FAVORITE RELIGIOUS SCRIPT

Please rise for the Bride!
PRESENTATION OF THE BRIDE: Who gives this woman to be married to this man?  "Her mother and I"
Who stands with this couple to express the good wishes of their families and friends? And everyone says, "We do!" Together. . .Guests: "We do!"
Please be seated. Welcome, family, friends and loved ones. We are gathered here today in wonderful Colorado with this natural beauty surrounding us to celebrate the wedding of _____ and _____.  You have come here from near and far to share in this commitment they now make to one another, to offer your love and support to their union, and to allow _____ and _____ to start their married life together surrounded by the people dearest and most important to them.
First, We want to remember those family members and friends who have passed from this earth and will attend today in spirit. Let's take a moment of silence to honor their presence and feel their love

INTRODUCTION: _____ and _____, marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, who trust that love, who honor one another as individuals in that togetherness, and who wish to spend the rest of their lives together. It enables the two separate souls to share their desires, longings, dreams, and memories, their joys and sorrows, and to help each other through all uncertainties of life.
A strong marriage also nurtures each of you as separate individuals and allows you to maintain your unique identity and grow in your own way through the years ahead. It is a safe haven for each of you to become your best self.
You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust. You are agreeing to share strength, responsibilities and love. It takes more than love to make this relationship work.
It takes trust, to know in your hearts that you want only the best for each other. It takes dedication, to stay open to one another, to learn and grow, even when it is difficult to do so. And it takes faith, to go forward together without knowing what the future holds for you both.
 I will now read an appropriate reading on love:
 Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.
The future belongs to hearts even more than it does to minds. Love, that is the only thing that can occupy and fill eternity. In the infinite, the inexhaustible is requisite. Love participates of the soul itself. It is of the same nature. Like it, it is the divine spark; like it, it is incorruptible, indivisible, imperishable. It is a point of fire that exists within us, which is immortal and infinite, which nothing can confine, and which nothing can extinguish. We feel it burning even to the very marrow of our bones, and we see it beaming in the very depths of heaven … What a grand thing it is to be loved! What a far grander thing it is to love! 
Before we go any further, perhaps the best words ever spoken about love from 1st Corinthians, Chapter 13, verses 4-8
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant   or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.   Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
Are you ready to be married?
I DO'S- _____, do you, knowing _____'s love for you and returning it, realizing her weaknesses and helping her graciously accept them, and overcome them when possible, take _____ to be your lawfully wedded wife?
_____, do you, knowing _____'s love for you and returning it, realizing his weaknesses and helping him graciously accept them, and overcome them when possible, take _____ to be your lawfully wedded husband?
VOWS- _____, repeat after me:
I, _____ take you _____ to be my Wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish
our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever.
I will trust you and honor you
I will laugh with you and cry with you.
I will love you faithfully
Through the best and the worst,
Through the difficult and the easy.
Whatever may come I will always be there.
As I have given you my hand to hold
So I give you my life to keep
_____, repeat after me:
 I, _____ take you _____ to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever.
I will trust you and honor you
I will laugh with you and cry with you.
I will love you faithfully
Through the best and the worst,
Through the difficult and the easy.
Whatever may come I will always be there.
As I have given you my hand to hold
So I give you my life to keep
RINGS-  HANDS
Please take a good look at your partner’s hands, so you may see the gift that they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend, that are holding yours on your wedding day. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. These are the hands that when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours.

RINGS Please:
From the earliest times, the circle has been a sign of completeness. The rings that you have chosen to wear have neither beginning nor end, much like your love for one another. They are a symbol of the words that you speak today. May these rings be from this day forward, your most treasured adornment, and may the love they symbolize, be your most precious possession. As you wear these rings, may they be constant reminders of these glad promises you are making today.
 
_____, Repeat after me: _____, This ring is my sacred gift, with my promise that I will always love you, cherish you and honor you all the days of my life. And with this ring, I thee wed.
_____, repeat after me: _____, This ring is my sacred gift, with my promise that I will always love you, cherish you and honor you all the days of my life. And with this ring, I thee wed.
Unity Ceremony- _____ and _____ have chosen as a couple to perform a Love Letter & Wine Box ceremony. This box contains a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a love letter from each to the other. The letters describe the good qualities they find in one another, the reasons they fell in love, and their reasons for choosing to marry. The letters are sealed in individual envelopes and they have not seen what the other has written. You have created your very own "romantic" time capsule to be opened on your 1st wedding anniversary. On your 1st anniversary, open the box, read the love letters, pop open the bottle of wine, and celebrate! Then, write each other a new love letter, get a new bottle of wine, and repeat every year.
 CLOSING
_____ and _____, I would ask that you always treat yourself and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together today.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your marriage deserves. When frustration and difficulty assail your marriage - as they do to every relationship at one time or another - focus on what still seems right between you, not only the part that seems wrong.
This way, when clouds of trouble hide the sun in your lives and you lose sight of it for a moment, you can remember that the sun is still there. And if each of you will take responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and happiness. 
PRAYER- Please bow your heads: Gracious Lord,
Help _______ and _____ realize the divine love that forgives faults and heals injuries, a love that continues to give joy and zest for living and a love that provides them the energy to face the expanding and unknown challenges of age and life. May you fill their hearts and home with love, laughter and light. In Christ's Name and Love and with the blessing and grace of the Holy Spirit, Amen

PRONOUNCEMENT-  Now, as you go forth, May your joy be great and deep, and may you provide comfort and inspiration to each other. With great happiness, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

KISS: David: You may now share your first kiss as husband and wife.
Introducing Mr. and Mrs. _____________
Recessional