Our ceremony

21Aug09

Last night we received the first draft of our ceremony. When I showed it to Jeremy, he responded that the reading I chose (I Like You by Sandal Stoddard) was too long for our best man to read. He chose that time to inform me that our best man has a reading disability. Well, if I’d known that, I’d have chosen something shorter, now wouldn’t I?

So, this morning on the train, I searched the “reading” tag at Weddingbee. One of the first posts I read was Ms. Duckling’s, and the first reading she highlighted was Ruth 1:16:

Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you, For where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. And where you die, I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord do with me and more if anything but death parts you from me.

I liked it instantly. It’s short, and has that little bit of religion that we want to have in our ceremony to make Jeremy’s parents happy, but it’s not overly churchy, ’cause that’s not who we are.

Ms. Duckling also highlighted “A Lovely Love Story” by Edward Monkton (read it here) and I instantly teared up when I read it. It’s funny and heartfelt. I replaced “I Like You” (which is great, don’t get me wrong) with this reading and I’m so glad we did.

The rest of the ceremony is pieced together from previous ceremonies that our officiant and his wife have done. Here are some of my favorite bits:

From the “sermon” bit:

Establish that your love will never be blotted out by the common nor obscured by the ordinary in life. Faults will surface where you now find comfort, and admiration can be shattered by the routine of daily life.

The ring ceremony:

I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow,
and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you.

Did you write your own vows or did you find inspiration in the words of others?

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