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Traditional Wedding Vow
Author Unknown
I, (name), take you, (name), to be my beloved and lawfully wedded (husband/wife), my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward, to have and to hold you, to honor you, to treasure you, and to love you always. In the presence of God, our family and friends, and Before these witnesses, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner, at your side, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I take you with all your faults and your strengths as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and I will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, care for you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live. I promise you this from my heart, for all the days of my life.
An Apache Blessing
Author Unknown
Now you will feel no rain, for
each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for
each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for
each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but
there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the
journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion and
your days together be good and long upon the earth.
Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and
remind yourselves often of what brought you together.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness,
gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.
When frustration, difficulties and fear assail your relationship, as
they threaten all relationships at one time or another,
remember to focus on what is right between you,
not only the part which seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the storms when
clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives -
remembering that even if you lose sight
of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for
the quality of your life together,
it will be marked by abundance and delight.
Kahlil Gibran on Marriage
From Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet
Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, Master?
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
From This Day Forward
Marianne Williamson
From this day forward,
You shall not walk alone.
My heart will be your shelter,
And my arms will be your home.
I Ching
Excerpt
When two people are at one in their inmost hearts,
they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze.
And when two people understand each other
in their inmost hearts,
their words are sweet and strong,
like the fragrance of orchids.
Mary Weston Fordham
The die is cast, come weal, come woe
Two lives are joined together,,
For better or for worse, the link
Which naught but death can sever.
The die is cast, come grief, come joy.
Come richer, or come poorer,
If love but binds the mystic tie,
Blest is the bridal hour.
These I Can Promise
Author Unknown
I cannot promise you a life of sunshine;
I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold;
I cannot promise you an easy pathway
That leads away from change or growing old.
But I can promise all my heart's devotion;
A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow;
A love that's ever true and ever growing;
A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow.
Yes, I'll Marry You.
-Douglass MacArthur-
Build me a son, O Lord,
who will be strong enough to know when he is weak,
and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid,
one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat,
and humble and gentle in victory.
(Prayer)
Peace be to this house
And to all who dwell in it.
Peace be to them that enter
And to them that depart.
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