Wedding Ceremony  for Lester and Lidia

Roughlock Falls, Spearfish Canyon

Lawrence County, Savoy, South Dakota

Greeting

We have come together, families and friends, in the presence of God, to witness Lester and Lidia as they exchange their vows of marriage.  We share with them their delight in finding love with each other, and support their decision to be together from now until the end of time.

Invocation

Eternal God, creator and preserver of all life, author of salvation, giver of all grace; Bless and sanctify with Your Holy Spirit Lester and Lidia, who come to join in marriage.  Grant that they may give their vows to each other in the strength of steadfast love.  Enable them to grow in love and peace with you and with one another all their days, that they may reach out in concern and service to the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Consent

Lester, do you here in the presence of family and friends, declare your love for and commitment to Lidia, choosing her as your partner for life and soul mate?  Do you promise to accept her as she is, sharing with her and supporting her through the experiences of your lives, be they easy or difficult, happy or sad, challenging or mundane, letting friendship and love reign forever?  “I do”

Lidia, do you here in the presence of family and friends, declare your love for and commitment to Lester, choosing him as your partner for life and soul mate?  Do you promise to accept him as he is, sharing with him and supporting him through the experiences of your lives, be they easy or difficult, happy or sad, challenging or mundane, letting friendship and love reign forever?  “I do”

Reading: Ecclesiates 3:1-5

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven;

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted,

A time to weep, and a time to laugh,

A time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together.

A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing…

Their time has finally come; their wedding day.

Their time to laugh,

Their time to love,

Their time to embrace.

We thank God for bringing them together in His perfect time.

But as God has brought us together

Let us not forget the ones that time and God has departed from our world.

But not before they graced us with special memories only they could create,

Which are carried with us throughout our lives.

The laughter we have harvested through the autumn of their days,

Remember only for a moment when tears were gently brushed away

By a hand that only knew kindness and love.

The melodious laughter that echoes through life’s endless mazes.

The heartfelt hugs that surrounded our little selves when we felt so alone.

But this too has to end, the darkness enclosed their beings,

Only to release our loved ones to a time of peace.

A time of last embraces and good-byes,

Until we meet again in heavens light.

May our loved ones that touched our lives deeply,

But only stayed briefly in our lives

Be looking over us today.

Vows

Lidia, God has given us a second chance at happiness.

I come today to give you my love, to give you my heart and my hope for our future together.  I promise to bring you joy, to be at home with your spirit and to learn to love you more each day, through all the days of our lives.

My love for you is endless and eternal.

Lester, you are my once-in-a-lifetime, my miracle.

You’re God’s precious gift to me.

You are all I could ever need in my life…

How blessed I am to be able to say that you’re mine, to be able to love you for the rest of my days.

I promise to be faithful to you, to love you, to always put you first in my life.

I promise to be your true love from this day forward and forevermore according to the commandments of God in the holy bond of marriage.

Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

The Word of God describes the kind of love we are to have, each for the other in 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8a:  “Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all

things.  Love never fails.”

Having this love in your hearts, you have chosen to seal your vows by the giving and receiving of rings.

Blessing and Exchange of Rings

I hold in my hand, two beautiful rings, symbolic of a binding contract, to be given and received as bonds of never-ending love and devoted friendship, circles of life and circles of love.

Lester, as you place the ring on Lidia’s finger, please repeat after me:  “With this ring, I wed thee and bind my life to yours.  It is a symbol of my eternal love, my everlasting friendship and the promise of all tomorrows.”

Lidia, as you place the ring on Lester’s finger, please repeat after me:  “With this ring, I wed thee and bind my life to yours.  It is a symbol of my eternal love, my everlasting friendship and the promise of all tomorrows.”

May the vows and promises you have made today be ever-present in your hearts as these rings are on your fingers.

Prayer

Father, we thank You for this beautiful day and thank You for Lester and Lidia.  We thank You Lord that You have brought them safely thus far on their journey.  We pray that as You joined their hands and hearts together to become husband and wife that You will bless them.  We pray that You will give them strength and courage as they face all the tasks and decisions that lie before them.  We also pray Lord that You bless these rings, that he and she wear, and may they ever bide in Your peace, living together in unity, love, and happiness, with good purpose to do Your will.  This we pray in Your name.  Amen.

Pronouncement of Marriage

Now that Lester and Lidia have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, before us and before God as witness, and have shown their affection and trust by the giving and receiving of a ring and by joining hands, I pronounce that they are husband and wife, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.  Amen.

Lester, you may kiss your bride.

Presentation of the Couple

And now, to all the friends and family who have come to celebrate this marriage, I would like to present, for the first time anywhere, Mr. and Mrs. Lester and Lidia.