Danielle Renee White & Corey Steven Reynolds have come before us to be united in marriage. Through your presence, all of you are demonstrating your support and your blessings as well.
This couple’s relationship began with acquaintance on a college campus, blossomed into friendship, followed by romance and love. As time went by, this relationship grew and changed. Dani and Corey, today you add a new definition to your relationship. After today, you will be able to say with love and pride, “I am your wife”, and “I am your husband.” Your love is now a way of life, not an emotion that comes and goes.
Yet over the days, months, and years you will discover much more about each other and the bond you have. You will know with even more certainly that:
Your love is a power that can move mountains.
Your love is contagious, affecting everyone and everything in your lives, like ripples in a pond.
All of us here should take the love and happiness of this occasion home with us when we leave today. We should hold onto the good feelings and pass them along to others in every way that presents itself. We know that when an attitude of love and happiness becomes a habit, our lives are more rewarding and the world is a better place. Peace and love begin with one person, one couple, one family.
Corey and Dani, a few words to you now:
The magical compelling impulse that is affection makes us seek each other’s company, and is among the greatest gifts of the human experience.
Any of us who has been fortunate enough to find and express
the kind of loving devotion that we are celebrating here today knows that it is an awesome and beautiful thing. This understanding brings me to the first of three suggestions which I offer to you, Dani and Corey:
First: Be constantly grateful for the presence of this precious person who has chosen to make a life with you.
Second: Make each other the recipient of daily kindness. The world can be a tough place
and any of us can be subject to rough handling. Be generous with compliments and in all things, expecting nothing in return. For we know when we give unconditionally, we receive back many times over.
Be attentive and helpful. Each of you can, by your tenderness, kindness, and thoughtfulness toward each other, make your marriage and your home an uplifting refuge.
Last, but perhaps most importantly; Make truth the unfailing bedrock of your lives together.
A happy, loving marriage is built on trust and respect which can only be sustained if you are both deeply committed to always being open and truthful in every exchange no matter how small.
My hope for you is this;
That you have many long years
to delight in each other’s company,
to feel gratitude for your great good fortune
in having found and loved each other,
to a make home together that is at once sheltering and welcoming,
to each do meaningful, productive work both at home and in the world
and to love and be loved by the friends and family
who have come here today to support you…
Please turn to face each other now, and join both hands. Listen to these words.
These are the hands of your best friend, strong and full of love for you, are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other.
These are the hands that will hold you when challenges enter your lives.
These are the hands that will keep you united as one.
These are the hands that will express strength and laughter when just you need it.
And lastly, these are the hands that, even years from now, will still be reaching for yours with the same love and tenderness.
It is time now to pledge your marriage vows to each other. Remain as you are, holding hands.
Listen carefully and repeat each line after me. We will begin with Corey.
I, Corey, take you, Dani,
To be my lawfully wedding wife.
To grow together in spirit
In truth and in trust,
In joy and in challenge,
In all of life’s events,
Through all the days to come.
And now, Dani.
I, Dani, take you, Corey,
To be my lawfully wedding husband.
To grow together in spirit
In truth and in trust,
In joy and in challenge,
In all of life’s events,
Through all the days to come.
As outward symbols of your sacred vows, you have chosen to exchange wedding rings as your first gifts to each other. The ring represents the circle of life, always coming back to itself in an unending eternal connection, just as you will constantly return to each other as you share your lives from this day forward.
Blessing: These rings are blessed by your sacred vows, and by your commitment to each other.
We begin with Corey. Chris, please give Corey his ring for Dani. Corey, place the ring on her left hand and repeat after me:
Take this ring
and wear it as a symbol
of my unending love and devotion.
Now Chris, give Dani her ring for Corey. Dani, place it on his hand and repeat after me.
Take this ring
and wear it as a symbol
of my unending love and devotion.
In closing I would like to offer a traditional Irish Wedding Blessing.
May the light of friendship guide your paths together.
May peace and contentment
Grace the halls of your home.
May the you live for each other
And the sight of your loved one
Always trip a smile from your lips,
And a twinkle from your eye.
May the Spirit of Love find a
Permanent dwelling place,
In your hearts.
Please turn to your family and friends.
It is my privilege, through the power vested in me by the State of Missouri, to pronounce you husband and wife.
Corey, you may kiss your Bride.
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