The Ceremony

Prelude

Music: “White Wedding” by Billy Idol, “Going to the Chapel” by The Crystals

Processional

“Time After Time” Instrumental by Cyndi Lauper and Sarah McLaughlin

“Bridal Chorus” by Wagner

Of course, all the music got scrapped because of the monsoon.

Opening Words

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to unite this man and this woman in the ‘bonds of marriage, a source of joy to those who enter into it and of great good for our common life. Solemn words and symbolic acts are but the outward sign of what is here meant; for a true marriage is a union of lives, established in respect, love, and devotion; a dedication of each to the other, and of both to the wider community of which their lives are a part.

Charge to the Couple

• Chris and Amanda, the covenant which you are about to make with each other is meant to be a beautiful and sacred expression of your love. As you pledge your vows, and commit your lives to each other, we ask that you do so in all seriousness, and yet with a deep sense of joy; with the deep conviction that you are committing yourselves to a dynamic growing relationship of trust, mutual support, and caring love. Remember, then, that your decision this day is your act of faith in one another. Your faith must not be a vain hope in what the other will do or will not do, might

  

  become or not become. Yours must be that deeper faith that you each will be acceptable in the other's eyes despite the changes of the years and the assaults of the world. Such faith requires that you honor yourself as well as attend to the needs of the other. Such faith requires that you learn to listen before you speak. Such faith requires that you each be open to that divine spark within you, and be willing to be guided by the grace of its light. Your pledge to one another is a devotion in freedom, and not a license to control. Your covenant will endure the trials of time only as you keep to that sacred integrity.