Colorado Wedding Ministers

Love knows no sex, color, or beliefs. Love is just love....
Love is more than a ceremony...
Love is a commitment of a lifetime together...

Love Lives in all of Us

Welcome

Love is a living thing, waiting within each one of us for an awakening touch. In this ceremony, we will celebrate love come to life for Name and Name .  May this love grow sure and strong. We rejoice in its presence among us and we are here as witnesses to its promise and gift: the promise faith; the gift love.   Dear friends and relatives, today we are here to celebrate the love that Name  and Name  have for each other, and to give social recognition to their decision to accept each other totally and permanently. Into this state of marriage/holy union these two persons come now to be united in this holy and sacred place. Name   and Name  , throughout human history, the founding of a home and a family has been celebrated as an act of high and holy order. It is the maturing of love, freely given and gladly returned. It is in your power, and in your power alone to bless this service--by the sincerity of your purpose, the strength of your common devotion, and the enduring character of your dedication. We are honored that you have invited us to witness the happiness that you have found in each other and the pledges in which you commit yourselves to each other in love. We rejoice with you that you will be finding deeper meanings and joys in your lives as you share them in your marriage/holy union. Taught by our own joys and sorrows, successes and failures, we remind you that in unions as in life, those who commit themselves in devotion to their beloved and to their common undertakings shall find the fullness of life. Name   and Name  , today you are taking upon yourselves the potential of a great love already real between you. It is no casual thing to have entered into the inmost life of another person. To make the commitment of love is to risk the pain of grief. And so with this commitment and this risk, you are venturing forth with all the hope two persons can muster. Together you will discover the depths of life. No matter what happens--when you are happy or sad, hopeful or discouraged, close together or far apart--may you always be there for each other. And we friends who share this day with you--may we be here too, if you need us.

 (Optional )
Creative Source of Life, in the midst of which we live and move and have our being, in thy name are we meeting together to witness and to bless the union of these two. May it be in their hearts and in their powers, to keep the pledges of this day. May they be a blessing and a comfort to each other, sharers of each other’s sorrow, helpers of each other in all the changes and challenges of the world. May they grow in understanding and love, and may faithfulness to the good of each become the unfailing virtue of them both. So be it.

Declaration of Intent
It is one of life’s greatest mysteries of how two people come to meet one another, how some magical and mystical spark is kindled within each and especially how they happen to take the risk of giving voice to their private feelings. From ages forgotten and long before recorded time, humanity has rejoiced and offered prayers of hope and thanksgiving when two have found each other. Today, we gather to stand as witnesses to contribute to your public declaration of love, and today we join together to give our blessing to the joining of these two who have found each other. What makes this celebration today distinctly different is also a part of life’s mystery. There is love, there is commitment, there is a church, there are flowers, family and friends, music, an officiant, and lots of caring people who have given up their day to be here. But the two among us who are pledging their devotion, loyalty, love, and responsibility are both of the same gender. This reality will increase the need for honest conversation, this reality will increase the need for showing respect to one another, this reality will increase the amount of responsibility you must take for and with one another. It is not easy for two people to love one another. It is not easy when they are both of the same gender. It is not easy to proclaim your affection, your attachment, or your bond openly, for many are not yet willing to see beyond their own fears and celebrate the love which we are witnessing this morning. Yet you are doing it with candor and frankness. You are forcing new paths of growth for many, and we are touched deeply that you are joining your lives together.   Remember that we are gathered here with you because we believe that you have the right to publicly declare and express your love, we are gathered with you because we honor and recognize the bond between you and we stand with and beside you to assist in any way that we can.

Vows
These vows you will now speak to each other as you are about to enter into a marriage/holy union which is most sacred, may the love with which you now join hands and hearts never fail but only grow deeper and stronger each day. Remember that the hand offered by each of you is an extension of self, just as is your mutual love. Cherish the touch, for you touch not only your own, but another life. Be ever sensitive to its pulse. Seek always to understand and to respect its rhythm. 

Name, do you take Name to love and to cherish, to honor and comfort, in sickness and in health, in sorrow or in joy, in hardship or ease, to have and to hold from this day forth?
Name
I do.

Please repeat after me,
I promise to express my love for you in all ways possible, to share in your pleasure and your pain and to let you share in mine.  I promise that I will share my thoughts and feelings with you.  I promise that I will give you freedom to be yourself.  I promise that I will try to understand everything that you do.  I promise that I will be honest with you.  I promise that I will help you achieve your goals.  I promise to comfort you, support you, trust you, and deserve your trust.  I promise with my heart, my mind, and my body to honor and cherish you from this day forward.

Name, do you take Name to love and to cherish, to honor and comfort, in sickness and in health, in sorrow or in joy, in hardship or ease, to have and to hold from this day forth?

Name

I do.

Name ,please repeat after me:

I promise to express my love for you in all ways possible, to share in your pleasure and your pain and to let you share in mine.  I promise that I will share my thoughts and feelings with you.  I promise that I will give you freedom to be yourself.  I promise that I will try to understand everything that you do.  I promise that I will be honest with you.  I promise that I will help you achieve your goals.  I promise to comfort you, support you, trust you, and deserve your trust.  I promise with my heart, my mind, and my body to honor and cherish you from this day forward.

(Optional)
We know that your family also includes your daughter/son/children, 
Name and Name that you have pledged to be dedicated to his/her/their welfare and to demonstrate love to him/her/them by the loving models you are with each other. We pray that your marriage/holy union will be strengthened and supported by the love you all have for one another.
Will you, Name(s), grant Name and Name your blessings and pledge them your love and acceptance?  
Name(s)
I will.

Rings
A circle is the symbol of the sun and the earth and the universe, of wholeness and perfection and peace. It is worn on the third finger because of an ancient Greek belief that a vein from that finger connected directly to the heart, thus symbolizing the depth and sincerity of love. The rings you give and receive this day are the symbols of endless love into which you enter.

Name, as you place your ring on Name's finger please repeat after me:
Name,  I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love.

Name, as you place your ring on Name's finger please repeat after me:
Name, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love. 

Blessing
We gladly accept you in your new relationship one to another and pledge to dedicate ourselves to the continuing task of helping you build a deep and abiding love that touches all the world. Listen all ye that are present--those who were once distant are now brought together. Those who were separated are now united. What love hath joined together let no one break asunder.  We rejoice with you and as you prepare to leave it is with abiding confidence and affection we send you forth upon your journey of life together.

Since Name and Name have vowed to be loyal and loving toward each other, formalizing in our presence the existence of the bond between them, we bear witness to the ceremony they have performed-the ceremony that has made them partners in life. Because you have spoken a covenant of love and trust to each other and because you have symbolized that love by giving, receiving, and wearing bands of gold, you have made for yourselves a marriage/holy union and by the authority vested in me as a minister of the great and beautiful state of Colorado, I am delighted to declare that your lives are now joined in holy union/marriage.

 May we leave here full of hope, joy, and love and may we remember always the two gathered here with affection, love, and supportive thoughts.

Now and Forever

Welcome
Hello and welcome!
Look to this day! For it is Life, the very Life of Life. In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence: The bliss of growth, The glory of action, The splendor of beauty; For yesterday is but a dream, And tomorrow is only a vision; But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness And every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day. These beautiful words spoken by a 3rd century Hindu poet tells us why we are here today.

Declaration of Intent
Name and Name, your family and friends are here with you today to celebrate and affirm the love you share and to witness the commitment you have chosen to make to one another in this act of religious ritual. The marriage/holy union ceremony affirms your sacred bond with one another, a bond created by loving purpose and kept by abiding will. The essence of this bonding is the taking of the other in her entirety as lover, companion, and best friend. It is, therefore, a decision not to be made lightly, but reverently, thoughtfully, and in the knowledge that love is both an achievement of effort and dedication, and a precious gift of life. It is into this state that you come before us today to be joined.

(Optional)
Whenever a family gathers to celebrate an important milestone in the lives of loved ones, there are those who, for a variety of reasons, cannot be present. Today is no exception. There are those we would wish to be here who are not. We all know that they wish could be here today to share in joy of today. Let us take a moment to honor those who have traveled down the corridors of time without us.

Marriage is a commitment in life, where two people can find and bring out the very best in each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other human relationship can equal, a physical and emotional joining that has the promise of a lifetime. Seeing that no moment is without meaning, we ask that you take this marriage as a beginning of your lives together. Today signifies the creation of a new home and a new family for you both. May you be fulfilled by each other’s love and friendship. May you be overjoyed by the promises you are about to make and the life together you will create.
Remember that in every marriage, there are good times and bad, times of joy and times of sorrow. Marriage is a journey – a time of adventure and excitement enhanced by the love, trust, dedication and faith you share in one another.
May the promises you make to one another today, be lived out to the end of your lives. Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys, but today is the day it all begins.

Vows
In just a moment you will promise to each other in the  presence of these witnesses, to stay by each others sides, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow. As well as through the good times and the bad. You are about to promise to love each other without reservation, to comfort each other in times of distress.
Encourage each other to achieve all of your goals, laugh and cry together. Grow and grow old with each other in mind and spirit.
Always be open and honest and cherish each other for as long as you both shall live. There are no ties on earth so sweet, none so tender as those you are about to assume. There are no vows so solemn as those you are about to make. There is no institution of earth so sacred as that of the union you will form, for the true home is not only the place in which you will live, but is also the dwelling place where each lives in the heart and mind of the other. .

Name, will you take this person standing before you, whose hands you hold, choosing her/him alone to be your wedded wife/husband/partner? Will you live with her/him in the state of true matrimony? Will you love her/him, comfort her/him, through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, honor her/him at all times, and be faithful to her/him?
Name
I will
Name, please repeat after me:
I pledge to you, Name, A life of giving and hoping, a life of growing and loving. I shall share with you, both my work and my play. I shall be with you, in your tears and in your laughter. Just as I will bring my own sorrows, and my own joys to you. I accept you as my companion and pledge to you honor, faith, and love.

Name, will you take this person standing before you, whose hands you hold, choosing her/him alone to be your wedded wife/husband/partner? Will you live with her/him in the state of true matrimony? Will you love her/him, comfort her/him, through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, honor her/him at all times, and be faithful to her/him?
Name
I will
Name, please repeat after me:
I pledge to you, Name, A life of giving and hoping, a life of growing and loving. I shall share with you, both my work and my play. I shall be with you, in your tears and in your laughter. Just as I will bring my own sorrows, and my own joys to you. I accept you as my companion and pledge to you honor, faith, and love.

Rings
The ring is an ancient symbol, blessed and simple. The ring, a circle, is one of nature’s simplest forms. The arc of the rainbow, the halo of the moon and the smallest of raindrops simulate the circle. When a stone is cast upon a pond, it generates waves in ever expanding circles. Consider this marriage as being two stones striking the water simultaneously. The ensuing waves interlock, and the growth of the enlarging circles show the combined energies of the lives of you both. The interlocking of your two lives will be symbolized in the exchange of these rings.

Name, please place this ring on Name's finger and repeat after me:
Not as a bond, but as a pledge, I give you this ring. May it encircle your finger, as my love does your heart.

Name, please place this ring on Name's finger and repeat after me:
Not as a bond, but as a pledge, I give you this ring. May it encircle your finger, as my love does your heart.

Name and Name, you have vowed to be loyal and loving to each other, formalizing with this ceremony in our presence and that of God the bond that exists between you. Therefore, I declare that you are joined in marriage/civil union/holy union and with all present as your witnesses, rejoice in recognizing the love you share.

(Optional)
Let us pause a moment in prayer: Spirit of love and promise, we invoke your gentle blessings upon all true lovers, and especially upon Name and Name who have taken these vows of marriage/civil union/holy union. Grant them a clear sense of the solemnity of this hour, and of the responsibilities to each other which they now assume. May they have the grace and understanding to fulfill these pledges by their life's devotion. May the happiness which they have brought to this day never lose its freshness, but ripen into fuller flower and deepen until it mingles with the very roots of their being. May they grow ever closer from this day forward, in work and in play, in hope and in counsel, in laughter and in tears. May they, in all the changes and chances of life, be true helpers, each to the other. Hand in hand, and heart with heart, may they go forth on their journey in such confidence and trust and affection that no suffering or sorrow or loss can blight nor diminish the strength and joy of their sacred bond. So may it be.
Amen.

Blessing
Our benediction for this wonderful ceremony is a blessing from 
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.   Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.  Now there is no more loneliness.   Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. Go to your dwelling to enter the days of your life together.   And may your days be good, and long upon the earth.

So in accordance with the great and beautiful state of Colorado, it is with much great pleasure to announce this couple now married!

The Greatest Happiness in Life is You
Welc​ome
Hello and greetings! Today, I have the privilege of performing this ceremony today. On behalf of Name and Name, welcome and thank you for being here. They are thrilled that you are here today to share in their joy during this wonderful moment in their lives.

By your presence, you celebrate with them the love they have discovered in each other and you support their decision to commit themselves to one another for the rest of their lives. The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves. If there is anything better than being loved, it is loving. This afternoon we are here to celebrate love. We come together to witness and proclaim the joining together of these two persons in marriage. God does not make a love that is wrong. This is the union of two individuals in heart, body, mind, and spirit, Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into lightly, but reverently, honestly, and deliberately. And it is into this union that Name and Name come now to be joined. By your presence, you celebrate with them the love they have discovered in each other and you support their decision to commit themselves to one another for the rest of their lives. This afternoon we are here to celebrate love. We come together to witness and proclaim the joining together of these two persons in marriage. God does not make a love that is wrong. This is the union of two individuals in heart, body, mind, and spirit, Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into lightly, but reverently, honestly, and deliberately. And it is into this union that Name and Name come now to be joined.

Declaration of Intent
The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves. If there is anything better than being loved, it is loving. At this time, a reading that express the sense of joy and love on this occasion. 
It is called 'To My Friend'
I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you because you have done more than any creed could have done to make me good, and more than any fate could have done to make me happy. You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign. You have done it by being yourself. Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.

(Optional)
Second a reading from the Bible written by St Paul who writes:
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, love never gives up... Three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Vows
Name and Name, now we come to your vows. May I remind you that saying your vows are one thing but nothing is more challenging than living them day-by-day. What you promise today must be renewed tomorrow and each day that stretches out before you. If you are able to keep the vows you take here today, not because of any religious or civic law, but out of a desire to love and be loved by another person fully, without limitation, then your life will have joy and the home you establish will be a place in which you both will find the direction of your growth, your freedom, and your responsibility 

Name , will you have Name  to be your husband/wife/partner in life, to live together as friend and mate? Will you love her as a person, respect her as an equal, sharing joy as well as sorrow, triumph as well as defeat. And keep her beside you as long as you both shall live?
Name , please repeat after me
Name , I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband/wife/partner in life.  Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you with all your faults and your strengths as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and I will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life.

Now Name , its your turn.
Name , will you have Name  to be your husband/wife/partner in life, to live together as friend and mate? Will you love her as a person, respect her as an equal, sharing joy as well as sorrow, triumph as well as defeat. And keep her beside you as long as you both shall live?
Name , please repeat after me
Name , I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband/wife/partner in life.  Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you with all your faults and your strengths as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and I will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life.

And do you both promise to make the necessary adjustments in your personal lives in order that you may live in a harmonious relationship together?
Name and Name  
We do
 

(Optional)
The affirmation of family and friends
Now in the spirit of joy and affirmation, I want to ask your families and friends a question. Do you, the families and friends of Name and Name, give them your blessing and support this day, wishing them a wonderful life together?
Everyone present: We do

Rings
May I have the rings please?
A ceremony is for a day but a marriage I for a lifetime. The rings that you are about to exchange mark the beginning of a long journey together. They are also a symbol of infinity, time without end. Let your rings be a reminder of your union, and of the love that you share. As a ring is unbroken, so will your love for each other be without end.

Name Please repeat after me.
Name, I give you this ring, that you may wear it, as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. I pledge you my love, and respect, my laughter and my tears. With all that I am, I honour you.

Name Please repeat after me.
Name, I give you this ring, that you may wear it, as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. I pledge you my love, and respect, my laughter and my tears. With all that I am, I honour you.

Now may those who wear these rings live in love all their days. Now may the love, which has brought you together, continue to grow and enrich your lives. May you continue to meet with courage any problems, which may arise to challenge you. May your relationship always be one of love and trust. May the happiness you share today be with you always. And may everything you have said and done here today become a living truth in your lives.

Closing
Name and Name, we have heard your promise to share your lives in marriage. We recognize and respect the covenant you have made here this day before (God and) each one of us as witnesses. Therefore in the honesty and sincerity of what you have said and done here today and by the power vested in me by the great and beautiful state of Colorado, it is my honour and delight to declare you married and partners in life...for life. It is now my personal privilege and great joy to be the first one to introduce Name and Name as the newly married couple. Partners in life... for life.