much pleasure to pronounce that you are now Husband and Wife.

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