The Wedding Ceremony
Arrival of guests- serving of bhoe jha (salty tea) and desey (sweet rice) 2:30 - 3:00
Eli brings in parents, greets pastor, waits for bride
Signals children to come throwing flower petals
At Last, by Etta James plays, Taydon comes from top patio, joined by parents at bottom of stairs.
Takes her place, family takes their seats.
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Welcome everyone, my name is Brian and I have the honour today of joining these two fine people in wedded bliss.
We are gathered here today to celebrate love. Love knows no borders or boundaries, it is blind to religion and race. Love is trust, compassion, honesty, sharing and caring.
Marriage is an affirmation of love and a commitment to uphold those ideals even when tested by life's trials. It is an agreement by Eli and Taydon to stay together to work through their problems when they arise, to hold through happy times and to share the rest of their lives together.
It is also the joining of two families, who despite any differences one may perceive, are not very different at all. Everyone here has experienced good times and bad, has known pleasure and pain, and has come here today to bear witness to the conjoining of these two loving people as man and wife.
You who have gathered here as witnesses are called upon to continue your support and encouragement as they unite in marriage.
Do you Tashi and Lobsang freely and willingly give your daughter Taydon, to be wed to this man and except him into your family as a son? Response: We Do ( hopefully)
Do you Jeff and Cathy freely and willingly give your son Eli, to be wed to this woman and except her into your family as a daughter? Response: We do
Today a new family is born, and we are better for its birth. Let us celebrate with a sign of peace. Shake the hands of the people around you and wish them "Peace be with you."
Our first reading is a letter from St. Paul to the Corinthians.
(Eva) Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on it's own way: it is not eagerly angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, but rejoices with the truth.
(Sarah) Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes. Love never gives up. When all else seems lost, three things remain: faith hope and love. But the greatest of these, is love.
Our Second reading is a poem by the sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso
(Chokey). If only I could wed
The one whom I love
Joys of gaining the choicest gem
From the ocean's deepest bed would be mine
རང་སེམས་སེང་བའི་མི་དེ།
གཏན་གྱི་མདུན་མར་བྱུང་ན།
རགྱ་མཚོའྀ་གཏིང་ནས་ནེར་བུ།
ལེན་པ་དེ་དང་མཉམ་བྱུང་།
Thank you, now just a couple of questions to the bride and groom
First you Eli.
Eli, you have chosen Taydon to be your wife. Will you love and respect her? Will you be honest and fair with her always? Will you stand by her through whatever may come. Will you give her the benefit of the doubt and forgiveness when she asks. ( I will)
Now you Taydon
Taydon, you have chosen Eli to be your husband. Will you love and respect him? Will you be honest and fair with him always? Will you stand by him through whatever may come. Will you give him the benefit of the doubt and forgiveness when he asks. ( I will)
Do you both promise to be faithful and honest with each other and work towards keeping your relationship happy and healthy. (We Will)
Now in the spirit of joy and affirmation I would like to ask you, the friends and family a question:
Do you, gathered here, give Eli and Taydon your blessings and support and wish them a wonderful life together. (We Do)
VOWS
Taydon and Eli We come now to your vows. A vow is a solemn promise not to be taken lightly. It is a promise from one soul to another. What you promise today you must live, and though at times it may be hard, you must use your love for each other to overcome, and never forget the love that you feel this moment, that brought you here today. Please hold hands.
Eli, please repeat after me.
In the presence of all gathered here,
I Eli, choose you Taydon to be my wife
To have and to hold from this day forward
For better or worse
For richer or poorer
In sickness and in health
In joy and in sorrow
To love and to cherish
And to be faithful to you alone.
This is my solemn vow.
Now Taydon, please repeat after me.
I Taydon, choose you Eli to be my husband
To have and to hold from this day forward
For better or worse
For richer or poorer
In sickness and in health
In joy and in sorrow
To love and to cherish
And to be faithful to you alone.
This is my solemn vow.
RINGS
May I have the rings please.
Eli, please repeat after me
Taydon, I give you this ring as a sign of eternity
My love for you that has no end
Wear this ring as a symbol of my vow
And wear it as my best friend
I pledge you my love and respect
With all that I am, I honour you.
Now Taydon, please repeat after me
Eli, I give you this ring as a sign of eternity
My love for you that has no end
Wear this ring as a symbol of my vow
And wear it as my best friend
I pledge you my love and respect
With all that I am, I honour you.
DECLARATION
Taydon, Eli, we have heard your promise to share your lives in marriage, we recognize and respect the covenant of marriage you have made this day before God and all of us as witnesses. May your love continue to grow and enrich your lives. In light of the sincerity of vows which you have pronounced, it is my honour and delight to declare you husband and wife.
You may seal your vows with a kiss.
We will now hold the Khatag ceremony, please join us in congratulating Taydon and Eli and their parents and offering your blessings. There are enough Khatags for all to participate. Afterwards there will be the signing of the register.
(Khatag ceremony, apr. 30 min)
Signing of register, Friend Geoff playing "god bless our love" by John Lennon
INTRODUCTION OF COUPLE
It is now official, and my personal privilege to introduce Eli and Taydon as husband and wife. God bless their love.
