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ISLAND WEDDING CEREMONY/ SERVICE
Greeting and Convocation
We are joyfully gathered today to witness and to celebrate the joining of two lives in marriage. __________________________ and _________________________ have invited you to be with then and to rejoice with them as they make this most important commitment. The essence of this sacred covenant is the accepting and honoring of each other as life partner, everlasting lover, heart companion, and soul friend. It is, therefore, a decision that is entered into with great consideration and respect.
So let us all take a few moments and bring our full attentions into this present moment?
The Invocation
It is with reverence and joy that we create this ceremony together. We have come together with the hope that the love which has brought you together will deepen and that it will go out beyond itself into the lives of others. Thus, we ask that the hopes and promises of this union be realized. May you both be granted the patience to listen, the capacity to understand, the compassion to give comfort and the joy to laugh and just to be your Selves. Let your marriage make a home where neither of you is ever lonely. Let your marriage offer illumination and the nourishment of shared experiences. May your union be strong enough to endure the difficult times. May life's challenges not separate you; may you always be able to turn to each other.
Declaration of Intention
__________________________, do you take ___________________________ to be your husband? Bride answers "I do". Do you promise to love him, honor him, comfort and keep him in sickness and in health, and be faithful to him as long as you both shall live? "I do". Officiate addresses the groom as above.
The Exchange of Vows
I, _______________________ take you __________________________ to be my wife. I promise to be your loving and faithful husband. I will love, honor, and respect you on a daily basis. I will keep my heart open to you through all of our life's challenges. From this moment on, I am blessed by you being my life's partner and I promise to cherish you and be kind. Officiate addresses the groom as above.
The Exchange of Rings
The wedding ring is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual union. The ring is a symbol of the commitment you are making to each other. May I have the wedding rings, please. Your rings are sacred circles. A circle is the symbol of wholeness, peace, and unity. As circles, your rings have no beginning and no ending. They are the symbols of this growing relationship you have come here to celebrate and confirm. You wear them with the blessing that you have a partner in life and that you are each other's life partner. As a sign of your love for and faithfulness to each other, place the ring his/her finger and repeat after me, With this ring, I thee wed, and with all that I am, I honor you.
Having heard the vows you have just made with each other, made by the sun, sand and sea of St John, witnessed by these loved ones, by the power invested in me the by the United States Virgin Islands, I now pronounce you husband and wife,
Our Wedding Blessing
May your love be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. May the radiance of the promise you bring to each other never diminish even as the ocean around us. Go now in joy and live in present moment with gratitude as you create you future together.
Mr. and Mrs. _______________________________
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